Episode 1 Impressions: Laughing Under the Clouds

The Kumoh family of brothers are anything but normal. With a forgotten tragic past, capturing rogue samurai, and serving as transportation to a mysterious prison, there’s quite a bit here to be told.

Synopsis
In the 11th year of Meiji, the samurai is a dying breed.  Laws imposed against the wielding of swords, life is changing for the region.  However there are some that still revolt against the changes made and still wield their swords as criminals.  These people, when captured, and taken to the lake prison of Gokumonji.

The brothers of the Kumoh shrine, Chutaro, Soramaru, and Tenka, are in charge of taking these prisoners across the lake to their new home.  However things always don’t go as planned and the brothers are often called on by the local enforcers to recapture dangerous criminals.

However, when they aren’t moving criminals, they are a regular group of brothers with family issues.  Tenka, the eldest and head of the Kumoh family is very skilled but also took up the role of being a parent to his two younger brothers after their parents died.  Chutaro is the youngest and spends most his time taking orders obediently and attending school.  Soramaru is the 2nd oldest and often pushes to be acknowledged by his brother for his skill and age.

Thoughts
Kicking off introductions for this show, we got quite a colorfully done presentation. The environments are lush and beautiful, and the characters are well done and animated. Even when it throws in some spunk to its action scenes with CG, it’s all well done.

Bringing in the post-samurai setting, the show creates an interesting setting. Not only that, but the suppression of those that seek to keep the samurai spirit alive in criminal action. However the more interesting theme is the prison itself, although we remain in the shadow regarding what is going on in it.

What they definitely managed to do pretty well in this episode was to highlight the brothers and their bonds. While Chutaro was almost overly infant in attitude, the conflict between Soramaru and Tenka was fairly solid. I hope they highlight this more going forward.

While there’s little go on besides these elements, I’m interested in seeing where it goes going forward. I can’t say it’s a solid show, but it’s not doing much wrong either.

This show is streaming on Funimation.com!

Episode 1: Three Brothers, Standing Under the Clouds

NOT BAD, BUT NOT GREAT..

IMPRESSIONS VERDICT:
Okay

Pros:

• Good brother build
• Good visuals
• Interesting setting elements

Cons:

• Bit slow at times
• Very little to draw interest

Impressions are based on a single episode and don’t necessarily reflect the series as a whole. Unless dropped, we will continue to give updates on thoughts and impressions of the series as time goes by.

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Andrew

Co-Founder of OtakuSpirit.com and Co-Host of the OtakuSpirit Animecast. A huge fan of anime since the early 1990s, consuming over 1300 shows. Outside of Otaku Spirit, he has been a judge for the Anime Awards and aided in reviewing titles for some publishers. While he's late to the collecting scene, he's found a lot of joy in filling his DVD/Blu-ray collection as well as collecting figures. Sharing this joy, he posts unboxing and feature videos on anime goods to YouTube.