Summary
Drifters is a dark fantasy anime that turns isekai norms on its head with its violent approach to the genre. Unique in its inclusion of historical figures in the battle between good and evil, the series is not a power fantasy. Drifters demonstrates the true horrors of war and the impact historical figures can have on a bleak new world.
The drifters is an anime that reverses the isekai canon and is one of the greatest hidden gems available on the Crunchyroll. The series was created by Kouta Hirano, best known for the Hellsing series, and was originally published as a manga in 2010, and adapted into an anime in 2016. Drifters is a dark fantasy story to the core, as it breaks away from the usual traits fans are used to seeing in isekai with a much more violent approach to the genre.
Every anime fan is looking for a new hidden gem to pique their interest and find a new series to binge on. Isekai has become a trendy genre in the anime universe with many different examples. Most isekai start out similarly, with the main character meeting an unfortunate end and waking up in a new world where they immediately become a hero in the new world they find themselves in.
This has become a standard in the genre, making it so popular that anime fans have turned it into a parody. However, Drifters takes the genre in a completely different direction.
What makes Drifters unique
The violent approach is evident from the very first episode.
The first story begins with the Battle of Sekigahara, where the protagonist, Shimazu Toyohisa, is shown fighting against the Eastern Army led by Naomasa. Toyohisa makes his final stand by charging forward and after being stabbed by several spears, he draws his gun and shoots Naomasa off his horse. The Eastern Army retreats and Toyohisa, heavily wounded, begins to head back to Satsuma but is sucked into a large hallway with many doors.
Toyohisa wakes up in another world and learns that he is now something called a Drifter, people who have been pulled from different periods of Earth's history and transported to a mysterious new world. He soon meets Oda Nobunaga, a famous warlord who conquered most of Japan during the Sengoku Era, and Nasu no Yoichi, a famous general of the Genpei War. They soon find themselves entangled in a war against an army of monsters led by a mysterious individual known as the Black King.
Drifters divert from imaginary power
The plot is written very differently from most Isekai works
What makes Drifters unique is that it brings various historical figures into this new world to recreate the long-standing battle between good and evil. This series is a great combination for anime and history fans. Drifters is not a power fantasy series and is written to show the true horrors of war. Unlike most isekai, the new world these characters are thrust into is not as fun and is just as horrifying as the world they left behind.
It shows the harsh realities of war and the tactics that the heroes used in their previous lives also become a basic asset in this new reality. The protagonists of Drifters are just as bloodthirsty as the villains because that is what they have experienced in their lives. Each protagonist goes through some the darkest period in human history and left an impact on the new world (including Hitler, who was also a drifter, building a new Reich).
Drifters is essentially a strategy game that pits two factions against each other. There are heroic Drifters like Toyohisa, who is brought into this world by a mysterious man he meets in the hallway. This man is called Murasaki and his opponent in this game is called EASY. All of the Drifters in this game are historical figures who are being used as pawns in a game played by god-like beings. Unfortunately, the manga was marred by long hiatuses and slow release schedules, which ultimately hurt its popularity.
While Drifters only has one season and it's hard to know if there will be more in the future, for isekai fans, this could be a new perspective on what the genre often lacks. The drifters is an isekai that shows what happens to a group of warlike individuals when they are forced into a world dependent on war and the ultimate impact that war can have on them.