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91days:
Disclaimer: Although this review does not have any explicit spoilers on the whole, it does go through the first episode and various themes in a very detailed manner. I also talk about the ending very vaguely (still no explicit spoilers though). If you like to go into an anime with a fresh mind perhaps this review won’t be for you, but if not then keep reading and enjoy!
Summary: In a single night, Angelo Lagusa’s family are brutally murdered by a mafia movement centred around the Vanetti family. The anime depicts Angelo’s journey of revenge and retribution, after he is mysteriously sent a letter from his father’s friend forcing him out of his hiding place after seven years from the tragic event.
This story takes place during the prohibition period in Lawless, Illinois in the US when Alcohol had been made illegal. Angelo reunites with his childhood best friend Corteo and together with their expertise in creating underground booze they are invited to join the Vanetti family where they befriend the Don’s son, Nero. The long effort for finally enacting revenge, especially against the Don, Vincent Vanetti is a path muddled with violence and killing. Angelo completes murder contracts for the vanettis in the hopes of earning their trust. However, Angelo’s sole purpose is to wait for an opportunity to strike and finally earn his retribution against his true enemy.
Anime thoughts and themes: Right of the bat, I have to say this anime is my favourite anime of all time, and it’s a tragedy that it is largely unknown in anime circles. I’ve heard the inspiration for this anime lies in the Godfather. It has themes of Family, Revenge and Violence in relation to gangs.
The first theme which seems to jump out is Revenge and the anime discusses how far we are willing to go to enact it. Angelo’s innocence was completely stripped away from him as a child due the killing of his parents and so grew up as a living tool for his family’s retribution. He lives his life because of revenge, in fact if you take the murder out of Angelo’s life you would struggle to know who Angelo really is. Despite his tough upbringing, Angelo is still shown to love, especially towards his friend Corteo and even though he has to make tough choices, he does this in great strife and regret. And this right here folks, is what urges me to care for the characters in this anime. Angelo is willing to try so desperately in order to kill the men who have wronged him, but in great detriment to his best friend’s safety. He knows this very well, yet makes the gruelling decision to go through with it. We feel sorry for both his friend and Angelo himself strangely as they both succumb to this decision. 91 days does indeed get very psychological from Angelo’s side of view.
91days shows us that there is a bit of good and evil inside all of us and it is only when we are put in under special circumstances, then we see our true intentions. An example of this is the character Nero, he is the son of the highest ranking mafia group, he is laid back and charismatic unlike his father. Angelo is taken aback with himself when he begins to befriend him to the point where he even begins to question his end goal and whether or not he does, I’ll let you find out.
All in all, I very much enjoyed this anime, I’d say it’s at the top of my list. It has you gripped with each of the short 13 episodes and has a very meaningful story with a very psychologically interesting protagonist. It’s an anime which instils you with every emotion, love, humour, fear, anger and sorrow and bonus points for having an amazing OST (the opening title sequence is sung by TK, the same person who sang Unravel in Tokyo ghoul!) If you’re into psychological, vaguely historical, gun action dramas I can’t recommend 91 days enough!
Islamic review: I’ll be the first to say that the anime is definitely not fitting for those under 14. The whole anime revolves around the Mafia, so there are scenes which include the use of guns. Murder in this anime happens so frequently you almost lose count. Even though this anime lacks female characters (I think there are a total of 3 in the whole anime who make any meaningful appearance?) The main issue includes a couple scenes which can be classed as sexually explicit, it’s nothing too serious though for older audiences. There’s a scene which alludes to cannibalism, though the characters are disgusted with it themselves. So in terms of maturity levels I’d say it’s best to watch this anime if you’re 16 – 18+ to fully understand the anime and plot.
In relation to Islam, the topic of killing, anger and revenge is greatly discussed and even debated about. How far are you allowed to seek revenge or be angry? Forgiving and showing mercy is also a big part in Islam. This anime shows what happens when the Islamic advice is not followed, though the situations in this anime are very serious so it could be debated. Giving into anger is something which we all could relate to in some way, imagine this ramped up 10 fold and you have 91 days.
Anime Scores:
Animations: 5-6/10 Well that depends, if you don’t mind a minimalistic style of anime then you will enjoy 91 days. However, if you are used to a very crisp animation style then 91 days might be visually displeasing for you. Don’t let that stop you from watching though!
Voice Acting: 9/10 I loved every voice actor in 91 days, I don’t remember any character having an annoying voice, except maybe Fango? But he is meant to be crazy so that doesn’t really count.
Plot: 9/10 Short animes tend to have a clear and concise plot because they need to unravel the story in such a short amount of time. If you love revenge plots, this is a must watch for you.
Ending: Okay, I’ll be completely unbiased about my love for 91days now. The ending episode let me down. The climax of the story had a sombre tone, very anti-climactic compared to the 2nd to last episode which had a whole lot of things go down. It was also an open ending which I wasn’t very satisfied with and I don’t think it suited the anime well. It wasn’t horrible however, so it didn’t take my love for 91 days away.
Intro: 10/10 Just so you know, I’ve had an anime slump for around 2 years before I watched 91days, this anime got me back into it from the very first episode. The first 10-15 minutes is one of the best if not the best openings of an anime I know. And the Opening title sequence is downright amazing.
Epicness Score: 9/10
What are your thoughts? Why not leave a comment below!
Originally published on Anime4Muslims. Source: https://anime4muslims.muslimmanga.org/2020/09/09/91-days-review/.