Burnsy
V.I.P. Member

[size=x-small][font=Verdana, Arial]"Japan, 1955: Mario Minakami has just arrived at Shounan Special Reform School along with five other teenagers who have been arrested on serious criminal charges. All assigned to the same cell, they meet older inmate Rokurouta Sakuragi—a former boxer—with whom they establish a close bond. Under his guidance, and with the promise that they will meet again on the outside after serving their sentences, the delinquents begin to view their hopeless situation in a better light."[/font][/size]
Why do I love this anime? Maybe it's because it's the story of how low life can bring you and then kick you while you're down. Maybe it's because it's also so unfair it makes your blood boil. Maybe it's because you've been hurt, and so you want to hurt the one who's responsible so much it you can't stand it.
[size=medium] [/size][size=large]NO![/size][/align]
It's because it's the story of hopes and dreams and a brotherhood that is built on sacrifice that is stronger than steel which preservers even through this hell. This unbreakable bond is the pillar upon which this anime built it's foundation as one of the best prison stories to be told. Which also puts it miles above some similar sounding shows which just end up being edgy.
There is one character who stands out far above the rest and that is Sakuragi aka "bro". He is the pillar of strength and heart that gives our 6 the will to keep going forward and dream of they day when they're outside. He is one of the best realistic characters to come out of anime. He the score I'd give to the characters up by a whole 1 and a half points. Characters 9/10.
Animation is great especially for a 2010 anime and the tone and character designs fit perfectly well to the theme of the story. There is no action sequences or CGI because this anime is just 100% story driven. There are some cool stylized still images which are shown along with narration for the feels and it did it far better than the likes of HunterxHunter which just made the scene lose impact. Animation - 8.5/10
You could divide this anime down the middle, the before and after a couple of events take place. I feel the anime becomes a lot different in the second half and I felt it was worse but it needed to be done for the ending they wanted for all the characters. If I were to score the story a 9 or 9.5 for the first half it would be a 7.5 for the second half.Overall Story-8.5
It's because it's the story of hopes and dreams and a brotherhood that is built on sacrifice that is stronger than steel which preservers even through this hell. This unbreakable bond is the pillar upon which this anime built it's foundation as one of the best prison stories to be told. Which also puts it miles above some similar sounding shows which just end up being edgy.
"If there's a place inside this world, where hopes and dreams are not yet lost, we'll stand and climb against these wall, we'll fight this fight forever more"- The Opening song
There is one character who stands out far above the rest and that is Sakuragi aka "bro". He is the pillar of strength and heart that gives our 6 the will to keep going forward and dream of they day when they're outside. He is one of the best realistic characters to come out of anime. He the score I'd give to the characters up by a whole 1 and a half points. Characters 9/10.
Animation is great especially for a 2010 anime and the tone and character designs fit perfectly well to the theme of the story. There is no action sequences or CGI because this anime is just 100% story driven. There are some cool stylized still images which are shown along with narration for the feels and it did it far better than the likes of HunterxHunter which just made the scene lose impact. Animation - 8.5/10
You could divide this anime down the middle, the before and after a couple of events take place. I feel the anime becomes a lot different in the second half and I felt it was worse but it needed to be done for the ending they wanted for all the characters. If I were to score the story a 9 or 9.5 for the first half it would be a 7.5 for the second half.Overall Story-8.5
Also if there's one thing that could convince you to watch it, it would be this opening [/align]
[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2SJ2LZMfeM[/video][/align]