Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
RebelPanda
The night sky is vibrantly illuminated by the mellow glow of colorful lights, emanating from each building throughout the city. More lively during the night than day, the city of Hakata radiates a deceptively alluring glow covering it entirely; masking the dangers that lurk around every corner.
Hakata is infamously known for 3% of its population being comprised of hitmen, torturers, yakuza, and worse. This percentile is further divided into agencies, gangs, and websites for freelancers; a few of them are hilariously named “Murder Inc”, “Shadeyjobs.com”, and “RedRum Inc”. A sly snap at other action crime anime that strive to be realistic with overwrought edginess. Darkly comedic and self-aware writing like this permeates throughout Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens, immediately defining the tone as p…
Read at the sourceSenpaiSkye
This anime is superb <3 It is not your typical "good vs. bad" shonen, its more realistic and gritty. It is decently unique while still feeling comfortable to watch. Nothing too cliche but also nothing too strange or out too far outside of reality.
Essentially everyone is the villain in their own way. It shows the complexity of actual realistic human personalities without sugarcoating what it means to exist.
The main character is a femboy with an aggressive personality, which I personally find extremely endearing. The rest of the characters are also quite well put together.
The storytelling, art, and general ambiance was really well done. I wish there was more.
Read at the sourcebruisedrainbow
Review may contain spoilers. Also, if you're a homophobe who's irritated by queer people reading into subtext, I'll be speaking on that aspect of this show in the review, so please move along.
This is, without a doubt, my favorite sports anime and indeed the only sports anime I have watched in its entirety. This is not to say that Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is in any way a sports anime, because it isn't, but baseball is certainly an important enough element to the show that calling it as such as a mild jest doesn't feel too far off.
Additionally, this show came to me at a time when I really needed it most. At the end of the opening arc, one of the protagonists says what can be boiled down to "cool things are cool!" and I knew then and there I would be watching this show in its entirety. Exh…
Read at the sourceggultra2764
Hakata Tonkatsu Ramens follows in the same vain as titles like Black Lagoon and Jormungand in that it offers a gritty look into the world of crime, with a solid mix of black comedy and dark drama exploring characters with morally questionable professions. The series focuses on a crossdressing assassin named Lin Xianming who partners up with a detective named Zenji Banba to dispatch rival assassins and crime syndicates within the city of Hakata.
Before I dabble into this anime's more serious material, I should bring up the fun comical timing this series offers up. The title of the series in question is actually the name of the baseball team that Banba and his companions are part of for recreation on the side when not caught up in their criminal activities and adding to that angle, episodes…
Read at the sourceKarmenBlue
very bland, no memorable characters but a very cool concept
it could've gone places but it lacked in a lot of areas making me feel like I wasted a few hours
There was a lot of potentials but the characters just had nothing to them, no personality or story and failed to carry the plot, every time you thought you were going to learn something about the character they ignored it
a lot of characters are shown to be important but you have no idea who or what they're like the whole thing felt like a first episode
The whole thing felt aimless I can't even tell you what the point of this story was or whether there was one
I will not remember any of them or the anime but I'll remember the uniqueness of some of the details which were nice
However, if they did make the next season I would w…
Read at the sourceCutie_Art23
This anime has been on my plan to watch list since it aired and boy, am I glad I finally watched it. Aside from some fantastically smooth action scenes, visually appealing art work, and a story line that actually drives itself, THERE IS ACTUALLY CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. Like, even if the show had a meh plot line I would still watch it in one or two sittings because of how well the characters play off each other.
There might only be two or three characters max that are static and don't change but that is because they are needed for things like comedic relief (plenty of that) or to have something for the other characters to compare to in how much has changed. Overall it is very well written with almost every aspect extremely enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that wants so…
Read at the sourceCandyPool
It's been a long time since I enjoy an anime this much. It's about hitmen, they just do the job, not trying to do something for justice like one of the popular review said, the target just happen to be a bad person, nothing heroic here. (In the Light Novel they mentioned that the hitmen does take requests from police, to 'dispose' criminals they can't arrest by law.)
The characters' stories are interesting, art and sound are good and fit very well with the theme. They didn't make the best decision in some cases imo, but I enjoy watching this anime so much. My only complaint is there was no second season. I hope they follow the light novel, it's getting very thrilling at this moment.
Read at the sourceMaecc
Please watch if you like Durarara!!
Story 9-10/10 (I really love this kind of story)
Not that complicated (Drrr is far more confusing than this), will give you many surprised and voila! Usually I'm pretty good at guessing where the story will bring me but I failed several time from this series. Please watch if you like to be deceived (w).
Art 7-8/10
The design is pretty good. Everyone has their own characteristic. The animation is so-so though. Several fighting scenes are good but some are not. The animation seems unstable. My eyes can tolerate it though. Not mentioning the story, enjoyment, and curiousity fill the lack of animation so it's okay.
Sound 7/10
It's good. But nothing special. The OP and ED is awesome!
Character 8-9/10
I like the character development. Feels so good and re…
Read at the sourcewjs066
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens, an anime about assassins in a city, dealing with other assassins and corrupt groups / organizations, came out of nowhere during the Winter 2018 season and surprised me. I would even go as far as to say this was the dark horse anime of the season and possibly year. I did not expect much from this show but was pleasantly surprised with what I got. Basically, the show is comprised of arcs each comprising 2 to 3 episodes. The arcs focus on a particular characters problems with other characters of the protagonist's group involved.
[Story]
This element was the biggest surprise for me. I enjoyed most of the arcs shown in the series and how it gives certain characters the spotlight. The main characters in the show are Lin and Banba who were both surprisingly likeable and…
Read at the sourceLeviAckermanChan
Best anime of the season hands down!
Plus more importantly best ending of the season!
Story is uniquely interesting and well paced, although you probably need a matured mindset to wrap the entire concept around your head... cos it may be seen as a little controversial, which of course is one of the reasons why i love it. I give this a 10.
Art & background is top-notch, no complaints there. Infact I wish i could visit Hakata with the vibrant way it was depicted here. I also give this a 10.
Sounds, also a 10. I personally love the opening & ending songs...it fits so well with the world settings.
Now the characters, where the show shines the best. Every character is well rounded and we see developments where necessary. We also see one of the best back story which gave more dept to our Ts…
Read at the sourceAmishaelMA
Do you like cool and quirky characters, complex and multi-layered plots, and awesome knife fights?
If so, you came to the right place. This anime has all that and more.
We’ve got Lin, the straight crossdresser who looks irritated almost all the time but’s a lot brighter than you give him credit for. We’ve got Banba, the easy-going, enigmatic and downright cool guy who’s totally reminiscent of Spike Spiegel. We’ve got Enokida, the obligatory hacker who’s actually pretty interesting by himself, the perpetually unlucky Saitou who really is just not cut out to be an assassin, and the ‘Submarine Ninja’ who, despite the goofy name, is a short-tempered lone wolf.
That’s just to mention a few. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens has a massive and extremely diverse cast, and all the characters are importan…
Read at the sourcerhiannon_carter
When I went through the reviews of this anime I noticed an all or none phenomenon. People either loved it or despised it and that made me super curious. And man am I glad that I watched it.
The setting is very idiosyncratic. I mean a world where hitmen casually hung out and discussed their jobs and the people they murdered in public and had baseball teams...uhmm ...weird. But at the same time its pretty interesting if you just ignore the improbability if it. It had a bit of bebop feel to it at times(maybe thats just me though)
The art is good when its good but so very low budget at times. Sound is pretty good too but nothing to rave about.
Now what made the story so so so very enjoyable for me were the characters. All of them are ridiculously quirky with amazing lgbt representation(for…
Read at the sources1mthi
(Sorry ahead of time for my terribly awful organization of this review) Writing this after finishing the very last episode, and boy will I say, what a roller coaster. It started off very intriguing, yet confusing. But a few episodes in I was able to understand everything. They kept everything fast-paced, yet always slowly inching toward a massive, unexpected ending. There were multiple flashbacks for the main characters, and each and every one was VERY likable, diverse, unique, entertaining, funny, etc. I thought this was a solid show until up to the last few episodes, where I thought it was an AMAZING show, the last ep was action packed, just like the whole show. I highly recommend you watch this if you enjoy any sort strategic killing anime. This show features multiple agencies that have…
Read at the sourcetobioiisms
Story 7 / 10:
The story was entertaining enough that it kept my attention, but I do admit that there were moments when it seemed a bit jumpy with sudden throw ins of certain things. That said, the story was MOSTLY well kept together and was enjoyable nonetheless.
Art 5 / 10:
Truthfully the art wasn't anything special for me. It was average. Nothing overly appealing, but not the worst I've ever seen either.
Sound 5 / 10
I feel the same about the sound as I do with the art. I didn't really care much about the op or ed and I feel similarly with the soundtrack. There wasn't anything that I wanted to listen to over and over again. It was just music, but not music I particularly cared about or hated.
Character 7 / 10
I have to say there were some characters that I really loved an enjoyed…
Read at the sourcemomo9
When I think of this anime, the words that come to my mind include: killers, mentaiko, Hakata, hacking, crime, baseball, black market, justice, corrupt, etc. Killers are basically killing each other, and there's a hitman killing other hitmen.
Set in Fukuoka, where 3% if the population are killers, this show is quite thrilling with a lot of action, but it's definitely not for someone under 18. It focuses on a corrupt society with murder, human trafficking, revenge, etc. Some places might look nice on the outside, but inside is way darker than expected. Unfortunately stuff like this actually happens in the real world. There are hitman killing people they are assigned to, and even a hitman killing other hitman. It's pretty violent with not much comedy, but there are some scenes that are rela…
Read at the sourceSoraSenpai
The story was promising at first. But what I thought was going to be our main character ended up panning out to be someone who was only relevant on certain occasions. I'm okay with an anime having certain arcs to it, but unless the arcs lead to a final conclusion, story line wise I lose interest...luckily the action was so well done in this anime that I never lost interest and the story basically took a back seat to the amount of kick ass moments there were. Plus BASEBALL!!!
The art and animation were not anything special. With guts, bloods, and brains spilling, along with heads rolling you would think they would do a little more then Red Sports and Rivers of Blood. The hand to hand combat scenes were done okay but again nothing over the top.
The opening and ending were really awesome. I…
Read at the sourceloancruz
the only baseball anime i will ever watch!!
i only started watching this because of yuki kaji, but i ended up falling in love with it. for people who enjoy character-driven stories like me, this is a great anime to watch. it's very satisfying to see how all of the characters come together and become some sort of found family.
the arcs aren't drawn out, but instead of feeling rushed, they just make me feel more satisfied. they spend a bit of time in each arc introducing and fleshing out a character, which is to be expected with how many there are in the group. it doesn't feel disjointed though.
the music is also great!!! the jazz ed playing at high points of the episodes kind of remind me of archer a bit. and the op is a quality bop as well!!
the only thing that bothers me is how they u…
Read at the sourceTomm01p
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is like an action movie made in todays Holywood. It doesn't make sense, it's overflowing with clichés and one could ask why the hell does it even exist. Yet, it does and I have to bear with the fact that it'll continue to exist. Because there is one reason why it does still make a lot of money. And that reason is the action, because action equals entertainment. But entertainment, like Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens perfectly shows, doesn't equal quality.
The story takes place in a city Fukuoka, which, in this fictional version, is overflowing with killers and assasins. So much infact that the show itself tells you that 3% of Fukuoka's population are indeed those blood-seeking hitmen. Wait.. what? Let's take a minute and think about how ridiculous that number is. Speaking i…
Read at the sourceKANLen09
(Spoiler Warning)
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens was one of the Winter 2018 anime I've anticipated for quite a while, and it truly delivered the punch that it deserves.
Story:
The city of Fukuoka (or Hakata City as always mentioned) is not your usual city, while it thrives on the outside world, its citizens are literally another story. Basically, the thing is, one in every three citizens is are revenge-job-seeking hitmen, killers (whether hired or not) and detectives, all laying low in the lurch.
Zenji Banba is one of those private detectives in the Hakata area, trying to seek out hitmen companies so that he could interfere with their hitmen jobs, and that raises the aspect of hitmen Ling Xianming, a crossdressing man who's complaining about the lack of jobs and pay of his hitmen agency. A kill…
Read at the sourceDainBramaged
This show isn't a mature, dark, or edgy look at the criminal underworld like some of the people who praise it would have you think. Nor is it a stupid premise that went nowhere, like the haters would say. It's just fun. It's also a breath of fresh air from the usual high school setting and moe girls.
I'll have a lot of negatives to say about the show in this review, but don't get me wrong. I enjoyed it a lot, and I recommend that you try it.
A city where 3% of the people are assassins? Absurd. All the people relevant to the plot happen to know each other and/or randomly meet each other in the city? Impossible. If you're going to be put off by this, it's probably not the show for you. I wouldn't blame you.
What the show is good at is the characters. This show is honestly just a bunch of…
Read at the source