91 Days is one of those series that I specifically recommend to people who don’t usually like anime.
I love anime and I am up front about it. I hold movies like Akira and Princess Mononoke in the same regard that classic film buffs hold Citizen Kane or Casablanca. But I recognize that anime as a genre has its limitations. Many are held turned away by tropes that don’t have universal appeal; young love, fan service, stopping fights for dialogue, etc.
91 Days is special because it uses anime as an art style and nothing else. It is essentially nothing more than a hand drawn gangster tale.
The series follows Angelo Lagusa, an Italian-American during Prohibition in a fictional(?) American town of Lawless. Sometime in April of 1921, he hides in a closet to surprise his parents when a group of men barge into his home and accost his family. One of them, Vincent Vanetti informs Angelo’s father that he has murdered the don and threatens him over a ledger. The argument escalates and leads to the death of Angelo’s entire family while he barely escapes.
Seven years later, Angelo receives a letter from someone claiming to be close to his father. In it, the sender reveals the identities of the killers and guides Angelo back to Lawless under the alias Avilio Bruno. With his kindhearted childhood friend (and bootleg liquor savant) Corteo, they must infiltrate Vanetti family and destroy it from within. The series follows Angelo’s reluctant but growing friendship with the mob he’s set out to destroy, and the high price of revenge.
91 Days unashamedly draws influences from every famous mob movie you can name. There are shades of The Godfather, The Untouchables, and even The Departed. The line between paying homage and outright theft can be blurry, but 91 Days falls on the right side of it. It’s familiar enough that you see the influences, but original enough that you enjoy it as a fresh product.
There’s violence and killing, but this is a series primarily driven by character development and suspense. 91 Days spans only 12 episodes, so I applaud it for making most of the characters memorable even if the minor ones get mere minutes of screen time. Some characters appear so sparsely that the viewer can forget their names, but it only takes a few seconds to reorient yourself and follow along so I give it a pass.
Yet every death feels significant. The writers have humanized vile men to the point that it’s hard to just think, “they had it coming”. The emotions I felt as each character meets their well deserved ends must be what Shakespeare tried to instill in his many tragedies. And without spoiling anything, the last episode takes a very rewarding chance which elevates the series as a whole.
You’ll notice that I said this is an anime I’d recommend to non-anime viewers, not a great anime overall. There’s reasons for that.
As good as it is, it’s still very “paint by the dots” mob series. It’s hard for me to point out anything about 91 Days (other than the time period) that sets it apart from other anime. It’s the anime equivalent of Narcos; so bombastic that you forget that it’s kinda bland. It falls short of such masterpieces as Psycho-Pass (the other non-anime anime I recommend) because of this. I understand that being realistic limits what you can do, but still.
Also, Angelo/Avilio is THE most boring character in the entire series.
He is the caricature of Batman that everyone likes to mock; badass and brooding with very little complexity. Even the one scene that shows the consequences of his thirst for revenge happens so late in the series that it’s inconsequential.
The Kristen Stewart of anime
If you aren’t normally an anime fan, then this series will still rock your socks. I recommend watching it as a “jumping-off” point for anyone open to exploring more anime in the future.
Otherwise, hardcore fans who were enthralled with other short real/semi-real series like Psycho-Pass or Death Note will be a little disappointed.
