“Saltpeter” Drifters Review and Recommendations

“The same smile indicates both death and gratitude.”

What happens when the warriors of the past get sent before their deaths to another world,  in hopes to save it or destroy it? Drifters. With the main group of protagonists coming from Japan (Shimazu Toyohisa, Oda Nobunaga & Nasu Yoichi Suketaka), they are plunged into a world not known to them, and once adapting they set out in order to “conquer” the world.

War is the common theme here, and it was not uncommon to see the battles which were hence brought forth from the Drifters. There was a more overlying theme with other warriors of the past being sent to aid the other side (Ends) in order to destroy humanity. But when it came down to it, the smaller scale battles were some of the most enjoying. Seeing everything play out via the view of the Drifters was both informative and thrilling to watch. With different tactics and strategies used, it was nice to learn about how they fought in the past and the values they withheld while doing so.

The animations were probably on the unique side of drawing. It emphasized more of the characters and their literal actions, with a more “mature” animation style. This also played into the fact that the whole story doesn’t shy away from all the blood and gore within killing others in war. The world seemed really dull (because it wasn’t a happy one), and the colors used matched this really well. The only other times in which this changed, when they were going for more comedic moments, showing all the quirky sides of the drifters which actually fit very well into context,  despite the situation that they were in.

OP/ED: The OP for Drifters was more of an uncommon one for anime. With it not being sued every episode, as well as having been entirely in English (It was done by a western band), it adds to that uncommon anime that Drifters is. This being matched with 2 different art styles, with the OP being more similar to the anime and the ED being more painted based. Despite this difference, they both fell quite in place as Drifters did originally have a different animations style than other anime out there.

Drifters Was it Good?

Drifters turned out to be a pretty damn good anime if you enjoy watching action, war based anime. The animations really set the tone for the whole series and the colors only emphasized that fact. The characters themselves provide to be the highlight, with their different values, experienced knowledge and also comedic moments it created a wholesome season of anime to watch.

Recommendations: There are a bunch of anime which take after war, and the atrocities which occur in them. This being matched with similar art styles and animations in terms of blood being spilt and body parts flying everywhere, does set it into a genre that may not be for everyone, but if you do enjoy it, you’ll enjoy drifters, thus I recommend the following:

• Fate/Zero
• Akame Ga Kill
• Berserk
• Claymore