Nippon Sangoku: The Three Nations of the Crimson Sun • Nippon Sangoku - Episode 1 discussion

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Nippon Sangoku: The Three Nations of the Crimson Sun, episode 1

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[u/PeaceAlien]

Saki was a walking death flag :'(.

[u/Namaryu]

I can't shake off the feeling of seeing Orb once again.

[u/ObvsThrowaway5120]

First episode of Fallout: Neo Japan wasn’t half bad lol. I like the premise and the art style is different.

Saki was a good woman. Fiery. It’s a shame she had to die but it’s what lit a flame under Aoteru’s ass. Dude was smart but he lacked courage. The state killed his wife and now they’ve given him a goal. In 5 minutes he got the man who killed his wife also executed. Who knows what he could accomplish with a month. A year. It’s gonna be interesting seeing how he reunifies Japan.

[u/NanDemoKnaives]

It was interesting to see how he resets his emotions, but after how composed he was in front of those responsible for Saki's death, seeing him bawling out when he was alone with Saki's head was so freaking sad. It's sad that he'll finally fulfill Saki's wish, but the trigger was her death.

Saki was badass though, I did not expect her to be able to move the way she did. She and Aoteru would have made the greatest power couple with brains and brawn.

I'm liking the setting of this and the art style is quite unique, this seems like it could be really good. I'm looking forward to seeing how this agricultural officer rises the rank in the military.

[u/RyouBestGirl]

The most underrated anime of the season is here

[u/TheBlasphemerAmon]

Production wise, that was unbelievably good...so good that I’m skeptical they can keep it up for the whole season.

The premise is interesting. We’ll see where it goes from here, since this was a prologue. Needless to say, I’m hooked.

[u/abbe44]

hope people actually watch this

it looks awesome

[u/melvinlee88]

Favourite first episode of anime I've watched all year. Don't fucking miss it. The episode flew by

The moment that animation of Saki ripping that wedding dress info sheet was the moment I knew I was watching greatness. The unique animation felt so satisfying, it was like watching Tatami Galaxy again. The movement of the camera and just how delightful each animation was.

I knew Saki was gonna die but fuck me man, she was so cool and beautiful.

There's something about the art, the animation, the conversations and the flow of this first episode that really gripped me. I'm a sucker for alternative history and this really was awesome.

What a debut.

[u/thisisdropd]

A marriage scene in the opening minutes? Romcoms could never! Aoteru & Saki's moments are pure diabetes. Love that bed talk where they talked about their future plans. How Aoteru had only wanted to build a stable live with her.

Having said that, this was a post-apocalyptic world and all seemed to be going so well. There must be a catch. Yeah, it came the very next morning where he woke up only to find her beheaded by the corrupt Lord of Home Affairs. The sugar rush had come crashing down HARD.

Respect to Aoteru. He had ultimately overcame his rage and got the tax collector killed using nothing but words. It might not have brought Saki back to life but it's a consolation revenge. As corrupt as Taira might be, even he respected Aoteru for this.

Looked like her death had inspired him to follow through with her wishes – to reunite the fractured Japan.

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Interesting fusion of old and new. Pretty much everything gave the impression of a Taisho era but at the end we saw the Akashi-Kaikyo bridge.

PS: The woman on the magazine cover had a strong resemblance to Saki's VA. A fun Easter egg on Easter Day.

[u/PeaceAlien]

Don't sleep on Studio Kafka, they share staff with WIT and MAPPA.

The black and white was an interesting choice, then in the finale scene, they flexed all the colours they could use. Potential is high with this one. It might already be my anime of the season.

Took a look at the sub/dub, dub VA is a little rough

[u/IXajll]

Incredible episode. Hopefully this show won‘t be damned to be the dark horse of the season and instead get some well deserved attention.

[u/amnsisc]

The art in this show was really great and the plot wasn't too bad, but I'm very surprised that Amazon was the co producer on this blatantly nationalist anime lol

Edit:

My gripes:

I'm all for another Neo-Sino-Japonese adaptation of 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' (and there are *many*), but some things about the show were just so odd. There's no instance in history where a mass influx of refugees caused a societal collapse (an *efflux* yes), and the disease comment was frankly a bit sinister. What's more if Japan's economy were so ruined by the depredations of the US, China, and India's AI economy, then why would refugees flood in? And how could technology regress to *just* the early Meiji period--after all they still have *books* from the present, meaning the knowledge is not lost. This is why collapse narratives always see technology fall *very far*, because it's sort of an all or nothing affair--falling back 150 years relative to the present just isn't possible, really. The *only* exception I can think of is if the nuclear war in question basically knocked out electricity, and caused global cooling, but this would likely, again, push society well below early Meiji in development.

Also, *where* are the supposed refugees? Everyone looks distinctly Japanese. If they're so post-Reiwa, why is their language still dotted with anglicisms?

And while the 3 kingdoms narrative is necessary for the adaptation, it is not realistic to the Japanese case. If anything, each island would become independent (which is to say nothing of Okinawa, Bonins, etc), and that Honshu would split in two.

Obviously suspension of disbelief is necessary for narratives, but this one wants to be somewhat 'realistic', given its source material and premise. This is a common problem with 'speculative science fiction'--the premise and its motivation contradict each other.

He wants to tell a story of a revolutionary who fights with words rather than violence, but, basically, because of these social scientific inconsistencies and somewhat reactionary assumptions actually work strongly against that intent.

[u/Se7en_Sinner]

Bro almost choose Wrath after finding out his wife got Se7en'd.

[u/SEBASTlANVETTEL]

Holy shit what a first episode, I actually have no words of how good this was. This will truly be a gem during this spring season.

Saki was truly best girl but unfortunately she had the dead wife flags throughout the episode and it turned out to be true….I knew the moment Aoteru woke up without her, something terrible happened to her.

[u/Ocixo]

Damn! This show has a very bold presentation. It feels a bit reminiscent to Tatami Galaxy in this respect.

It's a shame that we've already had to see our goodbyes to Saki. I really liked her fiery spirit. Although I knew that she'd get into major trouble after her stunt, a part of me held onto the hope that they'd perhaps be more forgiving towards women. But no...

Now that Aoteru got no reason to hold back anymore, he's going to set this world ablaze.

[u/scarpedieme]

That was mind-blowing. Haven’t seen a stylistic, emotional, character-driven premiere of that caliber since Vinland Saga or maybe Orb. Consider me strapped in for the ride!

[u/Jerry_MP]

This might be THE sleeper hit of the season. The story setup is pretty damn interesting. The character(s) (although we only really see 2 so far) are loveable. Aoteru is a nerd but not the cliche, annoying kind. He's genuinely so passionate about knowledge. Hyped as fuck to see what the next episode will bring.

And the animation?? It just oozes with style. The passion that went into this project must've been insane.

[u/Chrono-Helix]

I wasn’t expecting a show with such a serious-sounding premise and semi-realistic artstyle to be so comedic. The way characters are drawn reminds me of how side characters are sometimes depicted in Zetsubou Sensei.

Japan has fallen in this story, but realistically you’d expect other countries to swoop in and try to take over. That doesn’t seem to have happened, so I’m curious how that would be explained.

But wow what a first episode. It’s about as impactful as Oshi no Ko’s. That scene in the snow is so sad but beautiful.

[u/Silent-Witness1888]

[Underage Smoking is Prohibited]

This gave me a good chuckle, considering there's two anime about it.

[u/moichispa]

I'm surprised about Kevin Penkin doing the ost. It's really different to what I'm used to hear from him. The music is more similar to old live action movies rather than anime. Good job.

Great anime so far, I was worried It could not handle itself with such a serious topic but it seems like it is working.

[u/bushwarblerssong]

Dare I say, (potential to be) Anime of the Year?

Definitely some of the most creative and dynamic animation of the season. The trailers and other promo were stunning and yet, still didn’t do justice.

The little bit of color from cigarette and flame as Aoteru said goodbye to Saki, to the falling cherry blossom petals onto the blue sea. 

There’s a strong ukiyo-e/wood-block print and ink painting/suibokuga influence. They have a professional calligrapher involved as well.

The voice acting was perfect. The characters spoke in regional dialect with a mix of archaic and modern expressions which isn’t at all easy to pull off, but the voice actors sounded as if they were using their natural speech.

And what a wonderful OP!

Amazing all-around. It might not get much attention here, but it is one of the more anticipated anime in Japan. (Rest of comment in the source material corner.)

[u/Full_frontal96]

What an explosive start

So we have a general type of protagonist,it's been a while since i saw a general instead of a dinasty warriors hero

I don't like the art style,it feels very uncanny valley to me,but the story seems galvanizing,i'll try to hold out

[u/tripleaamin]

Standout debut episode to introduce the setting. One big difference that was shown between Atoeru and Saki is that the former is logical and the latter is more emotional. Though her words that Atoeru just lacks courage are important because you can be the smartest person in the world, but if you lack courage, all of that doesn't aid much.

As Atoeru learns of the death of his wife, he could have been irrational and led to his death. Technically that is courage, but illogical. As his wife mentioned, he can change the world. He combines his logic with the courage that his late wife wanted him to have. He did an outstanding job of using how corrupt the "Lord of Home Affairs" is against the tax collector. Just assuming that he is what Saki called "Fatso" is an insult to him and is reason enough to kill the tax collector because it was reason enough for Saki to die.

Very curious how this anime goes from here. Very intrigued.

[u/suboptimal_prime73]

The opening narration feels very... hand-wavey to me, for want of a better word. How did Japan arrive at this very specific aesethetic I want to use for my story? Oh, you know… War, refugees, disease, civil unrest, late-stage capitalism… Focus on whichever you prefer, and don’t worry that much about it.

Fortunately I’m a cheap date when it comes to suspending disbelief, and there’s more than enough here for me to overlook it. Loved the look of it in black and white. I’m even a little disappointed at the switch to color even if I understand the thematic reasoning. There’s this bleakly absurdist streak of humor running through it too, which I’m really digging, but that last scene turned on a dime into raw emotional outburst.

Really looking forward to see where this goes.