Anime Review: Kengan Ashura

Once Upon a Time...In a Dark Alley

Gone are the days when anime was only available to a select few friends whose older siblings dabbled in the arts bestowed upon us from the land of the rising sun. While those were magical times in and of themselves, it still feels good that anime is readily available on platforms such as Netflix, and it was indeed Netflix that presented itself as the home for the anime in question, Kengan Ashura.

To be sure, Kengan Ashura is an anime that we’ve seen 1000 times before, and we will most likely be treated to anime of the same ilk 1000 times again. It begins with a random back alley brawl between two fighters of massively unequal physical attributes. The two combatants squared off without realizing that their little altercation had attracted the attention of a random passerby.

Kazuo Yamashita witnesses what he believes to be a massive mismatch based on appearances, but is blown away by the smaller fighter’s ability to breeze through the physical specimen that stepped forward to oppose him. While the entire ordeal struck Kazuo san as just a random reminder of mankind's primitive propensities, he would have no idea that this random encounter would be the key to unlocking the dark world permeating through the very veins of the Japanese economy.

While nothing more than an elderly cog in the corporate machine, Kazuo Yamashita would go on to be introduced to the very fighter who had impressed him with unparalleled skill and ferocity. Enter out of the shadows Takita Ohma, a skilled fighter who would act as the champion for the Nogi group in a series of formal underground battles used to establish hierarchies, settle disputes, and produce growth in the Japanese economy.

Kazuo san would be tasked with managing Takita Ohma on his way to qualifying for a Kengan Life or Death Combat Tournament to decide on the individual who would take up the highest position of power in the country. The tournament would present a large gathering of competing organizations, each selecting a powerful combatant to represent them. While the backers would look to increase power and position, the fighters fought for the prestige of being called the most powerful warrior.

Each champion brings their respective style to the table in grueling battles in which each must adapt to the strengths of each opponent. Tokita originally goes through the competition to meet the man who killed his master but is more determined to master the skills that were passed on to him to finally rid himself of the ghost of his former mentor. Ohma also works very hard to keep in alignment with the goals that he has set for himself but also places himself in compromising positions by continuously relying on a forbidden ability that boosts his power at great costs to his physical and mental well-being.

Tried and Tested

Kengan Ashura is an anime that probably started to sound quite familiar towards the middle of this review, and that's because it is. One can almost picture a committee of creatives being gathered into a room to come up with a new idea for an anime, coming up with squat, and instead turning to the Ye Old Bag of Anime tropes, characters, and concepts, drawing out of it a good old fighting competition where unnaturally strong men are pitted against each other for gold, girls, and glory.

Be that as it may, what I would go on to say is that this offering finds itself situated in a time where good ideas are hard to come by and where the options are either to either reboot old classics or try to present tried and tested formulas in a new and exciting manner. My initial feelings towards this particular anime was that it fit snugly in the category of ‘filler anime’ in other words, an anime that you view while better fight titles work on their follow-up seasons.

However, with time and the development of the story and characters, I came to change my mind and place Kengan Ashura precisely where it belongs, as a familiar anime that stands firmly on its own even managing to match and even surpass familiar titles that I had enjoyed before. The combatants and match-ups are exciting, with each champion getting ample space to develop their respective backstories. However, the competitions were not only limited to the Kengan arena but manifested in the various dealings of the competitive and greedy handlers of the fighters.

The anime impressed with good visuals, its primary style of animation being slightly similar to that of the newer Berserk series, and every fight managed to provide the usual level of twists, turns, and informative analysis commonplace in anime of this kind. I was also particularly happy with the development of characters such as Kazuo Yamashita, who managed to provide the necessary comic relief in between all the head bashing and general bloodshed, while also slowly and pleasantly ingratiating himself with audiences with the slow discovery of his strength as a corporate figure and as a man. I was also quite pleased with the way the anime allowed for space to present the antagonists with the opportunities to reflect on their motivations and inadequacies while also showing how they grapple with very human fears and insecurities as a result of their attitudes and actions.

An offering like Kengan Ashura is to anime what comedies with strong actors are to films, a payday. These feel like the kind of anime that are created to pay the bills, with all due understanding and respect to the arduous process of creating these beloved series. This was an anime that I grew to enjoy a lot, and it left me feeling that similar titles such as Baki the Grappler or Record of Ragnarok would be the titles that would turn filler as new episodes of Kengan Ashura were developed and produced.

This is an anime that viewers sleep on at their own risk, for under the cloak of familiarity and repetitiveness lies an awesomely bloody title with memorable characters and an engrossing storyline. Happy viewing.