Anime: Jormungand Review

Jormungand follows Koko, a Russian weapons dealer, and her band of well trained body guards, who consists of ex army veterans and spies. She travels around the world selling weapons for HCLI, a shipping company that secretly sells weapons, while avoiding government agencies. The story begins when Jonah, a child soldier, joins her crew in order to solve a few of his own problems. As they make their way through the world's arm trade, they end up confronting just about every foe possible.

Story

Spoiler

Jormungand is an anime that is packed with action without being too gritty and dark, though from time to time it can get fairly dark for its semi-light tone that it has for what it portrays. Unlike most action anime that revolve around the action and anything related with it, Jormungand is filled with plenty of moments of comedy from time to time, normally shown by character relationships. In this aspect it is different than most but contains enough of what a viewer would expect of a show full of guns, the arms trade, and overall action.

The plot of the show is not the primary focus of the anime, as every two to three episodes tells a story on its own,normally a mission per arc deal, with an over arching plot being present. The story goes on to tell of the kinds of deals that Koko and her friends are involved in. Which could range from transporting cargo through Iraq and engaging in combat with other soldiers, to getting in firefights within the middle of cities with assassins or military officers. The overall plot can be summed down to acquiring world peace, which is Koko's overall object in the story. The episodic nature of the anime works well, yet it feels as though more could have been achieved if the story was more prominent.

Which is rather contradictory, as a person normally does not go about achieving world peace through violence, which makes Koko a sort of an anti-hero. However the way Koko goes about doing it is rather genius not to mention risky and contradictory. Jormungand itself it a show driven by the characters, and with the large amount of characters that are presented and have an impact on the overall plot, its no surprise that the story tends to take a backseat for portions of the show.

A good portion of the show focuses on the relations that Koko and her squad have with each other and the adversaries that they face. Typically the relationships that Koko has with the agencies trying to manipulate and/or take her down. What makes the relationship with the agencies so interesting is that Koko neither tries to avoid them or take them down, depending on what they do. Rather she manipulates them into playing right into her hand in order to to either destroy them or use them for her plans.

The large issue some may have with this anime is that it takes the arm trade business and makes it appear like its not. Jormungand makes the entire business more fun than it actually is compared to the dark reality that it really is. Considering that the entire anime revolves around the arms trade, it seems to take it rather lightly, which may or may not, depending on the viewers expectations of the show be a bit of a disappointment or even an enhancement to the viewing experience. The other being that some of the arcs have connections to each other that are not even shown to exist until the very end, which lead to a feeling of disappointment at how much better the story would have been if the connections were actually stated in some way.

Characters

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Considering the large cast of characters there is no point in going over them all. However there are several that should get attention as the story is very much character driven.

Koko Hekmatyar
Koko is a rather unique woman for her age and profession, charismatic and intelligent enough to fool her enemies into becoming her pawns, Koko has a bit of a messiah complex when it comes to her ideals and how she makes them a reality. She is a very cheerful character, even acting immature at times, though her cheery look is just a facade, in reality Koko never reveals her true emotions, in fear of scaring away here friends. Though later it becomes apparent that Koko is a megalomaniac in regards to how she goes about completing her plan of world peace.

At the beginning Koko comes off as a rather odd individual who does not fit in the role she is given, however as the story progresses viewers get to see that see is a mastermind that can predict everyone's move. At the same time its her very eccentricities that make her likeable, though this could very much be a double edge sword as she is not very believable as a character that is supposed to be a feared arms dealer. An the other side, her child like side can be a nice refresher in scenes where there is no action. Her motivations and her actions match but only due to her crazed rationality that she gives for her plans to bestowing world peace upon the world. Which only adds on to her fascinating personality.

Jonah Mar
Jonah is a child soldier who joins Koko's group and ironically hates guns as well as arms dealers due to his experiences with them. Quiet and mature for his age, Jonah is unlike most his age, not being bothered by killing others when necessary. However his age does show from time to time, showing that he isn't as emotionless as he first appears. Though he lacks any real knowledge when it comes to math, he is a perceptive individual, who sticks by Koko's side through thick and thin.

While it does seem odd that a child soldier be in a group of top body guards full of ex-soldiers, and while Jonah himself seems a bit out of place at first he does serve a purpose. He acts like a release valve for Koko, she teeters the line of becoming a monster but tries her hardest not to, that's where Jonah comes in. Jonah allows Koko to be her childish self and she loves showering him with physical affection. While Jonah's hatred for arms dealers and his actions are different, his motivation for doing being a part of Koko's troop is actually justified, as he wanted nothing more but the safety of his child friends, that he knew a long time ago.

George Black
Almost always referred to as Bookman, he always keeps calm is the a Chief in the CIA who runs operation Undershaft in order to use Koko as a pawn for the CIA. A former marine, he is a heavy eater and is rarely seen outside the show.

While Bookman only makes appearances on occasion, he is in fact the person behind some of the events in the story. Using numerous contacts and even spies in an elaborate scheme in order for the CIA to use Koko as they please. The major problem us that he makes too few appearances throughout both seasons, being the mastermind behind project Undershaft, more emphasis should have been placed on his influence over certain events.

Animation

Spoiler

The animation studio that worked on Jormungand was White fox, though they have not worked any many anime, they have done a few notable ones, such as Steins;Gate, Katanagatari, and Akame ga Kill. All of the firefights within the show are fluid and solid, while almost all the time appear realistic for gun fights, rather than people just running around shooting guns. Outside of the fight scenes the animation is solid and does its job when it needs too. Example below.

YouTube

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack does a good job of pumping the fight scenes with more adrenaline, while providing the appropriate atmosphere to scenes outside of the action. However few songs actually stand out, one of them being the first opening of series.
 

YouTube

Personal Enjoyment

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Coming it this anime expecting a good action anime, Jormungand certainly delivered, the fight scenes where realistic and filled with action. The character interactions were entertaining on part of the comedy and whenever Koko was on the screen. It balanced action, story, and appropriate levels of comedy nicely and it was enjoyable.

Review Score

Spoiler

8.0

Though the action was solid and the comedy was a nice refresher to the anime, the problem lies within  some of the characters themselves. While some of the characters get nice development and are fleshed out nicely, there others that aren't. Beyond Koko's crew, most characters that are introduced and have interesting personalities that are unlike the archetypes that appear in anime, lack proper development. They are simply introduced and appear where ever necessary in the plot, but rarely they get a decent back story, which is disappointing as Jormungand is a character driven show. Some of the more prominent antagonists, like Bookman, don't get sufficient screen time, while its said he pulls strings here and there for his plans, the show never really goes in depth into how he goes about it. Also if people come into Jormungand expecting another Black Lagoon, they might be pleased or disappointed.  Jormungand does not have the same dark tone as Black Lagoon and keeps lighter tone overall.

Personal Score

Spoiler

8.3

Personally I would have liked to have seen more character development, considering the show focuses on its characters, while its plot takes a back seat from time to time. The relationships between some of the characters certainly made the show much more interesting and remains one of the highlights and its weaknesses. As for the action scenes, I was hardly disappointed and enjoyed its more realistic take on firefights. A good watch for anyone looking for a action heavy anime with a wide cast of charming characters.

I'll give it a shot. Looks interesting enough.

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Look at all the threads that aren't reviews.

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Only Cheat can make threads in News.

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Really?

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Speaking of: I'm about to whip up the permissions so you can do just that.

Ayy, does it come with a nameplate?

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Only Cheat can make threads in News.

Really?

Yep, unless you have the special privilege to do so, but only people that have put up enough reviews get it.

Speaking of: I'm about to whip up the permissions so you can do just that.

Ayy, does it come with a nameplate?

Si.

_{damn it, is on my list.}

Very good review, I enjoyed watching it quite a lot. I would recommend it.

personal favorite OST

YouTube

Easily one of my favourite shows <.<

It's like a sequel to black lagoon in a way, at least in a loose sense >.>
Both are some of my favourite anime ever heh.

Lots of great action, violence, shooty shooty, story and god damn I love Jormungand <.<
And Black Lagoon.

10/10 would watch repeatedly until I go into a coma.

 Jormungand?

 Jormungand

Jormungand?

 Jormungand

They do reference that in the show.

Jormungand?

 Jormungand

They do reference that in the show.

Norse Mythology?

Jormungand?

 Jormungand

They do reference that in the show.

Norse Mythology?

Yep, for an appropriately named weapon in the show.

Jormungand?

 Jormungand

They do reference that in the show.

Norse Mythology?

Yep, for an appropriately named weapon in the show.

MJOLNIR!!!?!?!??!!

Jormungand?

 Jormungand

They do reference that in the show.

Norse Mythology?

Yep, for an appropriately named weapon in the show.

MJOLNIR!!!?!?!??!!

I rather not spoil things, just watch it if you feel like it.

Jormungand?

 Jormungand

They do reference that in the show.

Norse Mythology?

Yep, for an appropriately named weapon in the show.

MJOLNIR!!!?!?!??!!

I rather not spoil things, just watch it if you feel like it.

Well if it contains Norse Myth then I might as well give it a try.

Jormungand?

 Jormungand

They do reference that in the show.

Norse Mythology?

Yep, for an appropriately named weapon in the show.

MJOLNIR!!!?!?!??!!

I rather not spoil things, just watch it if you feel like it.

Well if it contains Norse Myth then I might as well give it a try.

You should still give it a try, but the Norse part is just regarding some codenames for super secret and cool spoilers <_<

Jormungand?

 Jormungand

They do reference that in the show.

Norse Mythology?

Yep, for an appropriately named weapon in the show.

MJOLNIR!!!?!?!??!!

I rather not spoil things, just watch it if you feel like it.

Well if it contains Norse Myth then I might as well give it a try.

You should still give it a try, but the Norse part is just regarding some codenames for super secret and cool spoilers <_<

awww

Thank you for the review. Ill give it a look.

Thank you for the review. Ill give it a look.

You're welcome.