The "classic mafia drama" takes place during the prohibition era. In the Lawless district the law has
no power, the mafia rule the streets, and the illegally made liquor flows freely. At one time Avilio
lived in this district, but after a mafia dispute ended in the murder of his family, he went into
hiding. Later, Avilio receives a letter from a mysterious person that ignites his passion for revenge
and leads him to return to Lawless. There, he infiltrates the Vanetti family and gets close to Nero.
(Source: Anime News Network)
This story is very unique and rather amazing. The plot was very well developed leaving you sitting wanting more and more. Both main ad side character development was absolutely astounding. Giving us the very mysterious Angelo Lagusa, Also know as, "Avilio Bruno" who witnessed something very traumatic at a young age and became obsessed with getting revenge for what happened. His best friend, Corteo who is happy to see his friend after such a long time and will do anything for the well being of Angelo and is always there to help his best friend reach his goal even though he may not agree with everything he is doing. Also you get, Nero Vanetti who is one of the people Angelo has sworn to get revenge on but because of Nero trusting Angelo they slowly form a bond of mutual trust and they accomplish many things and overcome many obstacles together meanwhile Angelo plotting his revenge for the perfect time and Nero being completely oblivious putting all of his trust in Angelo, who is his right hand man. This forms some complications with Angelo's plan and he has to make many sacrifices in order to obtain the true goal. But at the end it may not be worth all the loss he has experienced and the revenge he has wanted since 7 years ago may not be as rewarding as he had hoped due to everything he has had to do to be able to finally achieve his goal, all the blood that had to be shed, all the betrayal, and the loss of friends. One of my favorite anime by far for many, many reasons. I hope to see more like this in the future.
91 Days __is a lot of things__. It is a story about familial love, ambition, greed, betrayal, conviction, internal conflict and, ultimately, revenge. But predictable it is not. A video review can be found here: https://youtu.be/YnuyRV2gzDc youtube(https://youtu.be/YnuyRV2gzDc) ___Premise and the protagonists_:__ Angelo Lagusa, (who will be referred to as Avilio Bruno henceforth because that's the pseudonym he chooses to go by for a better part of the series) - is our protagonist who goes through the pain of losing his family at a young age. And that's because they all get murdered in front of his eyes. He survived that night, but his will to live surely didn't. Since then, all he's done is listlessly spend his living moments away surviving as a empty husk. That is, until the day he receives a letter. A letter that lights a fire within him - one that tells him where to direct the hatred that's slowly but surely been festering within him all this time. The Vanetti. They are the people who destroyed his life and now it is time for Avilio to pay them back several fold. And that's where the second main character of the show comes into the picture. Nero Vanetti. Nero is the charismatic scion of the Vanetti family. He's the brash guy who does what he likes and is carefree for the most part. But the one thing that he values above all is the pride of his family. The Vanetti family. All of his actions are dictated by his personal code of placing the "family" before everything else. As long as it helps uphold the family name, nothing is off limits. He will do __anything__ for his family. ___Story___: This is a story about Avilio's revenge. But it is also a story about Nero and his core principle of placing the Vanetti name above all. As such, while we do see the story through Avilio's eyes for the most part, Nero also acts as a second protagonist throughout the rest of the series. 91 Days is the story of how the fates of these two young men intertwine to create an interesting yet brutal crime drama set in the prohibition era of the 1930s where booze is gold and violent mafia clashes are the norm. The Vanettis, the Orcos and the Galassias are the big Mafia families in this story, and most of the revenge plot here is centered not just around the two primary characters, but also the internal politics between these three big powers. But yes, I called 91 Days "interesting" because it isn't often that you get anime set in a specific time period, let alone stick to realism and be free of any kind of supernatural influence. There's a general lack of typical japanese anime humor and a complete lack of any kind of fanservice and that really makes this a breath of fresh air compared to most series out there. This series sticks to its guns about strictly adhering to realism as much as it possibly can throughout the entirety of its run. Well, except one character. But we can focus on him when we get to the characters. Anyway, getting back to the story, I think I'd say that overall it is pretty good. Due to the combination of the setting and the characters' ambitions that stem from multiple factors like familial love, greed and revenge, death isn't really uncommon in this story. But death certainly isn't meaningless here. The anime manages to do a really good job of getting us acquainted with the state of mind of its characters - that is, by having us know and understand what makes them tick, what matters to them and so on. It is precisely because of this that a lot of those deaths actually become a lot more impactful than they usually would. I've already covered how the world and the tone of the anime feels realistic, but it would be incomplete without possessing characters that feel like they belong in it. ___Characters___: The two main characters, Avilio and Nero, are fleshed out relatively well. They live and die for their ideals and can do anything for it. We've already established that. But what about the rest of the cast? Are they given the kind of care in their writing that these two here did? Thankfully, the answer is a resounding yes for most of the important ones. Corteo, Avilio's childhood friend, is a complete 180 shift from Avilio at first glance. He's not assertive, he doesn't seem to have a knack for coming up with manipulative plans like his buddy does and nor does he seem like he has any conviction that drives him as a person. But as the story goes on, you get to see more of him - when the time really comes for his character to shine, he makes it clear that he's not a prop for the other characters. He has his own moral code and reasons that drive him. That's really what makes his character realistic. Which holds true for the large majority of the remainder of the cast except one. Okay, let's talk about him. Fango. Fango is an anomaly. He doesn't really gel well with the rest of the world of 91 Days for being a bit too cray-cray. You could always chalk it up as him being one of the psychopaths from among the prohibition era's society, which he most definitely is, but he still feels relatively out of place among the rest of the cast. He just feels more like your average crazy anime guy who has been put in there just to spice things up a bit and add a layer of unpredictability to the plot. Don't get me wrong, I'm not really complaining - his voice actor, Kenjirou Tsuda, does such a terrific job at voicing him that I just can't help but think Fango as a whole was an asset to the show rather than acting like a detrimental factor. But I kiiinda had to bring him up, y'know, because he's just that crazy. I think that more or less sums up what I had to say about the cast. But with that out of the way, let's talk production values and voice acting. ___Production Values___: 91 Days started off looking really good. I was actually really surprised by how sharp the visuals were and how the characters almost always stayed on-model. But as is the case with a lot of anime out there, the series dips a bit in the quality of its art and animation a bit towards the middle and never really recovers to reach the heights established in terms of its visuals in the initial episodes. That's not to say it ever looks ugly, but just not as consistently beautiful as it did before. Studio Shuka, nevertheless, deserves props for delivering for the most part. As for the soundtrack, hmm. I'm not sure if there's anything that has really stuck with me after finishing it with the exception of the main theme. But whether or not you can listen to the soundtrack on its own separate from the series is just a bonus, it really isn't the main factor to decide whether or not the ost was good. What matters the most is whether or not it compliments the show - and that is something it manages to excel at. I have to give the composer, Shōgo Kaida, massive props for coming up with a soundtrack that really fits the tone and setting of the show to the T. And not just the soundtrack, the audio engineering in general is exceptional here. There are many scenes that have stuck around in my head since I finished it and most of them can be attributed to exceptional choice of music and really good mixing on the sound effects. Definitely a job well done in my opinion. Also, before I move on to the conclusion, I'd really like to bring notice to the exceptional voice acting in this anime. Almost everyone's performance is excellent here, but the voice actors for Nero, Avilio and Fango are exceptional in this series. Fango in general is the best, but Nero's and Avilio's VA work in the final batch of episodes was something else. ___Conclusion___: 91 Days is a really good anime. It is a tragic story that primarily deals with this one single question - whether revenge can really be the sole sustainable reason for the existence of a person. It reaches that answer by presenting us with the story of two characters who parallel each other a lot but whose reason for existence lie at the opposite ends of the spectrum - one seeks to protect while the other seeks to destroy. Whether or not you agree with the answer it presents you with, you gotta admit it does a damn fine job at telling its story and presenting its ideas to you. It does that with little to no problems in its pacing while looking and sounding really good for the most part. And for that, I believe 91 Days deserves your attention.
Before starting the review, I want to first address that if you go into _91 Days_ expecting it to be an action-packed revenge drama involving the mafia, then you will most likely be disappointed. While these elements do exist, _91 Days_ is, at its core, a slow-paced show that gradually explores its themes as well as the story and development of the two main characters. This review will be __spoiler-free__ since I want to give more people reason to watch this underrated show. __Story - 7/10__ Although I don’t normally do this, I will only be rating the overarching plot in this section since I will cover the themes and other subplots in the character section. The plot of the show is definitely its weakest aspect, which is expected as it is more character focused, however, that does not mean it gets a free pass. The premise of the show is not very original, however it is unique in the fact that the show feels very realistic and grounded as it is one of the few anime (that is not a highschool rom-com) without any supernatural or sci-fi elements. The show’s first main character, Angelo Lagusa (better known for his alias as Avilio Bruno), goes through a childhood trauma when his father, mother as well as his little brother are killed right in front of him. The majority of the story takes place 7 years later when Avilio begins to seek revenge after receiving a mysterious letter detailing the names of everyone involved in the death of his family. One of the people on the letter is the charismatic Nero Vanetti, who is the scion of the Vanetti mafia family and becomes the second main character. There are two major plotlines in the show, the first being Avilio’s quest for vengeance against the Vanetti family (by going “undercover”) while the second being conflicts between the 3 major mafia families. The show does have some twists and turns, but overall, _91 Days_’ main plotlines are pretty standard, however it is good enough to support the character arcs, which is where the show truly shines. __Art - 8.5/10__ The art is absolutely top-tier, especially the character designs and the animations. The characters in the show are all unique, easily recognizable, and they represent their characters' personalities perfectly. The animation in the show is also incredible, the characters are all very expressive with smoothly animated movements. The show does not have a lot of action, however, they are all well made and exciting for the most part. A big complaint that I have with the art is that the environmental designs do not match the quality of the other aspects such as character designs. Most of the environments in this show are very bland, especially the landscapes which have little to no details in them. __Sound - 8.5/10__ _91 Days_’ soundtrack is great although nothing really resonated with me. The background music always felt appropriate and strengthened the emotions the scenes were trying to get the viewers to feel. The opening, “Signal” by Tk from ling tosite sigure, is very well made and in my opinion totally captures the tone of the show. The voice acting in the show is perhaps the best thing in the sound department. All the voice actors did an incredible job at voicing the emotions their characters were feeling at the time. One thing I want to point out is that I was not a fan of Avilio’s voice at the beginning, however, Takashi Kondo (Avilio’s voice actor) did such a terrific job portraying a soulless person that not only did his voice grow on me, I don’t think any other voice would fit Avilio’s character. ~~~img(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ff/d7/78/ffd778cc535d231a7a13bca0728eb31e.jpg)~~~ __Character - 9/10__ The characters in _91 Days_ are not by any means the most relatable, deepest or even the best developed characters to ever exist, so why do I keep saying that this is the best part of the show? The answer is consistency. Almost everyone in the show, especially the two main characters, are consistently written in terms of their development, personalities and goals. What do I mean by consistency? When fictional characters are created, they are given a backstory, a set of personality traits and some sort of personal beliefs (for example if they are cynical, naive, ect...). However, many shows and movies forget their own characters’ traits which results in them acting completely out of character, especially around the end of the story, and making their developments feel forced and unnatural. This is a problem that exists not only in anime but in fiction as a whole. Reasons for this can be because the writers are rushed during development or they simply fail to fully understand the characters that they created. This is fortunately not the case for _91 Days_, as all the characters grow and develop naturally and the actions that they take are often influenced by the result of a major event as opposed to for the sake of advancing the plot. Another reason the characters are incredible is because of how perfectly they portray the themes of the show. Although there are many different themes in this anime such as family, the most prevalent theme is without a doubt the consequences of vengeance. This theme is nothing new, however unlike many other stories, the consequence is not the people you need to kill but rather the loss of your purpose and soul. The show strengthens this theme through the story between two people, Avilio and Nero, who completely contrasts each other as characters not only in personality but in their development as well. While the story follows Avilio on his revenge quest, the show spends perhaps even more time on Nero’s story. Throughout the show, Nero not only gets the most development and backstory, he also displays the most emotions. This is done on purpose because even though the viewers won’t stop cheering for Avilio, Nero’s development is needed in order to show how the “protagonist” of the show has become even less human than the “antagonist”. __Enjoyment - 9.5/10__ I obviously enjoyed this show a lot especially as I became more and more invested in the two main characters and their relationship together with each episode. The plot is not the best but it still kept me interested and I was only bored during one episode around mid season which was too slow and didn’t really have any major story or character developments. __Summary__ There is a clear goal and vision behind _91 Days_ and it absolutely shows. The anime properly and successfully delivered a complete story for its two main characters that the writers perfectly understood. _91 Days_ is not a masterpiece nor is it something that will completely transcend storytelling in anime, however it is an extremely entertaining and thought-provoking show that I would highly recommend to anyone who doesn’t mind a relatively slow-paced character drama.
Avilio, tries to get revenge on the mafia family known as «The Vanetti Family» for killing his family. Extended Plot Summary. (This contains spoilers) Angelo Lagusa is a man living a life as an orphan after the mafia named «The Vanetti Family» killed his entire family. He lived with his family in the town known as “Lawless” as a child until his father did something to anger the mafia, which then got his family killed, while Angelo managed to escape, barely dodging a bullet. Seven years later, he receives a letter from an anonymous person that says name for name who killed his family so many years ago. Angelo starts his revenge by joining a wedding the Vanetti Family have arranged with another mafia family, he offers them some alcohol made by his friend Corteo and they make a deal to mass produce it and create a partnership. Angelo under the name of Bruno Avilio decides to accept going on a “kidnapping” with Nero Vanettis’ brother. After they succeed, they go to kill their kidnapped man, but after Nero’s brother kills him, Angelo kills Nero’s brother. After this, Angelo keeps doing things with the Vanettis, looking to gain their trust, as he searches for his targets he has to run away from other mafia and even take down the biggest mafia families in town. Eventually after certain events, he manages to gains the Vanettis’ trust and after even more events, he kills two more of his targets and becomes looked upon as a traitor, and is killed by Nero. Now, the story is overall, very messy. There is a ton of characters; several characters introduced all the time and many characters dying all the time. The story is just, not very great. This is one of the few anime that were original aka, not based on any prior source material. It is a gangster anime and the plot, which is about Angelo’s revenge against the Vanetti’s felt very irrelevant at the end. The story could have been better if the anime was just a few episode longer, but it was not, so therefor it turns out worse than it could have. Now this is supposed to be a badass gangster anime, right? Characters in this anime are well written, but there is not very much character progression. There are maybe two different phases of character progression, there is the character they start off as, and the character they are through the second half of the anime, traumatized, or crazy. So character progression, not very good, mediocre. When it comes to animation and color, it is good for what it is trying to do, but it could be better. The color in the show are very sad and gloomy, I cannot recall a single color that was light and happy from the top of my head. It is an overall very realistic anime and is well made, but its not anything impressive. The content in the anime when it comes to action is not what you would expect. There is more talking in this anime than anything, so have fun with that. One would expect from the poster art of the anime that there would be plenty of guns, shooting and killing and that is correct. Out of everything that happens in the anime, it is watch flashbacks to the same scene countless times, watch people talk about things, and these are not interesting things, the topic most the time is about alcohol, lasagna, or negotiation, especially alcohol and Angelo just talking about his plan, which is incredibly repetitive. Overall, it is not a great anime. It was entertaining enough for me to watch it, but I did not think for a second “oh what a genius plot”. It starts off with Angelo wanting revenge on his family’s killers and it stays like this for a while, until a ton of unrelated things happen that has nothing to do with Angelo, but he is around, so I guess it does? So the middle half of the anime is just, about Angelo’s relationship with Nero just feels unnecessary and boring. After this, it is just a bunch of convoluted things happening and a disappointing ending.
Nowadays I've been watching lots of psychological anime and this anime is a great example of the perfect psychological anime. It has the perfect amount of action, adventure, psychology and just a bit of wholesomeness. ~~I'll try to make this as spoiler free as possible.~~ ___ #~~~Plot~~~ 10/10 The anime starts when Angelos family gets killed by the Vincent Family; so he decides to get revenge... 7 years later. What I liked most about the story is how Angelo tried getting closer to Nero the Don's son so he can take out the Don instead of assassinating them one by one without revealing his identity. However, instead of getting close calls and really intense moments, we got wholesome moments (not BL) and really badass moments this of course only last for a few episodes, but I still really enjoyed it. img2201(https://66.media.tumblr.com/7b293ef07a7b6cad2e6967ad0966005a/tumblr_oua1swTyeM1w19j07o2_540.gif) ___ #~~~Animation~~~ 8/10 The anime aired first in 2016, so the art and animation were pretty good and the art always gave the vibe the anime was looking for it could look ugly in a way when someone dies and really vibrant when it's a wholesome scene. img2201(https://th.bing.com/th/id/R547f58a64468c9a747cb7fc0ca2b4586?rik=bacHfLSOsBdXyw&pid=ImgRaw) ___ #~~~Character's~~~ 8/10 Most of the characters didn't have any hidden backstories except Angelo, but a few characters developed like Corteo who became less cowardly. However, they were all solid characters with distinct personalities and all of them had different roles to keep the story going. img2201(https://www.bing.com/th/id/OGC.de82fb550ad7de3824d56946a68bff52?pid=1.7&rurl=http%3a%2f%2fimages6.fanpop.com%2fimage%2fphotos%2f39900000%2f91-Days-Avilio-Angelo-Bruno-anime-39976903-480-270.gif&ehk=l%2b9bQuB5pU%2fVvaCwrWfsQFqk6yUP%2f9VS%2bAAPq7yC4U4%3d) ___ #~~~Music~~~ 9/10 I personally liked the OP and ED they both represented the anime really well and sounded fantastic. The OST's were also good, played at the correct time and not repetitive. Also, the OP was made by TK so it was really addicting. img2201(https://www.bing.com/th/id/OGC.32f63462b71f9884f2b522610db841f5?pid=1.7&rurl=https%3a%2f%2fpa1.narvii.com%2f6437%2fd72b96daa4a1008bf553caf79e5b50ec3303fad6_hq.gif&ehk=9loeH6DSYg8AwLa3TGAH7GDX5iIvYmBUcxxKMbBkbK0%3d) ___ #~~~Enjoyment~~~ 9.5/10 I really enjoyed watching this anime, It surprised me at every turn and always found a way to keep me hooked. The characters never got boring and Angelo always had a trick up his sleeve, which made the anime even more entertaining. img2201(https://www.bing.com/th/id/OGC.868eae16edee3daf9f142d869a0846e6?pid=1.7&rurl=https%3a%2f%2f66.media.tumblr.com%2f4fff1e4b59d1d8fa057be3fac63c7840%2ftumblr_oa2g4upBDd1s4s960o3_540.gif&ehk=0roKKJ9tjSS%2fYYxu6mE4U8Cdgp5f6GIms5usML%2fF1yU%3d) ___ #~~~Overall~~~ 9.5/10 91 days was very fun and an emotion rollercoaster full of sadness, wholesomeness, and happiness. I never felt bored while watching, and I was always waiting for what would happen next. So if you're looking for a nice and short psychological and action anime watch it it's great.
~~~___Algunas maneras de arruinar una buena premisa___~~~ Sinceramente, me costó mucho ponerle la nota final a este anime. Principalmente porque sentí que su historia fue de muchas maneras, arruinada por una mala ejecución de varios aspectos que iré desarrollando en lo que sigue. Aunque la idea era buena, y el anime en sí puede ser disfrutable, podría haber estado mucho mejor. Y es por eso que no le regalo nota. Pero señalemos primero algunos aspectos buenos, y su contranparte un tanto mediocre. El tono de la animación, sobretodo en nivel estético, siendo ambientado durante la época de la "Ley seca" en Estados Unidos, y además girando en torno a las mafias traficantes de alcohol, está muy bien logrado. Respondiendo al género dramático también, no abusa del gore, pero aún así tiene muertes efectivas y (_al menos para mí_) un par dolorosas. En términos de construcción y desarrollo de personaje, hay un desbalance entre bien y mal construidos. Utilizando varios estereotipos clichés que rozan en lo aburrido o lo ridículo, ya sea tanto en diseño como en las actuaciones de los seiyuus, tienen también personajes que aportan cierto peso a la trama y, sin embargo, poseen menos tiempo en pantalla en comparación con los primeros. Por otra parte, hay un claro descenso en la calidad de la animación en varios capítulos, sobretodo pasando la mitad de la serie y el recurso de animación en CGI de forma notoria (_y descolocante_), aunque desconozco si tuvo algún problema dentro del estudio a cargo (como fue el caso de Mappa con SnK S4). Pero la cuestión es que están y son notorias. Respecto a la historia en sí, tiene momentos de tensión y acción muy bien logrados. Sobretodo, algunas muertes que no son simplemente un ___daño colateral___ de una balacera, sino planeadas, sentimentales y hasta levemente (aunque también sea gratificante) predecibles por la manera en que avanza la trama. El desarrollo de los personajes principales, no está nada mal, dado que se van mostrando diferentes facetas en la relación de Nero y Avilio, así como también hay varios giros de trama con personajes relevantes y, considerando que la historia tiene lugar en tres meses (__91 días__), resulta también coherente con el tiempo transcurrido. Sin embargo, toma varios elementos de otros historias conocidas _(y, no, no hablo de referencias fugaces)_, llegando a lisa y llanamente plagiar la _"escena de la boda"_ de __El Padrino__, entre otras menos conocidas (_de hecho Vanno, es una clara referencia a Luca Brasi, y Frate tiene una motivación similar a Sonny_) y pueden hacerse así, varios paralelismos (__la guerra entre familias por el poder sobre un negocio, la relación de "la hija del Don" con su marido y sus hermanos, etc__). Pero eso no inquieta tanto como su final. ~!Que, además de vago, podría decirse que es inconcluso. Teniendo a un Galassia al acecho de Nero, mientras éste se aleja del lugar donde, esto no se confirma de ningún modo, mató a Avilio/Angelo. !~ Por último, para cerrar, tocaré el tema de la música. La banda sonora original, no está mal. El opening también tiene un tono acorde, y una animación bastante buena. Lo que desentona por completo, desde la animación hasta la música en sí es el Ending. Es casi tan desencajante como lo era para otros "_Life is like a boat_" en __Bleach__, aunque diría que incluso peor. No pega para nada con el tono de la trama, y simplemente desvanece cualquier resabio de drama o tensión que se hubiera podido construir hasta ese momento. Es para mí, la peor elección de la serie en sí. Recordarles que esto es meramente una opinión personal, y que puede o no ser de su agrado.
_Spoilers ahead!_ I feel like I have to start off by saying that I am Italian. Countless movies on the mafia have been produced, and documentaries and novels had a great overall impact on the public. However, I feel like nowadays there is still so much ignorance around this topic, and people dedicated to visual arts tend to romanticize mafia-men as sexy people with influence and power, surrounded by luxurious women and riches. While this product is indeed Asian, being it an anime and the language spoken Japanese, the setting involves the United States and follows the dynamics of mafia families with Italian names. I believe this kind of "porridge" is an attempt to represent the mafia as a universal problem, not limited to a specific country or setting. I appreciated it. These Japanese-American characters, with Italian names, have peculiar ways to incorporate the Italian culture and tradition into their lives: Don Orco (nowadays, the prefix "Don" both refers to the custom of addressing a Catholic Priest, and it is also really common in the Southern part of Italy to designate an influent and powerful mafia boss) owns a restaurant and he's really fond of lasagne. However, in an episode, he eats what in Italy could be the second dish (meat and vegetables) right before the first dish (lasagne), which is something Americans would do. I admit that when Fango put lemon on his pizza I almost fainted but, again, an American could do that without sensing how weird it is according to the Italian culinary tradition. The reason why it took me a lot of time to finish it - despite its 12 episodes - is that 91 Days is a slow-paced show that takes its time to give each character depth. Since the beginning, the public already knows where the story is headed to; Avilio must take revenge against the people that killed all the members of his family, and he is so determined (having nothing to lose) that we are not at all swayed by the hypotheses that he might change idea. The plot is character-focused, and I think there are both pros and cons to this narrative choice. The pros are the incredible details with which every character is depicted. Even the less important one has a personality that, in just 12 episodes, makes us foresee his choices, while we nurture expectations towards him. The show itself greatly supports the characters' arcs, being it Corteo's (Avilio's best friend, a bond which is very close to brotherhood) reluctance to get involved in the mafia's evil deeds, Avilio's stubbornness in going undercover to complete his vengeance or Nero's struggle to make choices related to his powerful position, which inevitably influence who's around him. The characters are consistent and all-rounded. This is a big strength of the show. Also, being mafia a male-dominated and violent environment, the only relevant female characters are Nero Vanetti's sister (basically sold to get married to a member of the Galassia family to improve their bond) and Fango's girlfriend. As for the cons, I believe that the show can be perceived as too slow-paced. I'm not an impatient anime fan, I really appreciate the power of story-telling and I believe in the value of taking time during the show to actually convey a great ending that makes the viewer reflect on the necessity of taking it slow. In fact, the last five episodes are pure gold: action-driven, dramatic, dense in details, and with an ending that makes jaws drop by its beauty. But to get there, you have to be patient and understand that every episode and every character serves its purpose. The opening really takes stock of these pros and cons: the tone of the show is depressing because the mafia doesn't leave space for delight, families are torn apart by individual interests and the code of honor they live by is inherently flawed. To achieve something, one must be ready to sacrifice everything and eventually ends up obtaining nothing but loneliness and anxiety for the next betrayal. In the meantime, the local population either silently accepts their presence, the manipulation of market prices and copes with their power, or must be prepared for death. The lawmen are corrupted, and those who aren't constantly receive threats. This is how the mafia works. You don't fall in love with these characters: it's impossible. They are blinded by their ambitions, they don't care about unnecessary casualties among the "common" people, they may perceive like they're surrounded by many reliable people but, in the end, they are lonely, violent, cruel, and merciless. The ending is one of the most beautiful and well-written out there: Avilio understands that he can get his revenge by actually breaking the connections of the Vanetti family (some members of which, years ago, killed his family members in front of him), that is actually how mafia families maintain relations and become stronger, instead of just killing the people involved in that specific tragedy. One of these people is actually Nero, who develops a fondness for Avilio despite not knowing that he is the boy he couldn't shoot and kill that very night. Avilio naturally resents him, but he knows he's alive just because of his long-gone mercy. Until the very end, these two characters show the depth of their built bond: they are reluctant to kill each other, even if there are a million reasons to do so. However, their friendship is doomed to a halt, and Nero kills Avilio. He betrayed him by working undercover, he ruined everything his family has accomplished until then, he killed his faithful right-hand man. Avilio, on the other hand, lost everything and cannot find another purpose to go on living. This show is extremely thought-provoking and pretty accurate in its representation of how the mafia works, so I highly recommend it.
# __~~~Preamble~~~__ 91 Days was a very pleasant surprise to me personally. I genuinely do not think I'm overrating it or that my personal biases are affecting how I feel about this show that much. This is genuinely better than any other mob/gangster media I've seen personally (and yes, that includes Martin Scorcese stuff like The Departed and The Irishman in addition to Coppola's The Godfather but I haven't watched Goodfellas which I've heard is the best one). I didn't expect much going into 91 Days, just thought it would be a decent show to watch but left thinking this is an anime masterpiece that goes underappreciated. This is going to be a spoiler review because I prefer to talk about shows and movies while providing examples of what I mean so that my words don't feel empty to me. Now without further ado, on to the review. # __~~~Voice Acting~~~__ I'm a very sub over dub type of guy. I'm of the opinion that you should really watch something in the way it was intended as much as you possibly could and as such, anime should be watched in sub over dub due to that being the original language it was made in and hence the experience is directly attached to that. You wouldn't watch a foreign film dubbed would you? I'm not saying watching things dubbed is bad but rather it is my preference to watch it in sub if I could because it was intended to be seen in that language. With that said, the dub and sub of this anime aren't even comparable. The dub surpasses the sub to such an extent that it's wild. Due to the setting of this anime being like 1920s/1930s New York during the great depression where they still have prohibition laws and whatnot in addition to it being an Italian mob story, English helps the experience so much. Not only does it just simply fit better with the setting (and tone in all honesty), but you also get the satisfaction of actually hearing and recognizing the different accents which is a nuance lost in the subbed version that greatly affects the experience imo. The accents are pretty good, rough in some places but pretty good, outside of that the VAs do a good job, just a couple awkward moments in action scenes but I find that in animation pretty much always. Plus, Corteo's voice work as a child wasn't great but still acceptable if I were to give another complaint. I think Nero's voice acting especially i phenomenal in this anime and a great showcase of Ian Moore's talent who is a prolific voice actor in anime dubs. I wasn't sure about how I felt about Angelo's voice acting almost the whole time throughout the show. I wasn't sure if I thought the way he was kinda mumbling and slurring his words fit the way he was meant to be speaking and I wasn't sure about how to feel about the accent on top of that. Overtime, I do think it fit very swimmingly with his depressed, serious, no nonsense demeanor, he's not trying to overpower anyone at any given time in conversation or to have a dominating presence. He simply tells things as it is, tries to speak in as few words as possible when around the mob and speaks to get things over with so I think his delivery really works and fits with the character in hindsight plus the emotional scene in the last episode where he wishes he was killed by Nero took me off guard and solidified my opinion that his acting was good throughout the show and that was his one moment of complete vulnerability where he wanted to be heard and he shouted, crying out and it really hit for me as a result, especially considering the way he was acted before. I also like the subtle differences in volume and tone the actor gives Angelo when talking to his friend Corteo as opposed to members of the mob, showing him slightly louder and have a clearer more happy tone with him and at the end, a more vulnerable tone while with the mob, you could feel the anger in him resonating as he talked. Props to Austin Tindle for that. I also particularly liked Corteo's acting in this, very fitting and Brandon McInnis really brought some good emotion and characterization of his shyness to him. I liked Vincent's almost monotone delivery the whole time with him as the head honcho. He at least sounded calm, collected and sure of himself anytime he spoke so shoutout to Jeremy Schwartz. Fango's voice acting was another highlight here. He brought the craziness and unpredictability of this character to life with his high pitched, gargly voice that could go deeper when he's really being serious so shoutout to Brandon Potter for that. Frate and Gonzo are the last 2 I'll mention because I could go on and on about this. Frate's descent was wonderfully portrayed by Justin Briner and you could just hear the absolute contrast from his original fairly happy tone in the series to him sounding very troubled and stress with his voice cracking all the time like it was hurting him to say everything he was saying and he was so full of pain. Chris Messersmith mastered the old, established member of the mob voice with this oddly threatening high pitched voice of his that you just know has commanded death throughout his entire life. A lot of big name talent was brought on for this show which just tells me that they really cared about this project, making it an even better experience to watch it in the dub. I wouldn't even be able to fanboy over the Japanese voice acting if I saw it that way, though to be fair that's mainly because I don't know the language and can't always identify the nuances in their acting but even so I am very glad as to have watched the dub for this show which wasn't even my initial choice as the streaming service I saw it on didn't have a subbed version. # __~~~Writing~~~__ Ok, so now I'll talk about my one complaint with this show that I have which isn't the writing in general, but one specific detail which is the inciting incident of the show. How tf did Ganzo find Angelo and no one else found him? There was a throwaway line where Ganzo said something along the lines of "For all Vincent's concerned you're at the bottom of a river" which I think implies that Ganzo told everyone that he killed Angelo but I feel the more plausible explanation for that line in context of the scene is that Ganzo is trying to say they're no longer concerned about Angelo being a threat especially since I think Vincent in a scene where he was really sick and was talking to Nero brought up being scared about Angelo getting away still. Even if they trusted Ganzo's word on not finding Angelo or maybe killing him, how did Ganzo find Angelo in the 1st place? In addition to that, what even was his role in the job to kill Angelo's family? We've never actually seen what he did and we never even see him present in any scene showing the job. My assumption is that he kept watch and that's why we don't see him but not actually seeing him there is a big problem. It makes it significantly harder to antagonize him or associate him with the personal vendetta of Angelo. Biggest problem I have with the show. Even tho I have that issue with Ganzo, shout out to Taku Kishimoto for making one of the most solid, tight scripts along with what I consider to be a mastery in theme, narrative and character progression even if the character's aren't all that deep. Also the dialogue is great and really holds shows how much he cared about accurately representing Italian mob culture. Let me elaborate on these progressions now. The narrative progression for this show is a masterclass in increasing stakes throughout the whole show without it getting to the level of absurdity. Angelo's decisions directly affect the stakes present in the show and that makes it so much more satisfying than if the stakes got higher simply due to a progression of events in the story. Angelo's introduction to the mob allows them to get away from Fango and establishes his friend as a major player in their business of alcohol production. So now there's the stakes of ensuring that the mob succeeds and doesn't get busted or attacked by opposing families to ensure the safety of our main character and his best friend. Then suddenly, Angelo kills Vanno since he was one of the people at his house that faithful day. Before that, Vanno kills a member of the Orco family, putting Nero, Angelo, Corteo and the entire Vanetti family in hot water, even more than before. Not only that, but Angelo's position and life is threatened after Serpentine's body isn't found at the scene, making it suspiscious. Due to that, they get further involved with Fango after he kidnapped Tigre. Once this part of the show is done and Angelo's trust is gained again, a hit is put out on Nero which doesn't only threaten his life but Angelo's as well and puts his mission for revenge in jeopardy if he can't get close to Vincent through Nero even if he does make it out alive increasing the stakes again. Once they manage to avoid the hitman whose name I don't remember tbh, they still have to navigate knowing the Orcos and Glassias want Nero dead. In addition to that, returning home, they find that they are still in hot water and aren't welcome/safe and narrowly escaped with Tigre heavily injured. Now they have to go in hiding and are stuck if it weren't for one thing... Fango becomes fairly prominent in the story again and now they have to rely on him which is already dangerous considering his unpredictable nature plus now they have to find a way to take out Don Orco, increasing the stakes even further. Once they get him in a beautifully tense scene, they now know they have to deal with Fango's shit plus there's still the looming threat of the Galassia family's desire to get rid of Nero which is reciprocated by his brother. Once Angelo gets Don Galassia's nephew killed and manages to get Nero to kill his own brother, the stakes only get higher. Just going to state what the other increases of stakes are so this doesn't go on too long. Corteo ratting to Fango plus Fango's threat of taking Lawless Heaven, Angelo having to kill Corteo, the Opera House, the aftermath of the Opera House. All of this to say that the plot for this show never slows down, it just builds and builds, adding stakes along the way and all a result of our character's actions and pretty much nothing is left to chance and I don't think people understand how impressive and satisfying that really is from a writing standpoint. Since I think I went on too long about the narrative progressions, I'll just quickly summarize what I have to say about the character and thematic progressions. Freta's descent into madness as he bites off more than he could chew leading to his eventual demise is excellent, Nero becoming very angry and troubled overtime especially after killing his brother, excellent. Angelo's resolve for revenge being questioned by himself and the realization that it was all for nothing which is both a character and theme progression masterfully intertwined, excellent. It's just so well done and the elements of the show in discussion about power, trust, respect etc. compliment the arcs of the characters wonderfully. # __~~~The Ending~~~__ I fucking love the ending for this. To start of I'd like to say I believe Angelo dies. I know that this is a widely debated ended among people who've watched the show. I think the whole idea of Nero smiling at the end with the pineapple can next to him in his car is to show that he always carries a piece of Angelo around with him. Angelo's death was an act of kindness, he did it when he was at a moment's peace, seeing the ocean one last time. I think the ocean washing away the sand on the beach is also symbolism for Angelo being "removed", his trace gone. But there is clear reason for the ending to be ambiguous that I love. Either Nero killed him as a final act of kindness as he realizes Angelo's pain and suffering for all the years holding on to revenge and after doing it not being satisfied, finally relieving him of the pain or he lets him live with the hope that he can understand and learn that he could just live, doesn't need a reason or purpose, just needs the will and leaves the decision for whether he lives or dies up to him. One of the few cases where leaving the ending up to the audience really has some weight to it. They have you as an audience decide what was the conclusion to this thematic progression they had throughout the whole show about seeking vengeance and how it consumes you and harbouring hate. Is Nero happy that he got to kill Angelo, getting rid of the anger harbouring inside him that Angelo couldn't get rid of? Is he happy because he saw killing Angelo as an act of kindness and taking on Angelo's wish that he should've died with the rest of his family? Or did he not kill him at all and is hopeful that Angelo can learn to move on as he has by not killing him? It's all up to you and each answer is satisfying. I also love the detail of Nero being in the car being obscured by the camera lens as a symbol of the ambiguity of his choice and how he feels at that moment. Simply brilliant. # __~~~Conclusion~~~__ I love this show. I haven't felt so happy or excited after finishing something in so long and this show just gave me that feeling I always look for. I really do think this goes underappreciated and more people should watch it. If you've seen it but only in the sub, give the dub a shot and spread the word. This show is a gem, a masterpiece and I hope that one day more people will recognize that. __~~~Signature Ending~~~__ _Hope you enjoy it as much as I did or more and form your own opinion of it._ _Thanks for reading!_
**Spoilers Ahead** For reference, I watched this anime Dubbed This anime is 13 episodes long, with episode 7.5 being a recap of episodes 1-7. Where do I begin with this anime? I could start with the music, which is probably one of the best soundtracks I have heard in a while. Or the visuals. Or even just the overall plot. Wherever I start, there's a good chance that there is something special about it in this anime. A young man during the American Prohibition Age unfortunately sees the demise of his family one night at the hands of four members of a prominent Italian mafia family. After narrowly escaping, Angelo goes into hiding until an anonymous letter arrives for him, telling him the names of three of the four mafia members that killed his family. After reuniting and recruiting a childhood friend, Angelo, under the alias Avilio, decided to infiltrate the mafia and act out his revenge from the inside. The plot keeps the watcher guessing what will come next, and the twists and turns that it takes will leave you wanting more. The show does a great job of showing the family doesn't necessarily mean blood. As different relationships grow and break apart throughout the series the complicated need to appease one's family versus what a person knows is right and their own desires is brought into light. This, like many other pieces of media shows that the need for revenge, especially if it is the only motivating factor in your life, is not a good thing either. And when you _do_ get your revenge, what do you have to live for afterwards? One of the better things that this anime does is sticking to the perspective of one character. With the exception of a break in this pattern toward the end of the series, almost all information that the watcher knows is also what the main character knows as well. I really enjoy that the writers did this, especially since this is supposed to be more action/mystery than anything. That being said, the ending is very abrupt. While the final episode does try to tie everything up in a nice bow, many plot points are left hanging and open. At the end of the series I felt like I had more questions than I did answers. Important information that is brought up in episode two as a throw-away line is very important for the understanding of the last two episodes. There is also no sense of closure when it comes to some of the actions that characters take, and why they do them. We see characters struggling with guilt over killing people... For all of about twenty seconds in the whole series. As the title suggests, there are a _lot _ of names thrown about this show, and a good portion of them all refer to the same people with just different names or different aliases. There are four major "families" at play through the series, and sometimes it can be difficult to remember who belongs to who, and what alliances are made between which families. At the beginning of the show it cane be difficult to remember everyone, but as the show progresses it becomes easier. Overall, this show is very good. While difficult to get into at first, after the first two episodes a very good watch that kept me on the edge of my seat.
~~~____91 Days ____ ~~~ ~~~img220(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/9d/73/77/9d73774a59b4c53946213256979692cb.jpg)~~~ _This review contains spoilers._ This is definitely a must-watch anime if you like revenge stories. The story takes place during the prohibition of the United States, in a city where a mafia family reigns. The story is authentic with raw passages and representations of the mafia very close to reality. The main character, Avilio was the target of the mafia and seeks to avenge his family, killed under the gunfire of the organization. The beginning got me lost between the names and roles of each characters, which did not allow me to be anchored in the anime directly. I began to understand Avilio's plan around episodes 5 and 6 and that's when I really enjoyed watching this masterpiece. The tension rises over the episodes and little by little, we begin to understand that the plan risks making victims. The end was like a stab in the back, I dropped a tear. We really don't expect the main character to die after all he did to avenge his family. But in the end, no one can escape the price of such revenge. I salute the realistic side of the anime which does not necessarily lead to a pleasant ending but which allows us to detach ourselves from all these stagings where the spectators end up seeing what pleases them and not what could hurt them. And yes, I am a drama lover because I have tasted too much the idyllic aspects of cinematographic works and I wanted to see something concrete. 91 Days perfectly meets my expectations on this point. Obviously, scenes from the anime left a mark on me and I inevitably think of the scene in which the businessmen are forced to eat human meat lasagna. We say to ourselves until the end "no, the cook, he didn't dare anyway...", and yes he did. And of course, I wasn't going to finish my review without talking about the death of our friend Nero. If Avilio's death was almost obvious, Nero's was less so. He leaves far from all the problems attracted by his friend, and ends up being caught up by death. Like what, you can't escape the mafia. As soon as you're in its field of vision, it's over. Nero's death destroyed me, he's a nice character who deserved a peaceful end outside of all this noise. And it's his kindness that harmed him. The OSTs are great but nothing more. The ending got stuck in my head and hasn't wanted to come out since. No words, just a "la la la" that fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the anime. Eventually, it reminds us that our values can at worst lead us to our downfall, at best affirm us with dignity. I can say that the aspects of anime that I have described so far are very rare in anime. The era, the context, the place and the story are far from being something that can be found elsewhere. So for that, I salute the author who has created, I can say, a true work of art.