Anime: 91 Days

Released By: Funimation

Release Date: November 14. 2017

Retail Price: $84.98

Action, elite mobs, family ties and sweet revenge – all important aspects of the anime period piece 91 Days. The series takes place during the Prohibition, an era known for a lawless world where bootleggers are making their best living but death and betrayal are around the corner with mobster’s staking claim on what they believe is theirs. The time frame of the anime alone makes for a guaranteed darker story that delves deeper than most with similar themes. So just what is 91 Days about exactly? Well let’s begin…

The series follows a young man named Angelo Legusa, someone who most certainly hasn’t undergone the easiest of lives. As a child, he was particularly close with his family until one shocking event altered the course of his life forever. Having connection to various mobsters (particularly the Vanetti family) one night his home was broken into and a massacre ensued that took the lives of his parents and sibling that he was forced to watch from his hiding place. Feeling utterly helpless, distraught and stricken with rage – Angelo realizes that in this world, there’s only one foreseeable way to find justice and he is going to do whatever it takes. Nearly seven years since the killings of the Legusa family, Angelo has remained hidden and even came up with an alias under Avilio Bruno to infiltrate the crime family and find vengeance for those he loved so dearly.

After years since the crime has passed, Angelo receives a letter that tips him off regarding his opportunity to strike and he realizes that to exact his revenge he will have to befriend the son of Vincent Vanetti, Nero. Following a character like Angelo (or Avilio, take your pick) provides a good old fashioned tale of getting even – and when done correctly, it can be a powerful tale of revenge. By setting us up from his childhood perspective and jumping into adulthood, you can see the grief that became a part of his being and changed the way he functions in society. He does have people he considers himself close to, but essentially he’s grown into a man without that attachment that everyone has, making him feel like and emulate a character who is on a mission of self destruction, hoping to annihilate anything in his path. Though a poignant direction, it potentially sets the tone for a grim series to begin with and I won’t spoil the end result but I will say this series will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Though the series plot can get heavy in a sense where you feel like you are trying to keep up (they throw a lot of characters and relationships into the series short run) it does create a sense of importance. You constantly are evaluating the characters of the anime – are the friends, foes, gangsters, or randoms, each role causes you to analyze the role they will play in 91 Days and Angelo’s plan of revenge. There isn’t always the payout that I’m hoping to get from the large build-up, but it does teeter on episodes where the series delves deep and some episodes where the target is slightly missed. Overall, the sometimes unnecessarily complex series 91 Days has a story it wants to tell, it just stumbles along the way like many series that hope to go deeper than surface level storytelling.

The animation has tones that remind me of the series Gangsta, which also happens to have similarities with the mob storyline. The character designs are beautiful (sometimes hard to differentiate) alongside the marvelous outdoor scenes with detail to landscapes and surroundings. The colors have a grim appearance, but where I would usually have issues with it – the atmosphere and tone of the series make the color palette choices worth appreciating. The English voice cast does their best to follow the era’s qualities – which it does exceptionally well. From the main character to the villainous figures he’s after, there isn’t any animation or voice actor issues to address. 91 Days may be a bit of a slow burn series, but it is a revenge anime that will have you itching to see if Angelo gets his payback.

Overall Score: 7.5/10

Aedan’s Final Thoughts:

• Team Angelo all the way.
• It was a slow start, but the series has plenty of fleshed out material to draw you back in.