Jyu-Oh-Sei - Reviews

So…this is somewhat a fascinating sci-fi anime title from Studio BONES, the guys that brought you Wolf’s Rain, Eureka Seven & Xam’d, based on the manga series written and illustrated by Natsumi Itsuki.
On that, the plot of the series is that three hundred and fifty years have passed since humans first settled the Balkan star system, located approximately 150 light years from Earth, where a number of planets have been "terraformed" to resemble Earth. Two 11-year-old twins, Thor and Rai, live on the space colony Juno until they come home to find their parents have been murdered. The unknown assassins drop Thor and Rai on Chimaera, a secret planet used as a penal colony where day and night last 181 days each and the planet are marked by extreme weather patterns.

In other words, the plants dominate the ecosystem of the planet and have many defensive techniques as well as carnivorous varieties as a hazard to the people. In the society, there are 4 groups of humans called “Rings” that plays as governs via the Ochre Ring, Sun Ring, Blanc Ring and Noire Ring, which are based on skin color. Each ring is led by three people: the Top, Second, and Third, with the Top as the leader.
On characters, there isn’t a strong point on that faction. For example, take the main character Thor (yes, his name is Thor; I’ll spare the Marvel jokes and there is also the usage of names from Norse Mythology i.e. Odin, Loki, Heimdall) who at first seem like a weakling and eventually grow to be a stronger character than he was. Rai, on the other hand, isn’t much of a highlight considering he was annoying, whiny, and did slowed Thor down at some times and also was the first to die by the plants. That wasn’t really much of a spoiler; he gets killed off in the first episode. Tiz is an interesting character but there isn’t much motivation from her besides that she wants to marry Thor and have his children since on the planet since women make up 20% of the population and the chosen mate is not allowed to refuse. Third is a bit of a shifty character and it seems like he really can’t be trusted and without revealing anything, we can’t really be sure upon that. The other characters aren’t worth mentioning considering some get killed off quickly and/or we either don’t know much about them, making us not really care for their lives.
The series is only about 11 episodes and for me, the pace is a little too quick. I get that there isn’t filler and that is a plus but most of the time, they would leave out some important details that could’ve help the series progressed but it’s very flawed on that detail, much like Eden of the East and their follow-up movies.

The animation by BONES is actually good. The jungle scenery and sets has a realistic feel to it and the character designs are a bit jarring, especially with the designs of Thor and Rai, which I first assume was effeminate males although that design isn’t exactly new and then again, their child versions are voiced by a female voice actor so there’s no harm done. The background music was okay at the time but I really didn’t like the opening theme that has a taste of ‘90s boy band music and I really detest that kind of music but the ending was much better suited for where it’s at.
FINAL VERDICT: This was an okay series that really should’ve extended its episode count by at least about 3-4 episodes or even some extra OVAs. The pacing goes rapid and leaves out some details that could’ve been used for later. Some characters you can’t really care about when most of them might die after an episode or two or we just forget about them until the next time they appear. I would say to watch this, just to past the time.
So, Planet of the Beast King has earn the rating of 6/10 PLANET TYRO Rating: VANILLA

Jyu-Oh-Sei is a solid story that's intriguing, and tightly told (no fat). There are no characters starring off at lotus blossoms to force depth where none exists, no side philosophies that muddle the narrative, and no redundant themes unless they are core to the story. Planet of the Beast King feels like a 26 episode series, cut into 11, but successfully. What made this work so well and why couldn't it achieve 5 stars? Let's get to it.

***PROS***

PACING:
As stated above, this is a trimmed storyline that doesn't waste the time given to it. After establishing an alien world, how it works and the characters, we time jump, informing the audience that although years have passed on a turbulent world, nothing crucial to the story occurred during that time. I would have liked to have seen more, but they didn't get a long show. I applaud them for not wandering aimlessly or just ending halfway through the story with a sign at the end saying, "Congratulations. Thanks for playing. Presented by Capcom. Buy the Manga."

STORY:
Don't be confused by the use of pagan mythos infused in the names of this show (the main characters name is Thor/there's a doctor called Loki). There are small similarities, but they don't rely heavily on mythology or derive too much from it. Thor and his brother live on a space station, find their parents killed and are banished to a hostile planet, ruled by the plant life, and packed full of humanities unwanted. Survival becomes paramount and Thor vows to find the answers surrounding his banishment. The storyline takes us from survival to death duels for leadership, internal politics, love triangles, and eventually to the long awaited answers to Thor's banishment. While the love triangle may seem absurd to most, it's actually a well structured Shakespearian lovers' quarrel, where mistaken identities, changing perspectives and devious half truths corrupt the main characters and destroy their emotional egos sending them into chaos. When you come across that chapter, try to remember that perspective and the scenes and events then carry a very tasteful gravity.

***CONS***
This is less about complaints and rather, why it doesn't get 5 stars.

CHARACTERS:
Thor and the rest of the cast are original when compared to most anime's out there, but not when compared to stories as a whole. They fit tightly into place and tell the story well, but this anime could have had a powerful effect (like Berserk) if they deepened them a little more.

MUSIC:
The opening title music means very little to the actually execution of a show, but I've come to realize that in the anime world, a lot of emphasis is placed on them. This show's is a joke. The opening music piece sounds like an early Back Street Boys track. It has no place in the mood of the series and makes you take it less seriously every time to hear it. The soundtrack to the show is adequate, but a broader, bolder theme could have amplified this and carried it's scenes to epicness.

It's a shame that a couple of extra episodes to add meat to the storyline, deeper characters and a sweeping score are all that keep this from a 5. Still, it's a solid story, very credible anime and cheap success. Enjoy.

This one was a surprise enjoyment. The Summery of it makes it seem rather dull. But the character development and interaction with one another was pretty darn good. It even managed to surprise me a little as well. Which is a HUGE accomplishment because I almost always "see it coming" None of the characters really annoyed me so that was another accomplishment for this anime as well. Tiz was a little annoying but I could see why she was being whiny so it wasn't all that bad.

I found it a little weird that it only had 11 episodes so I though that the end was going to be rushed or just not really end. Nothing about this was rushed which made me feel good at the end. I still have to think a little more about the ending but it was what I expected and very fitting. I even went back and watched the last few minutes of the last episode to make my thoughts more complete about it and I'm satisfied.

I really like killer plants! ....Sorry the RE fan in me came out a little there.... :P

I didn't find the music all that great but here's a neet little fact I found out. The voice actor for Thor was the same person singing the opening theme "how deep is your heart" Kōichi Dōmoto.... Wish I could say I liked the song but I didn't.

This is a must watch for people who love sci-fi shows.

Jyu Oh Sei left me speechless in several ways. This anime had a nice plot, pretty solid animation, good voice actors, and some really in depth characters. I would say Jyu Oh Sei was such a great anime, up until episode 10. Then you will be covered with so many plot twist that it's not even funny, it literally changed the way I had felt about every character previous to those two episodes and from me being extremely attached to those characters, this was really hard to accept as an ending. I have to say that I'm more dissapointed with the ending of this anime than any other anime I've seen. Jyu Oh Sei had so much going for it, it's a shame it fell to pieces towards the end. Ironically the ending did however tie up many loose ends, which is something most animes fail to do.

In any case, I will say that this anime is definitly worth a watch and if you're not hooked within the first two episodes I would drop it. I would have loved to give this anime score of 9, which it easily could have been with a better ending but oh well; just don't get to attached to any of the characters. If you do it'll leave you hurting more than likely. 

So I really liked this one. It had a good story, even though the ending was ok and ended on a sad note for many characters. I loved the animation for this story, it was nice and crisp with really bold lines and much detail. Music was very likeable, opening and ending music was very well done. The opening theme had to have been done by a boy band, if not then it definately had that vibe. All characters had well done backgrounds even though some you didnt know about till later on or in case of one at the very end. I do like how this anime universe used Norse mythology for many of the character names, mostly key characters. Over all it was a great anime to watch, I just wished it actually had more episodes and was expanded on.