Completed Series: Hakkenden - Touhou Hakken Ibun

[catystorm]

Series: Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun (八犬伝 -東方八犬異聞-)

Episodes: 13
Year: 2013
Animation Production: Bandai Visual, Studio DEEN, Sentai Filmworks

Official Summary: When their village was wiped out five years ago, only Shino Inuzuka, Sosuke Inukawa, and the girl Hamaji, who was raised as if she were their sister, survived. And both men inexplicably have the same peony-shaped birthmark. Genpachi Inukai and Kobungo Inuta were raised hundreds of miles away as foster brothers, but they too share the same birthmark. When they went north as part of the army three years ago, they went to confront demons and came back forever transformed. Now the Imperial Church has come for Shino and Sosuke and they must find eight mystical gems and their owners or face a fate worse than death at the hands of the Church. ( - MAL )

Catie's Thoughts: One of the first anime series I picked up without having seen anything about it on television first was the original Hakkenden anime from 1990. That was an adaptation of the original samurai legend of the Eight Dogs of the East, and as such I have fond memories of the series despite its very obvious flaws.

That being said, I was very unsure of this adaptation from the beginning. The main character is still Shino, but now ... he's a thirteen year old? With purple hair and typical shounen attitude and I was put off almost immediately. I kept watching, however, because I wanted to know how much they had butchered the legend I was so fond of ... only to get sucked in completely, and by the third episode I had turned into a bundle of flail. The story that the series is going with hits several of my favorite tropes dead-on, so I am hooked. Plus the characters are very entertaining, and while the original legend is taking a bit of a backseat to more supernatural tropes, it started to pick up speed right near the close of this series. However this is going to be like Fate/Zero, where the full series is at least two seasons, they just spaced them a season apart. Now I have to wait until the summer to get more, and I will be pouting the entire time.

Would I buy it? Resounding yes. I disclaim that this series hits a lot of my narrative kinks personally, may not be for everyone, but ahhhhh. I love it. Would definitely watch again.