Nothing keeps you on toes like your “family” does.
What They Say:
The Arcana Famigila protects Regalo Island with powers granted to them the Tarocco. At birthday party for the head of the family, “Papa” Mondo, he tells them he is thinking about retirement and the Arcana Duello will begin.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based on the video game of the same name that saw release in the fall of 2011, La storia della Arcana Famiglia is the latest series to arrive from JC Staff and looks to be the kind of fun, summer fare that works well in providing action and locale. Taking place in the Mediterranean sea on an island known as Regalo, we’re introduced to the varied group of people that protect it from all sorts of threats. That group is known as the Arcana Famiglia and it definitely has a fun bit of a mafioso feel to it as we get a group of young men and women that wear black and white suits with varied colored ties to help give it all a little bit of pop. With the region being so bright and outgoing with colors, buildings and the scenery in general, JC Staff gives it a really strong look here with the detail and the architecture.
The group isn’t an officially sanctioned one or anything, which is why they get the vigilante tag associated with them, but the residents definitely like what they do as they’re eager to talk about the good they do as they defend them. The opening bit of action isn’t hugely strong, but it sets the tone well and gives us a first blush look at everyone and their abilities. Thankfully, we get a better look at everyone through an event wherein the head of the family, a man called Papa Mondo, is having a birthday party. They allows us to see everyone in a social situation, albeit with even more men in black suits, and to get a better feel for them, even if there are a lot of characters to take in all at once. The distinctive ones certainly stand out though, especially the lead young woman who gets addressed by many titles, including milady. princess and bambina.
Felicita has the most curious of the powers though, which are tied to the tarot deck primary cards, as she’s connected to the sixth card, The Lovers. She can sense certain things being thought about her, such as when Liberia was thinking about her in unbecoming ways, at least in the view of others, and that made for some quick violence to be doled out as the men are all quite protective of her. What sets things in motion here for the story though is that Papa Mondo has decided to retire and has set a date two months in the future where an Arcana Duello will occur and the winner will take on the title of Papa. And as an added incentive, they’ll also get Felicita’s hand in marriage, something that’s obviously a surprise to her.
There’s a lot of good foundation material revealed during this encounter as most of the primary characters make varied stands over what Papa has put forth. We get some clear ideas about who they are, their powers and the kind of allegiances they truly hold when you get down to it in a “family like this. You also get a feel for Felicita and the path that’s open to her and the others when it comes to this kind of fight that will be coming. While she may be the least defined in a way, she does become the focal point for a lot of things but is also one that does her best to hold her own. With the varied men here that operate together, she has to be her own person as well, though she’s still young enough to have some wild emotions hitting at times and a simplicity about her as well.
In Summary:
With some really good looking character designs, world setting and the location of events themselves, the series kicks off in a strong way here that definitely makes this a must-watch series for me. There’s an obvious route that it can go over the remainder of the season to be sure, but it also feels like it has a lot of potential to move around in it and make for some fun and engaging stories with a solid cast. The mafioso style aspect of it is a big plus here and the general look of it all is very appealing. Unlike a lot of first episodes that I’ve seen over the years, this one puts a lot in there and doesn’t hold back some of the basic critical information to understand how that world works. It’s got its own mysteries to be revealed to be sure, but the opening episode is definitely a very good way to begin.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
