Nabari no ou: The Complete Series Part One — anime dvd review
Nabari no ou has seen a fair number of comparisons to Naruto, but really it’s only like that show in the sense that it concerns ninjas. In fact, if you boil the story down to its base elements, Nabari no ou is a coming of age tale in which an ambivalent boy learns the importance of friendship, and the dangers of opportunist acquaintances. All the ninja stuff is just extra. Sure, the story is set against a backdrop where the Iga and Koga clans still exist in a shadow world (the “Nabari” of the title), and adolescent protagonist Miharu Rokujou happens to possess an ultimate technique (Shinrabansho, knowledge and power over everything in nature) which can make or break any ninja clan that enlists his service (the dispute over which sees more than a handful of people fighting to their deaths), but for the most part it’s all periphery noise surrounding Rokujou’s attempts to find his way in the world.
Nabari no ou actually offers a pretty smart storyline, lots of intrigue, fleshed out characters, and plenty of moral dilemmas. In terms of the ninja factions, the show presents no clear-cut right or wrong side. Both have their good and bad elements, some even residing within the same members. Much of the story concerns Rokujou’s star-crossed friendship with Yoite, the secret weapon of an opposing ninja clan, through which he discovers the nuanced nature of ambition versus altruism, and the dynamics and manifestations of such within the clans. The two do share a strangely close relationship though, and the extremely lanky, fashion sketch style character models, have given rise to suspicion of possible yaoi friendliness down the line. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that doesn’t manifest.
But speaking of the visual style, Nabari no ou has a particularly arresting aesthetic. Similar to the old Squaresoft game Saga Frontier, the show sees its sharply fashionable characters dropped against softer pencil and watercolor backgrounds. I don’t recall if I’ve ever seen such a technique in the anime shows I’ve watched previously, but it makes the backgrounds as much fun to watch as the characters themselves. Fights are pretty hard hitting too. These never last longer than a few minutes, but what is shown is sufficiently effective and immediately satisfying – far more exciting than the endless verbal standoffs of the aforementioned Naruto.
So, in closing, Nabari no ou is definitely worth a look. This first box chronicles the first 13 episodes of the series, which will certainly whet your appetite for the following second. Pick it up.
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