91 Days has 13 episodes including a post flashback episode that gives a little more life to the characters. Each about 25 minutes long, this show is for mature audiences as it contains scenes of violence and death of children. If those things bother you in any way then I recommend not watching this anime. If that doesn’t bother you then read on.
There’s an old saying about “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” It is to imply that should a person seek revenge, they should dig a grave for their target and for themselves. As feeding into vengeance is killing yourself. In the anime 91 Days, he digs more than just two graves but the original point is all the same and heavily implemented.
91 Days takes place in southern Illinois in the fictional town of Lawless, during the time of Prohibition, a.k.a the rise of organized crime in America. One night, young Angelo witnesses his entire family being murdered including his younger brother at the hands of three men on the night of his birthday. He alone escaped that night, only to the hesitancy of one of the shooters. He lived as an empty shell for seven years until he receives a letter from an anonymous sender, detailing the names of the men who killed his family and where to find them. And for the first time in a while, he has a spark of life burning in him. He sets out on his quest for revenge in a time where the law was more broken than any.
What’s most interesting about this show is that it’s performed by Japanese voice actors, but the things they say are Italian-American expressions. Everything in the show is very Americana, referring to the aesthetic styles and cultures associated with the history of America, the scenes and the culture that is portrayed in the show are very authentic. But with the characters being voiced in Japanese it provides an intriguing juxtaposition albeit in just an audio sense.
It’s almost eerie how well the creators captured this little slice of Americana and made a more interesting series about Prohibition and Italian mafia than some American studios, certainly more interesting than the Godfather movies (yeah, I said it. Fight me over it.) It just goes to show how much better a piece of media can be by doing the proper research on whatever culture, time period and incorporating it into your work. Of course, there’s a certain threshold where that becomes unnecessary and the whole thing becomes convoluted but that’s for another time. The point being that Shuka (the studio that created 91 Days) did their research and made an original show with a genuine feel to it.
If you have a thing for drama and action then this show oughta fill your quota on both. The lengths Angelo goes to in his thirst for revenge is unlike anything I’ve seen in a TV show or movie. I don’t want to give anything away if you’ve decided to watch it, but I’ll say that at one point it becomes almost counter productve. If you have the time I highly recommend watchng this series, I hope you enjoy it!
