This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering another series from the Fall 2017 season. It’s my Juni Taisen Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: In a city of half a million people who have all been removed, 12 of the deadliest mercenary warriors with the names and attributes of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals are pitted against each other in the 12th Zodiac Tournament which takes place every 12 years. Each warrior must swallow a poisonous gem, which will begin to kill them after 12 hours. To be granted any one wish of their choosing, the winner must retrieve all the gems from the other competitors before the deadline…

Plot: This is an incredibly violent series, I’ve seen plenty of violent series before, and read and listened to even worse, but this was easily one of the darkest ones I’ve watched yet. The story isn’t for those faint of heart. I won’t spoil the story, but I felt that those warnings were necessary. Personally I’ll probably just find a copy of the original Light Novel that this was adapted from to read instead of watching the entire Anime.

Characters: Our main PoV for this episode is Ino (Boar) who isn’t a simple character. Frankly I don’t particularly like her, but I understand her which I think was the point of this episode. The rest of the cast is fairly interesting, although Usagi (Rabbit) is a very disturbing person…

Art: The art is okay, but like Dies Irae not really even close to ufotable quality.

Music: This part is at least interesting as the main composer is Go Shiina, who used to work for Bandai Namco on the Tales of series including one of my personal favorite entries Zestiria.

Overall: A great series for those who want to watch something incredibly violent, others will probably just want to read the original Light Novel (it is released in English).

For those who like: Action, Drama, Death Games, Ultra Violent Stories, Interesting Cast of Characters, Good Art, Great Musical Score.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.