Long review is long; don’t tell me you haven’t been warned.


“Ryo” is the tale of the titular character. A samurai’s son during the somewhat-later days of the turbulent Bakumatsu Era before the Japanese Revolution, he loses his parents during a British attack on his seaside hometown. Suddenly orphaned, he is taken in and trained by a samurai with contact to Sakamoto Ryouma (one of the politically more important figures of the time), and ends up as a bodyguard to the latter.

It’s less an actual tale of the era than an individual tale, one of characters during chaotic times. Sure enough, historical figures do pop up more than one, and the historical background is definitely there and researched well from what is seen. Not that much is seen of it, though. Quite a couple historical “milestones” (e.g. the Ikedaya Inn incident, if anyone’s familiar with the times) get dropped entirely, which is odd for a Bakumatsu-setting anime.

What am I trying to say? It’s a piece with historical background, but I wouldn’t primarily state it as a historical piece. If you’re aiming to get the really grand picture behind this movie, some basic knowledge about the era would be necessary, but everything relevant to the superficial plot basically explains itself via dialogue, character interaction, or visuals. Rather than being history-centric, “Ryo” is a movie focused on drama and characters.

It’s quite short for that. At just around half an hour, it’s not much longer than the average episode of a longer series. (From what I understand from ANN and various other sites, it is actually but a part of a longer movie--though one patched together from several half-hour works which are not connected with each other, so you’re not missing out on any important info.) It’s far more extense and complete than the average episode of a longer-running series, though.

The storyline in itself is quite simple. It does stick to historical occurrences, yet there’s little emphasis on political involvements and intrigues unfolding; “Ryo”, as I already said, focuses far more on character dynamics and development.

Those characters are bunch both funny and tragic. Funny, because of a couple weird lines and funny traits and odd situations they get themselves in; tragic because of the times, because of the troubles they face, and how they manage to pull through.

The main character’s practically a kid, orphaned and scarred by the war; but he’s a samurai’s son after all, so he’s trying to be strong and make do. His reactions, to both people and situations, show how much the troubled times have formed him. The odd kind of sensible trust he puts in his guardian; his reactions to various happenings... It’s realistic, rather than overdramatised, and the drama along with the character development is definitely there.

Character relationships and dynamics are very well-conveyed, as well as interesting; there's a couple quite beautiful and subtly-touching moments between the main character and his guardian. Not to mention it’s nice to see the Ryouma side of historical stuff ;). (Most Bakumatsu-era anime and manga focus on the Shinsengumi side of things, which is interesting, don’t get me wrong, but seeing a different take is already interesting simply because it’s rare.)

The dialogue is very good; the script conveys the characters well, works along with their dynamics, and gets funny, relaxing, and serious moments across all the same. Explanations for historical stuff are always there without being hammered home, and it helps that thirty minutes is far too little time for anything to really be repeated. The voice-acting is excellent as well.

I can’t complain about the animation either. It’s up-to-date, easy on the eyes, smooth, and to me at least looks pretty bug-free. The music is well-timed and fits the scenes, adding to the atmosphere. I found it to blend into the background a bit much at times, but that’s nitpicking, and it could as well have been due to the loudspeakers. -.-"

The line-art is simple but clear, and the colouring very good, pretty realistic (except for the overly clean-ness of streets etc. that seems to show in any and all historical anime ^^"), and very warmly-colourful in particular scenes. There’s great detail, and it’s definitely easy on the eyes all in all.

For the entertainment, the main factor sure is the drama and character development/bonding. That doesn’t mean that’s all, however. There’s the uniqueness, the different approach to the historical era (though that’s probably just me ^^"), and even if you couldn’t care less about historical facts, there’s a couple really funny scenes, along with bits of action strewn between, and the emotional hook as well, short as this movie may be.

“Ryo” is a history-based tale, and it is one of samurai. More than that though, it’s the tale of a kid in times of trouble. There’s a somewhat melancholic tone throughout, a tone of loneliness and searching, beautiful moments of bonding, of holding on, and there’s always the main character’s insecurities beneath--not obvious per se, yet there’s a couple scenes that hit pretty hard. It’s practically an animated example on how war can influence and shape someone. Not that it’d ever take on a Clannad After Story tearjerker style, but it’s subtly touching, the kind of emotional hook that’s deeply rooted less in outward occurrences than in the characters themselves, their interaction, their reactions, their emotional and mental development, the dialogue.

“Ryo” is a pretty short work of animation, and a rather simple one on the surface; yet to me, it’s better than quite a few longer-running period drama pieces--simply because it goes beyond the flashy battles and even the political intrigue of the times to show the human side of things and a human reaction to all the troubles, strange as that may sound at first.

The only qualms I’d have would be two aspects of the story; first, I think Oryo (Ryouma’s female travel companion/friend/I’m still not so very sure who she actually is ^^") could have had a slightly bigger role IMHO; second, the end is a bit arguable. There is closure, mind you, but it’s more the emotional/character development kind than closure actually pertaining to historical events or similar. Action fans e.g. might find themselves a bit disappointed. But that’s as far as I go with this review, else I’ll spoil something.

Anyone who likes history-based tales, especially the short, simple, quietly touching variety of which, or works with beautiful character development and bonding (slightly like Sword of the Stranger in that sense), give this a try. It is rather calm much of the time, so even if there’s funny scenes, the comedy isn’t over-the-top, and there is somewhat less action than one might expect from the tags, but it’s beautiful all in all. As for me, I didn’t expect the turns this movie took, but I love the result.

Thanks for the read.~ (show less)