Netflix’s sci-fi anime series, Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune follows a young man named Akira Ihotsu who joins a planetary orbital infantry force called Yakitori.
Story
Akira Ihotsu is a young man living on Earth of the future where it has been turned into one big third-world country by the advanced civilization called Trade Federation after they took over.
He’s bailed out of trouble by an enigmatic recruiter who tells him about Yakitori — the expendable foot soldiers working for the planetary orbital infantry force of the Trade Military.
Akira signs up and becomes a member of a five-person team, struggling to fit in and cooperate, and this absence of teamwork makes them fail at an astonishing rate of 100% until they begin bonding and recognize the strength in unity.
They finally complete the unique program designed for their unit and sometime later, arrive on planet Barka, where they have to simply take part in the only-for-display-of-might infantry walk for a foreign affairs clan’s special envoy.
However, the Barkans upset at the Trade Federation wage war on them and the Yakitori have to work hard to defeat the enemy and get out of the planet.
In the process, they end up surprising the higher commands of the Trade Military and also committing a genocidal orbital attack on the enemy, for which they’re later arrested.
However, their recruiter comes up with a solution that prevents that from happening, as the Yakitori is sent off to train again and embark on other missions.
Performances
The voice work in Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune seems adequate enough, with nothing out of the ordinary managing to peek through an overall inoffensive job.
Meanwhile, the motion capture acting work also seems similarly adequate, although the performances do seem to be lost in translation as the CGI work, though impeccable and visually striking, seems unrefined at times, especially when it comes to rendering the expressions and mannerisms of the actors.
Positives
The sci-fi anime contends with some major themes and comments on important issues associated with human civilization’s limitations, such as wars and complex, cruel, and apathetic systems of bureaucracy.
The commentary works too, as the anime uses intentionally complex and long, convoluted words and terms to distinguish the bazillion different clans, authorities, bureaus, and divisions that make up the web of Trade Federation’s bureaucratic civilization.
The points about humans being used as equipment during the war and the inhumane apathy of powerful figures in the face of overwhelming collective strife are sufficiently conveyed.
With six episodes and fast-paced storytelling, the show seems to pass one by rather quickly.
Negatives
For all its anti-war themes and messages, the show axes its own foot by coveying said messages via visually striking, sonically euphoric, and often even comedic storytelling, that detracts heavily from the grim tone that’s supposed to carry a subject matter like war.
There’s also a depiction of genocide, on people who take up arms against the Trade Federation to preserve their future and their freedom, but the last episode is focused on bailing the protagonists out of the guilt more than what the implications of such an act are or dwelling into the inhumanity of what transpired.
Akira, though understandably untrusting and fidgety, is not a good protagonist, and even if unaware of the standard legal procedure or any such training, he must feel some remorse for having so many lives wiped out via orbital weapons of genocidal destruction.
His friends do show some semblance of guilt and remorse, but Akira remains annoyingly and offensively chirpy and remorseless. Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune ends with Unit K321 rescuing the Barkan ambassador, all while the tone and visuals continue to be contrary to the anti-war messages and themes that are at the core of the story.
Verdict
Although working with great potential and a greater premise, Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune is a constant victim of the pitfalls of anti-war cinema, as its colorful visual spectacles stand in stark contrast with the bleak realities of bureaucracy-fueled loss of lives during wars and conflicts that it so prominently wants to comment on.
Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune
Director: Hideki Anbo
Date Created: 2023-05-18 12:30
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Also Read: Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune summary & ending explained