I’ve gone through most of the traditional fantasy anime airing this season, so when I saw a shounen with secret bloodlines and fantasy powers in a modern setting called Tougen Anki I had to try it out. While I was surprised at how much fun I was having, I noticed something odd. Tougen Anki feels like Naruto at home (NSFW). Could Tougen Anki be the best Naruto at home, or could it even surpass their similarities? Check it out with me and decide for yourself.
Tougen Anki: Deadly Combat Shounen
Tougen Anki introduces Shiki Ichinose in the modern day, expelled from school, and pursuing his otaku hobbies: guns and disappointing his dad. Only, behind the scenes, there is a human organization with magic-like powers that hunt human-like Oni with blood manipulation powers. The human hunters are known as the Momotaro Agency, and they kill Oni because Oni hide among humans. And go into berserk rages where they kill everybody. We see a little of Shiki’s normal life before he’s attacked by a mysterious, creepy-looking man because of this secret war.
Yes, I swear this show presents as Naruto at home, not Demon Slayer at home.
It turns out Shiki is a secret Oni. His father Tsuyoshi was a hunter. But, on a mission, he came across infant Shiki and decided to adopt him. The creepy-looking man captures Shiki and tries to kill his dad. Maiming Tsuyoshi enrages Shiki, though, sending him into a berserk rage and awakening his Oni powers. Being a gun nerd, his power lets him form weapons out of blood. He’s even able to make a ballistic missile.
Shiki’s able to fight off his attacker, but not save his father. The only good to come out of the confrontation is that the possibly friendly Oni Agency sends an agent to recruit Shiki to their secret school to train to fight the Momotaro.
Eerie Similarities
It’s not surprising that Tougen Anki is like other shounen. There are only so many premises for young people who fight. But the similarities to Naruto explode over the first few episodes. In episode one, there are already secret bloodline powers and an orphaned main character. Shiki is secretly a demon, instead of containing a demon, but it’s still a secret that was kept from him his whole life. Shiki’s also unsuccessful but cocky and energetic, in contrast to his upcoming main teammates.
Speaking of teammates. Once we get to Oni school, there are seven students (instead of the nine Leaf rookies). After they meet, he’s paired up with one boy and one girl for a contest in a forest. If they fail, they are told they’ll be expelled. It takes place behind a chain link fence, is assigned by a badass teacher, and involves collecting items and getting to an exfiltration point to score. It may as well be the Forest of Death test. The main difference from Naruto is that the three students will have to compete for two items instead of working as a team. At first.
The Cool Dude One
Shiki has to fight his male rival, Jin Kougasaki, in the forest. Jin is designed to be cool-looking and cool-headed. Best of all, he has a family member he wants revenge against. Want to guess the reason? Correct! Jin’s father killed the rest of his family and scarred him. Scarred him physically, more than psychologically, but either way, Jin sounds a lot like Sasuke.
The Scary-Shy Girl One
Instead of wanting to fight her, Shiki promises to protect Homare Byobugaura. She’s shy, apologetic, and soft-spoken. She considers herself a burden and weak, but has a strong power and a strange relationship with an older sibling. Hinata, I hear you say? Seems so, but with long pink hair, making her the rare Hinata-Sakura.
Tougen Anki Gets My Blood Pumping
Yet despite all these similarities, I thoroughly enjoyed Tougen Anki. The animation and style of the show are excellent, with creepy blood effects and the self-maiming each Oni has to do to use their powers standing out most. Humans committing a genocide against monsters, and the monsters being the protagonists, is very refreshing in shounen, even if dark fantasy anime has been doing similar for a while. The protagonists are all older than the characters in Naruto, too, and that adds to the drama, with serious romance and violence on offer. Even the combat has been good, with strange and terrifying powers everywhere that most remind me of bankai powers with hefty downsides. It turns out using your blood as a weapon isn’t great for your health.
Even as my nagging brain notices that berserk Oni are a lot like Hollow-masked Ichigo, or that the Oni Agency’s school is like Tokyo Jujutsu High School, I don’t care. I’m having fun. Episodes feel like they’re ten minutes despite being full-length. I want to know more about these characters and the genocide they’re fighting against. I want to know why the Momotaro seem to be ruled by mummified liches. Most of all, I want to know if Shiki will accomplish his adopted father’s wish to find a way for Oni and Momotaro to walk side by side. Or if he’ll become a survivor who might feel bad killing people, but kills them regardless. After all, his enemies won’t hold back.
Greatest Shounen?
It’s easy to copy characters or plot beats and make a boring show. Despite that, unique stories aren’t necessarily interesting ones. By implementing familiar ideas well, Tougen Anki is fun but doesn’t risk too much. It will need to do more if it wants a place among the greatest shounen anime, but so far, I have high hopes. I don’t think Shiki will follow Naruto’s arc any more than I think Jin will follow Sasuke’s, even if they start in a similar place.
Plus, if they do, I can drop the anime and complain.
Thanks for coming on this journey with me. If you’re a shounen fan, put Tougen Anki at the top of your to-watch list. It’s that good. Especially if you have a Jujutsu Kaisen-shaped hole in your heart (NSFW).
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