The second cour of ORIENT.
The ferocious battle of Awaji Island begins now!
With the appearance of the all-powerful Kishin, the land of Hinomoto is now dominated by oni, instead
of humans. Musashi and Kanemaki Kojiro set out from their hometown swearing the form the strongest
Bushi band of all time, and after encountering Hattori Tsugumi on their trip, the three of them found
the Kanemaki Bushi. After obtaining the only weapons that can slay oni, Kitetsu Blades, they have
taken the first big step towards their dream. In Harima, Musashi's group will encounter the massive
band of Uesugui Bushi, and their leader Uesugi Tatsuomi. They have gathered to slay the giant Kishin
that threatens to consume the Awaji island: Yamata no Orochi, the Artillery Wyrm. Joining them are
Takeda Naotora and the Takeda Bushi, along with several Bushi the same age as Musashi like Shimazu
Akihiro and Amako Katsumi. There's also the slightly sheltered, shy princess, Saruwatari Michiru. As
different agendas swirl and interact, Musashi and his friends join the Kishin hunt. Yamata no Orochi
is an unstoppable demon god that's never been scratched before. And so, the fiercest battle of all
begins...
(Source: Crunchyroll)
Nobody watched Orient. It's existence is almost nonexistent. Part 1 annoyed and disappointment the few who tried it, to the extent that hardly anyone was left to watch this Part 2. Nothing was missed. It's a weaker season than usual, anyways. This time, Orient appeared to try by expanding the world, and introducing a large new cast of characters. With only 12 episodes, and poor execution, of course hardly any of them were properly developed. Of course, many did nothing but stand there and look pretty. Surprisingly, some of the new characters seemed much better than the 3 of the main cast. Tragically, Tsugomi is hardly ever there, and barely does anything. Tragically, Kojirou is hardly ever there and does anything. Musashi, the protagonist, became annoyingly useless. Prepare to see him use the power of friendship in nonsensical ways. It's obvious he is the chosen one, and I was just waiting for him to, very conveniently, "awaken" this power so I can get it over with, and even that was disappointing. They really thought that a grand finale fight should be a rushed disaster where a character loses right away by getting poked in the stomach. The fights are constantly disappointing. The action is a joke. They have swords, but use them like laser guns. The power scaling is ridiculously comical. One character can summon the bottom of the ocean on top of you, to crush you with the pressure. Weak characters start doing things that they should not be able to. The fights feel random and poorly thought out, and some characters are far too overpowered, and lose to even more nonsensical things. It was tragic for me to actually get excited, and to look forward to some fights, but to be let down again and again. The art is once again betraying the vastly more superior art of the manga. A friend of mine showed me some panels, and I was saddened to see just how much better it looked compared to the anime, were some characters look like corpses. Some characters, like the little man with the nose, and Michiru's father, are painfully ugly. The monsters, of course, look horrible again. Monsters that are supposed to be huge threats end up just standing there, letting the characters talk until the characters decide to kill them. The little that I like involves Musashi and Michiru. It's a struggling romance that is somewhat sweet to see unfold, until the writer decides to close that door. Why do so many characters have father issues? They have a moment eventually that features the one and only song I like out of the entire soundtrack. Overall, Orient showed very little potential, and is littered with too many problems. Most of the problems from Part 1 simply rolled over with virtually no improvement. It's an embarrassing production that puts the manga to shame.