History’s fiercest warriors unwillingly gather in a new realm…
What They Say:
Shimazu Toyohisa, a famous samurai who fought in the historical Battle of Sekigahara, is transported to another world when only moments from death. From that moment on, he becomes part of a group known as “Drifters” and is forced to battlea gainst other legendary warriors in an ultimate death game.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This newest offering from the mind of Kouta Hirano came into this season with a fair bit of coal fueling the hype train, which is understandable given its pedigree. Being an adaptation of the newest work by Hellsing’s mangaka, viewers knew that buckling up for a wild (and viciously violent) ride would be in order. Drawn in the same visceral style as Hellsing, Drifters confidently delivers in the violence department, which is both brutally animated and surprisingly uncensored. In this premier, we follow famous young warrior Shimazu Toyohisa to the brink of death and his awakening in a brand new world.
DISCLAIMER: If you have followed the press for this series or have read the original manga, the use of historical figures in this battle across time is pretty essential; so be prepared to be a little lost at times in this pilot episode depending on your knowledge of Japanese history.
I’ve always been a big fan of Hirano’s art, and the first episode of Drifters brings me no change of heart. Delivered with that same aggression as previous works, our main character Toyohisa just looks like a warrior through and through. His movements agile yet reckless, his smile crooked and demonic, his eyes foretelling the destruction about to be joyously reaped upon the enemy combatant. We open up the story with exactly this, Toyohisa charging into battle to some stylized rock music, obliterating all in his path. Fighting for the Shimazu clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, it becomes apparent to the viewers within the first minute or so that his is not a winning effort. Despite this fact, the young samurai continues his slaughter, almost basking in the violence. I was quite surprised (in a good way, I can be called a bit of a gorehound) here at the lack of censorship, expecting a lot more blacked out landscape over dismembered corpses.
Sensing this defeat, Toyohisa commands his uncle to retreat back home, volunteering to remain and hold back the pursuing forces. Yoshihiro, in the midst of running away, delivers Toyohisa’s classic death flag with the statement that he is “not allowed to die” and that “he will see him back home”. I can probably count on one hand how many times out of the hundreds of shows I have watched where either of these two events actually occurs, so of course Toyohisa gets grievously wounded in the last stand. As he shambles away, it is clear that these are Toyohisa’s last waking moments…but then something interesting happens.
Drawing one last gasp of air, the warrior marches on through the thick wood, desperately seeking shelter and comfort. After a few particularly laborious steps, Toyohisa blinks and finds himself in a completely different world, or hallway at least. This hallway, aligned by doors of all varieties is occupied by a single gentleman sitting at a desk; Toyohisa gets nary a moment’s breath to gaze upon him before being sucked into one of the many doors, his name written down by the gentleman.
This scene felt like an homage of sorts towards the Matrix franchise of films, just replace the architect’s wall of televisions with a series of doors and passageways. Same mysterious feel, same mysterious man who appears to control everything, and as we soon learn, the same fate for Toyohisa has been shared by many before and after. After being sucked through this passage, our protagonist is dumped out into a grassy field as the door he exited through fades away. Considering how spry Toyohisa looked back in the door filled realm, we are quickly reminded of how much of a train wreck his body really is. Blood continues to pour out of him and stain this otherwise untainted prairie as he is discovered by two beings that guarantee Toyohisa is no longer of this Earth, elves!
At first panicked, the two young elves decide to drag Toyohisa’s mangled body to what appears to be a castle where the other “Drifters” are. This must happen fairly often as there is quite a stigma around even the word, as the elf boys are concerned that their slightest interaction with a Drifter could get them ostracized from their village…or worse. Once at the castle, two mysterious figures (also Drifters we presume) bandage Toyohisa up and await his awakening. With this awakening comes a surprise, Toyohisa is indeed not alone in this new realm! Now this is the part where my disclaimer from earlier up the article kicks in and the only part in the episode where I started to feel a little lost. Whom Toyohisa meets are two other warriors from Japan’s more tumultuous eras, Oda Nobunaga and Nasu No Yoichi; obviously I know who Nobunaga is, but this Yoichi is a total mystery as well as the subsequent conversations about all the battles and regions involved through the years these characters share. Lucky for me, the history lesson doesn’t last too long as the episode draws to a close with one more little twist, these Drifters are being watched…
In Summary:
An action-packed premier, warriors thought dead long ago past find themselves reunited in a new realm. Their destiny unknown, the only string connecting them all to this world is the same mysterious doorman. Who is he? Why pick them? And who is watching these three Drifters? It certainly feels like the bloodshed from this pilot is only a taste of the wars yet to come, though against who is a mystery…
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
