Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai

In the Kingdom of Yamauchi, people have the ability to transform into three-legged crows known as yatagarasu. While the men plot over daily governance, women compete for the hand of Wakamiya, the crown prince who was selected as the Kinu, the servant to the Mountain God. Four young women arrive at the court to join the competition, including one named Asebi.

While the kind and innocent Asebi sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the other women, the crown prince has to fight for his place in the clan. Despite being born both to a concubine and as a second son, the royal priests still chose Wakamiya to be the Kinu over his older brother. This decision created a rift between the siblings while enraging Wakamiya's stepmother in the process.

When Yukiya, one of the teenage sons of the village chief, is sent to the palace to become Wakamiya's new attendant, the prince is not pleased in the slightest. However, Yukiya's presence at the imperial courts is no mere coincidence.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yukiya Main

Tamura, Mutsumi Japanese

Wakamiya Main

Irino, Miyu Japanese

Hamayuu Supporting

Nanami, Hiroki Japanese

Masuho no Susuki Supporting

Fukuhara, Ayaka Japanese

Shiratama Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Sumio Supporting

Takeuchi, Eiji Japanese

Natsuka Supporting

Hino, Satoshi Japanese

Asebi Supporting

Honizumi, Rina Japanese

Kiei Supporting

Nakamura, Kazumasa Japanese

Ichiryuu Supporting

Shin, Yuuki Japanese

Kyougoku, Yoshiaki Director, Episode Director

Tange, Yuuji Sound Director

Kawatsura, Shinya Episode Director

Kogawa, Yoriyasu Episode Director

Reviews

Jul 8, 2024

Jabberwocky69

Recommended

Preliminary (13/20 eps)

I'm at the point where I can give a review for the show without having fully completed it, which I promise to update after finishing the show. This is a show generally under the radar, and slept-upon. I read the summary, did not understand what was going on, watched the first 3 episodes, had no idea how many moving parts were present in the show, or who the protagonists were.

I thought this was shoujo bait, with some politics sprinkled for flavour, but boy was I really wrong. This is a show primarily about politics, scheming right in front while simultaneously planning something behind each others' ... backs. I wasn't able to fully predict who was the potential culprit, the show misdirects so subtly that you do not notice the misdirection.

The plot can be summarized like this:
The lead is the "chosen one" who also signified a certain bad omen, in that he is born right before times of calamity. His brother, mother and father want him to not succeed him on the throne, but he doesn't want to give up without a fight either. To become a chosen one, he has to marry one of the 4 girls staying at the palace, each with their own personalities and troubles. Their interaction, the juicy plotting, the sparks flying between every other character makes this an amazing watch.

Not knowing who could be an ally, and who is a traitor makes for a surprisingly fun political thriller.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jul 8, 2024

el_pinko_grande

Recommended

Preliminary (13/20 eps)

This show is criminally slept-on. If you like anime with a lot of court intrigue, like APOTHECARY DIARIES, this is an excellent watch.

The characters and plotting are both really excellent in this show. There isn't a single character in the show that doesn't turn out to be deeper and more interesting than you initially think upon meeting them. There's nobody who is just some idiot for the protagonists to dunk on-- even the antagonists are competent and interesting. And the intrigue runs so thick that for most of the first arc, you're not certain who the antagonists even are.

And the plotting is, again, excellent. Every ... little detail the show sets up gets used someplace or the other. A scene might seem random or pointless, but it will payoff later, and the payoff will make sense.

The world is also interesting, and the way they present it is tantalizing. They don't overwhelm you with huge amounts of information about the setting all at once. Instead, they give you little bite-sized pieces of info that are presented in a way that feels unobtrusive, and gives you just enough knowledge to understand what's currently happening in the plot.

The only criticism I have is I don't really love the art style. There's a relative lack of action, and that might turn off some people, as well. But otherwise, it's a really excellent show, and I hope it finds a bigger audience.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 30, 2024

Veldimburg

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (12/20 eps)

"I'm going to get this meeting"
"I finally got it after many trials"
"I did it"

Basically all the story.

I wondered why, even though the intrigue wasn't that bad, I did not feel to actually read the original work but now, after 12 episodes, I get it.
There is no climax.

It's like, look, I have my arc, I have the purpose of the arc, I have the troubles to get my purpose and, I win.
... Win what? No freaking idea, but the purpose was gotten even if you have no idea in what way it'll help in the story nor what was even the point in the short term.

Aaaaand, that's basically the whole story of Karasu wa aruji wo erabanai.
You have complots but when it ends you just don't get what was even the point to begin them for most parts in it.
You have a twist but when you think about it, you don't get why the character would actually bother to do a twist having nothing to gain but all to lose from it.
Feel like all of them are just the puppets of the author, making them move because it's otherwise boring rather than having characters in a box moving by themselves.

Now, that's the case of most stories but there are still anchors saying that you need to bring the story there, but those here are so far away that you're basically watching fillers.
I dare say that of the twelves first episodes, you just have to watch 3 of them. The others are colors.

Oh, and the main character has almost nothing to do with the story too. Too bad, the mc is one of the few likeable one, he's just watching other people while getting as much as us.

Making the whole anime, like... Not bad but I remember almost nothing?
Which is to be expected when the arcs are useless and characters shallows.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Jun 29	50 replies	by PaninaManina »» Yesterday, 9:09 PM
	Poll: Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Jun 22	51 replies	by PaninaManina »» Yesterday, 8:03 PM
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	Poll: Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai Episode 10 Discussion Stark700 - Jun 8	29 replies	by PaninaManina »» Yesterday, 9:55 AM
	New PV, recap next week MegamiRem - Jun 29	11 replies	by Moron »» Yesterday, 1:15 AM