Yatagarasu: A Game of Poisoned Smiles and Royal Catfights

In Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master, life is a game. A game where sharp swords and painted smiles move courtly playing pieces. Quick wits and a poker face will keep you — and your fragile reputation — alive.

Yamauchi is a land of three-legged crow people, the yatagarasu. Sure, they all look like regular samurai period drama stand-ins, but don’t let them fool you. A brief encounter with a giant crow will give you ornithophobia faster than you can say, “Kentucky Fried Pigeon!”

Yamauchi is also a land of intrigue, where four young noblewomen compete for the hand of the crown prince. Into this political powder keg steps Yukiya, a teenager with a lot of attitude and less common sense. It’ll be fun watching him get into all sorts of trouble.

Yatagarasu reminds me of A Song of Ice and Fire, the novel series by George R. R. Martin that inspired HBO’s Game of Thrones (2011-2019). Both have a massive cast and courtly intrigue. And minor elements of fantasy that give the story a unique flavor rather than distracting from the story.

The Players Gather in Yatagarasu

Yatagarasu has an enormous cast of characters. You’ll know you’re into the show when you start noticing when a character gets their name and title splashed across the screen. It took me two stabs at the first three episodes to get a proper grip on who the white-ribbon lady was, but I regret nothing. You don’t want its story to leave you behind as the drama unfolds.

Like Game of Thrones, we have fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins from many kingdoms. Yatagarasu has five kingdoms with easy-to-remember names based on the cardinal points of the compass, with at least one lead character and two supporting characters from each. Add to that retainers, handmaidens, guards, gofers, and possibly a few horse-crows. You can smell the large production budget, right? If Rolodexes are still a thing, you’ll need one — or the official Yatagarasu website — to keep up.

A Yatagarasu Primer

Here are some of the main characters in alphabetical order:

• Asebi (Rina Honnizumi) — The sheltered second princess of the East Family. She’s having a hard time keeping up with her experienced adversaries.
• Hamayu (Hiroki Nanami) — Buy the first princess of the South Family another drink. She can take it.
• Masuho no Susuki (Ayaka Fukuhara) — The West Family’s first princess. If arrogance were a superpower, she’d be Super Bitch. She’s ready to work hard to attract the prince’s attention.
• Natsuka (Satoshi Hino) — He’s the Emperor’s first son, making him Emperor 2.0. His superpower is political scheming and encouraging the killing off the competition. He’s a monk, which would be handy if his royal hands weren’t already spotlessly clean.
• Omurasaki no Omae (Atsuko Tanaka) — The Empress plays the courtly game best. Her power is giving male viewers goosebumps. She wants to see her son Natsuka succeed her husband.
• Shiratama (Rie Kugimiya) — The third princess of the North Family seems as cold and distant as the northern lands she comes from. I’m not buying it.
• Wakamiya (Miyu Irino) — He is the Crown Prince of Yamauchi and is rumored to be the true golden raven. Too bad he’s such a tool. He’s the guy who gets to pick a wife from the four hopefuls.
• Yukiya (Mutsumi Tamura) — The adopted second son of a North Region governor. He’s a punk kid with an attitude (when he’s not working hard at playing the game of life).

A Courtly Drama for Rebel Punks

We’ve all got built-in BS detectors. Yukiya’s finely tuned BS detector won’t let him eat up the steaming-hot lies people are serving up. For a show that initially seemed focused on courtly maneuvering and veiled comments (also known as BS), Yatagarasu surprised me with Yukiya’s perspective. Did we need an everyman like Yukiya to shake things up? Or does Yukiya help ease us into Yatagarasu’s weird world? Or is he around for comedic relief? Yes. All of the above.

Yatagarasu respects your BS detector and sets up a dynamic courtly battle that is as believable as it is watchable. Based on the premise, I expected the pompous drama would put me off. Instead, I soon invested in the show.

Good Anime Deserves Watching

If you enjoy period drama, samurai stories, or political intrigue, then Yatagarasu is for you. If none of these genres ping your radar, give it a chance, regardless. It’s good. Masterworks like Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master are worth your attention.

Pierrot produces Yatagarasu with Tetsufumi Hotta at the helm. The anime is adapted from the novel Karasu wa Aruji o Erabanai, written by Chisato Abe. The novel series is massive, including ten novels and two adjacent stories set in the world. The anime adaptation has twenty episodes, so you’re in for hours of entertainment.

Fun Fact: Chisato Abe, Yatagarasu’s author, was born in Gunma prefecture. The same prefecture J-List calls home!

You can watch Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master on Crunchyroll with the original Japanese voice acting. Multiple subtitle options are available. Yatagarasu earns a decisive five on the Chibi Megumi bar for telling an eternal story. Give it a go and share it with your anime-phobic friends because Yukiya and Asebi are relatable characters anyone can get behind.

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