What They Say:
When the new school year starts, Suzuka also enrolls at Onmyo Prep, and Harutora and Natsume must keep her from finding out that Natsume Tsuchimikado is really a girl.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The advancement of time in Tokyo Ravens has definitely been a plus for me to see since it keeps everything from feeling cramped and overdone. With the new school year starting, things are going in a pretty tense way for Harutora right from the start as during the welcoming ceremony, Suzuka introduces herself there as she’s enrolled in the school. That sends a wave of panic through the gang in general but it also makes things a lot more difficult for Harutora in particular as she calls out Harutora by name, making him quite the object of scorn since she’s such a popular person being the idol and public image of the school itself. With him having her first kiss as well, it’s a bit of a mixed message and you have the furious girls and the very curious boys. And a very protective Kon, leading to some good fun and silliness early on.
The first half has a lot of fun with this as it moves along and we see the limited fallout from it and how Harutora copes. There are certainly enough characters in the show to provide different views on the situation and having the reactions of the close friends certainly ups the ante as well. It doesn’t help that Suzuka ends up spending time with Harutora in a public space yet essentially alone. She’s coping with her family having put her in this position as a way to try and remove some of the recklessness of her behavior. Having her going through the school for three years as a punishment, as well as sealing her powers, is definitely pretty strict but it’s the kinds of things that do rather make sense considering what all happened.
While plenty of time is spent across a few different things here within the school, most of the focus really is on Suzuka. This is fairly important since she is one of the Twelve Generals and at her age she brings a different kind of temperament to things. Which has obviously gotten her in trouble. Harutora is proving to be a good influence on her in some ways, but a lot of what we get from all of this is that regardless of the power she has, she’s still a young girl who has a whole range of emotions and insecurities running through her. She’s trying to cope with it as best as possible considering how she’s been punished, and she finds some rather good solace and comfort – and understanding – while dealing with Harutora. He doesn’t talk down to it but rather talks with her and explains some of his own drama in a light but effective way, which helps to ease some of the tensions that do exist between them.
In Summary:
Tokyo Ravens doesn’t do a lot here to advance the overall storyline, but it does spend its time well in giving us some good Suzuka material. Yes, we get a lot of the basic tropes and the like here with her personality, the reactions of others and some of the general silliness that follows as it’s all like clockwork. But we also get under the skin a bit as she talks about her punishment, Harutora talks about Hokuto and we get to see them actually coming to some understanding, growth and exposition that works well without being overly forced or cloying. Suzuka won’t make my list of characters I love to watch, but she’s not one that’s going to be difficult to watch either since she’s gotten some decent exploration here.
Grade: B
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
