Review will be broken down like so : Story Art Animation Characters Sound Overall Enjoyment https://static.zerochan.net/Drifters.28Manga29.full.1532226.jpg Story 8/10 Not a surprise to think that Drifters is your standard world domination story line with cool characters to try and save the world. Its more character driven rather than an overarching plot with a hyperdetailed world. The world is set in a fantastical universe like most isekai where there are multiple different sentient species in the form of elves dwarves and hobbits though they do not make an appearance. Drifters are people from the real world in the brink of death and are transported to this world. They are sent there by what seems to be a deity Murasaki to combat the Ends. Similar to Drifters they are people brought into this planet however their primary mission is to destroy this planet. Like I mentioned before a relatively simple premise with interesting characters. What I feel like is the theme of the show is how humanity doesnt really change despite which time period they may be from. The bare bones of humanitys societal hierarchy ideologies and morals are consistent throughout its history. The difference only being in the advancement of technology. In a way the anime showcases humanitys lack of maturity throughout its history. Sure we may have been improving but throughout humanitys recorded history the most common occurrence is war. War never changes. We have only attained peace in the last 60 or so years. You have multiple drifters coming from different eras and one thing they always have in common is absolute destruction to wars. What really puts the nail in the coffin is the fact that all the drifters are real people weve seen in the past. And you know what they say history always finds a way to repeat itself. An issue some may face during the entirety of Drifters is that most characters are based on real historical figures. So having some historical knowledge on the characters will add to the overall experience although it isnt necessary. For some it may feel jarring especially during moments of banter between characters. But the banter is still funny nonetheless. Art 8.5/10 I really like the art style for this anime it feels fresh. Its my first Hoods Entertainment anime but it looks unique in comparison to the standard anime look. This is because of the way the characters and anime are shaded. The shading in Drifters is absolutely top notch especially at night when illuminating objects light up particular parts of the characters it just looks so satisfying and so well lit. Character Design absolutely love it. The 3 protagonists all have clothes that look like feudal Japan however it looks modernized. Take Toyohisa Shimazu : https://ramenparados.com/wpcontent/uploads/2016/02/toyohisa.png If you look at his clothing its very reminiscent of Feudal Japan with the vambraces shinguards and kusazuri the waist armor. But it looks modernized because it looks nothing like what Samurais wear the kusazuri most especially its shorter and only has 2 sides to it while traditionally it has 4. Shimazus armor just reek of cool. 49https://ramenparados.com/wpcontent/uploads/2016/02/yoichinasu.png 49https://ramenparados.com/wpcontent/uploads/2016/02/osanobunaga.png You can see this modernized look in Nobunaga and Yoichi as well. I really really like the design of these characters. For some they may think its not accurate but its isekai and it definitely does not break your suspension of disbelief. I think it gives drifters a unique aesthetic in regards to oldtime Japan. Plus its isekai. My only issue is the setting I knew the inspirations for certain elements of the city. However I felt that the castles design looked too textbook. It didnt feel unique and kinda reminded me of other stories and media . Not a bad thing but it just looked like Ive seen it before. Animation 8/10 Animation no real issue but nothing too ground breaking. It definitely captures the speed power of Toyohisa in all the fight scenes hes in. But nothing I havent seen before. Funnily the animation of the OP is what really draws my eye. https://media3.giphy.com/media/bqAFYeYPCAboA/giphy.gif I love the sketchy look it brings out this raw animalistic feel in the action sequence its in. Its so fitting because of how messy and dirty battles can be. The ED brings the same concept of having a specific art style playout in the ED. Its reminiscent of Japanese watercolor painting. https://thumbs.gfycat.com/OblongZealousHuiasizerestricted.gif While the song itself was forgettable in my opinion the beautiful animation in this ED really speaks for itself. Some really good examples of animation: 48https://i.pin.com/originals/3a/c9/10/3ac91042fd5f4a7b472a65e7a30e82a9.gif 49https://steamuserimagesa.akamaihd.net/ugc/99475879068874950/6C64D37DF1C2C807AA4B7B5553423A2862AD5372/ What grinds my gears is the fact that they can do beautiful action sequences but they really love the protagonsistpullsouthis/herkatannaandcutstoprotagonistpasthisenemysheathinghiskatannabackandexplodinginblood this trope is so overused i cringe seeing it. Yes it looks cool but is a copout because theres a million ways to do that and still have it look epic. All in all animation is a solid 8/10 nothing i would give 9 or 10 for. Does its job and is well executed. Characters 8.5/10 To put it simply I love the 3 main characters Toyohisa Shimazu Oda Nobunaga and Yoichi Nasu no Suketaka. I just love the dynamic between these 3 characters. Theyre this weird twisted family consisting of 2 Samurais and a Daimyo. The 3 of them absolutely reek of feudalism and its so weirdly wholesome. As you watch and learn more about them through the series you see that they are not inherently good guys but warriors that follow their code. Take Oda Nobunga hes a man who commits to things that mostly benefit him. He just wants control over the state alongside Toyohisa as his advisor a puppet master. However Toyohisa is a man who does not care for politics hes there to be a warrior and do what is right in his own eyes. Nobunaga then learns from Toyohisas mentality as a warrior and understands why he got betrayed in his previous life. He can manipulate peoples minds but not their hearts. You see this fatherson relationship between Toyohisa and Oda. Weve seen so many different iterations of Oda Nobunaga I appreciate how they continue his character development based directly from the books albeit there are some artistic liberties. Toyohisa Shimazu put it bluntly hes as straightforward as it gets. He does things his way and lives by a strict warriors code. For some they may find him boring because hes quite strong hes straight to the point and his character does not really change by the end of the show. However the way he deals with situations and applying his warriors code to situations make him an endearing and interesting character. Instead of seeing him change as things progress we see him affect change in his surroundings. To me that is also an engaging way for audiences to learn more about him as a person. I think hes a solid protagonist. Yoichi is the least developed character within the trio. Hes kind of a wild card and feels like hes mostly used for comedic effect. However we do learn certain things about his past relationships but really thats the furthest they went. Like Toyohisa he doesnt change as a person rather he changes the surroundings around him. But my main issue with this is the fact that he really doesnt cause a lot of meaningful change besides teaching the elves how to shoot a bow. Even so hes not a bad character by any means hes the funniest out of the trio and for an effeminate character he totally breaks the norm by not being stereotypically and cool with relation to his looks. Hes a generally funny character in the show. Genji Banzai For the antagonists of this show I felt they really lacked depth. Maybe the characters will be developed further in the next season but for the purposes of this review they were severely underdeveloped. The interesting villains in this show only appear in the latter half of the anime. We also dont know anything about them but they did bring me curiosity as to who they were. The leader of this band of antagonists wasnt too interesting hes the run of the mill overachieving world conquering villain with a likely sob story. Though like i mentioned earlier i am still invested in what hes going to turn out like and appreciate what he brings to the table Sound/Voice Acting 8.5/10 Naoya Uchida and Yuuichi Nakamura are definitely strong and talented voice actors. I think they are the highlights when it comes to good voice acting in this anime. In my opinion Naoya Uchida is the definite Oda Nobunaga. Everytime i hear Nobunaga I hear Naoya Uchidas voice. The OP The Gospel of theThrottle Remix specifically the AMV is absolutely well done. It really matches the mood and setting of the show. The ED however was quite forgettable for me except for the cool visuals I mentioned earlier. It definitely suits the show but it didnt really interest me. One thing that really enhanced my immersion was the OST. It was a beautiful mix of epic classical and fantastical soundtracks. Each distinct soundtrack added depth to the scene that was playing. For example SaintGermi in most scenes with him or his compatriots you would hear classical music playing accentuating that hes from a classical period. You would have traditional Japanese music when the trio were fooling around. There was a very adventurous/fantastic track playing when the bird riders bombed ships. I just love how these different themes bring out different emotions to the show. It was well done and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Overall Thoughts 8.5/10 and Miscellaneous Things I have a weak stomach for things like rape. I dont like it it really affects me emotionally. It wasnt explicit but i just hate the idea of it. Though I did get a kick when those guys were killed. The show is pretty straightforward with simple underlying messages coupled with a great OP and a an alright ED it was an overall quite an enjoyable experience. Story: 8/10 Art: 8.5/10 Animation:8/10 Characters: 8.5/10 Soundtrack: 8.5/10 Overall Enjoyment: 8/10