Tokyo Ravens

Plot

Onmyodou magic was once a powerful technique which was used by the Japanese during World War II. Later, infamous onmyoji Yakou Tsuchimikado performed a ritual known as the 'Taizan Fukun Ritual', which will eventually bring out Japan as a formidable force. However, the ritual goes horribly wrong and the result of this becomes what is now known as the "Great Spiritual Disaster", an incident which haunts the entire Japanese continent till date. In addition to this, the Onmyo Agency was established to monitor supernatural activity in the area and to combat any spirits or demons that would make their way into the real world.

In the present day, onmyodou has become more refined, simplified and modernised, even finding its use in the fields of medicine and technology. But not everyone are capable of affording this power, as can be seen in the case of Harutora, a member of one of the Tsuchimikado's branch families, who was born with no spiritual power. Despite being born to a distinguished onmyoji family, his life has become meaningless as he can accomplish nothing without any spiritual power. But he does remember the fact about him making a promise with his estranged childhood friend Natsume, the Tsuchimikado's family heir and Yakou's supposed reincarnation. Despite his background, living a normal and peaceful life is what Harutora ever wants. But when a group of people from the Onmyo Agency attempt to recreate the same tragedy that led to Japan's downfall two years ago, he decides to take matters into his own hands by fighting alongside Natsume as her shikigami (familiar).

Light novels

Tokyo Ravens began as a series of light novels by Kōhei Azano, author of Black Blood Brothers, with illustrations by Sumihei; 14 volumes have been released as of December 2015. The first volume of a side-story series titled Tokyo Ravens EX was published on July 20, 2013; four volumes have been released as of October 2016.

Manga

Tokyo Ravens inspired the creation of six manga series based on the light novels. The first one, Tokyo Ravens, was illustrated by Atsushi Suzumi. It began in December 2010, and was serialized in Shōnen Ace. The chapters have been collected into eight volumes. It follows the main story of the light novels. The second manga series, Tokyo Ravens: Tokyo Fox was illustrated by COMTA and published in Fujimi Shobo's Age premium in 2011. It features an original story focused on Kon. The third series, Tokyo Ravens: Red and White, is a manga spinoff by Azumi Mochizuki. It was serialized in Kadokawa's Monthly Dragon Age and concluded in the November 2013 issue. The fourth series, Tokyo Ravens: Sword of Song, is a manga spinoff by Ran Kuze. Its serialization began in the November 2013 issue of Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Rival. The fifth series, Tokyo Ravens -Girls Photograph-, started serialization in Kadokawa's Monthly Dragon Age in the January 2014 issue. It focuses on the female characters of the series. The sixth and the latest series, Tokyo Ravens AnotherXHoliday started in Kadokawa's shojo magazine Millefeui in the February 2014 issue. It focuses on the male characters of the series.

Anime

An anime adaption aired in Japan from October 6, 2013 to March 26, 2014, produced by 8-Bit and directed by Takaomi Kansaki. Funimation has licensed the series for English release. The first opening theme is "X-encounter" by Maon Kurosaki and the first ending theme is "Kimi ga Emu Yūgure" (君が笑む夕暮れ) by Yoshino Nanjō. The second opening theme is "Outgrow" by Gero and the second ending theme is "Break a spell" by Mami Kawada.

Reception

In Anime News Network's Fall 2013 Anime Preview Guide, reviewers Rebecca Silverman and Theron Martin gave the series an initial rating of 2 out of 5 stars, while reviewers Carlo Santos and Carl Kimlinger gave the series an initial rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars. Martin commented that "the artistic effort is wholly unimpressive beyond the yukata that Hokuto wears and the CG creations stand out too starkly against the regular animation. Director Takaomki Kanasaki is quite capable of producing fun, stylish fare (as he proved with Is This a Zombie?), but this definitely does not qualify. Only some decent early character development saves this one from the garbage pile," while Santos gave a slightly more positive review, stating that "Tokyo Ravens is nothing special, but it isn't horrible, either. This supernatural adventure series employs all the usual trappings of the genre, but does so without making a mess of the story or throwing too many ideas in. In fact, it even spends a good amount of time on the characters' day-to-day lives, instead of rushing them into the action." Silverman praised the series' art and character designs, as well as the series' use of both 2D and 3D CGI graphics, but concludes that "right now it feels like a hodgepodge of ideas that hasn't quite gotten itself grounded yet," while Kimlinger criticized the series' poor start and use of clichés, stating that "watching Tokyo Ravens is probably the closest you'll get to experiencing precognition. In a show that gets the desired effect from its tropes, that wouldn't be a problem. But Ravens only does its tropes half-right."