0
0
Year: 2009
Genre: Action, Romance, Tragedy
Episodes: 26
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Assassination and crime syndicate. Two areas that go hand in hand. One can’t succeed without the other. How does one organization become more powerful than another? How does a small organization go from being unknown to one of dominating a country? Is it with a powerful force or skilled leaders?
Most organizations rise to power with the assassination of the leader of a rival organization while taking over their land and power. History is littered with examples. Marcus Brutus, along with the Roman Senate, assassinated Julius Caesar in fear that Caesar wanted to overthrow the Senate in favor of tyranny. The result leads to a civil war that changed the Roman Empire forever. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria set off World War I that changed the landscape of political power in the world for many years to come.
How is an assassin made for the organization? Are they recruited and trained to the best of their abilities? Are they brainwashed and trained by another assassin that is superior in every way possible? Do they come with their own motivations, giving themselves entirely to being the world’s best assassin?
Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom explores the methods one organization goes through into creating the world’s best assassin in its pursuit to rule the country’s underground at any means necessary. While the newest member trains to become a tool/assassin for the organization, their training is overseen by the world’s best assassin. The assassin goes by the codename: Phantom.
Overview:
A young man wakes up in a room with no memory of his life or who he is. As he searches his surroundings and trying to figure out who he is and where he is at, he is suddenly attacked by a person in a mask armed with a knife. After a brief game of cat and mouse, the masked figure catches up to the young man. The young man decides to fight against the masked person and arms himself with a pipe. After a brief struggle, the masked figure gets the upper hand, but before the figure can kill the young man, the figure is ordered to keep the man alive and suddenly puts the young man to sleep.
The young man wakes up the next morning with a woman in his room. The woman tells the young man her name is Ein, and she is the world’s best assassin named “Phantom.” She also explains that his former world has ended, and his new world is about to begin. Ein tells the young man that he is now part of a crime syndicate called Inferno and that he would be trained to be an assassin like her. Their boss gives the young man a new name called Zwei.
With his new name and life, Zwei dwells deeper into a world of lies, deceit, and violence. As the missions grow and his world becomes darker, Zwei hopes that one day he can regain his memories and escape from the world that might one day claim his life.
Series Breakdown:
Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom starts off in a strong way but fades around the ending. The story is split up into three distinct sections in the main character’s life. The story follows Reiji and his life in the world of assassination. In the first arc, Reiji awakens in an abandoned building with no memories. He wonders what is going on until a mysterious girl shows up and tries to kill him. After a brief fight/test, he meets the girl’s boss and one of the heads of the organization he works for. The girl is named Ein. Ein in the world’s best assassin who goes by the codename Phantom. The first arc revolves around the training of Reiji for the world of assassination. We see his rise to being a killer. As Reiji skills improve, schemes behind the scenes are happening for the organization that Reiji will work for are planned. The organization is named Inferno, and their goal is to rule all families in the world. To bring them all under one roof. The second arc revolves around Reiji’s full acceptance as an assassin. He has moved his way up to being the best in the world and is called Phantom. Reiji takes in a girl named Cal, who has the potential of being an assassin on the level as Reiji. The arc also shows the eventual fall from grace for Reiji as he goes on the run with an old friend. The third and final arc revolves around Reiji’s attempt to finally be rid of the world of assassination. He fights for his chance at true peace while an old protégée hunts him down for what he did to her. The first two arcs of the story move at a nice and consistent pace and are really good. To see the deception of what people will go through to achieve their goals gives a nice feel to the story. The first arc is excellent as we see the training of Reiji. The best is when Reiji has entirely accepted being Phantom. He is a badass, while his demeanor had changed entirely. Going from the scared, unsure character to the full-on suave and manipulative person who knows how to kill quickly.
The anime does a decent job with the characters. Some characters develop in a very weirded way. The main character, Reiji, starts off as a teen who stumbles upon a murder. He is at first frighten and doesn’t know what to do. He is forced into the world of assassination and being a killer. While under mind control, he is very obedient and doesn’t hesitate to do his task. AS the story progresses and he regains his memories, he accepts that he is a killer, and there is no way back to his previous life. He continues to be a killer until he is the world’s best. The third arc pretty much ruins everything he built in himself as he tried to go back to what he was. Ein is the main female character in the story. She is incredibly apathetic and only does what is told. She does whatever mission she has to the fullest extent without showing any emotion or feeling. As the story progresses, she falls for Reiji, which upsets her boss. Then there is Cal Devens. Cal comes into the story as a bright eye teenage girl that looked like she is twelve. She wants revenge for her sibling getting killed. She is so cute with her blonde hair in pigtails and bright green eyes. Then three years later, she has the body of a 21-year-old model. Puberty done right.
The animation is pretty standard with this anime. There are no flashy scenes. Even the fight scenes are drawn pretty standard. The one thing about the animation that is pretty nice is when Reiji uses his skills and seems to teleport to different places. He has this wavy after effect. Another thing that I liked is when Reiji and Ein’s killing intent is shown. Both their eyes change. Reiji’s eyes go from brown to green with orange in the center. Ein’s eyes change from grey to a dark blue.
The soundtrack for this anime was pretty good. The opening theme, Karma, was an excellent choice for this anime. The title of the song should foreshadow you on some elements of the show. The music fit perfectly when things were happening from car chases to assassinations to overall fighting. My overall favorite song in this whole anime was Zwei (Reiji’s) theme song, Haitoku no Gajou, when he fully accepted being Phantom. That song, in my head, was like a boss is coming, and he is something not to mess with. Made the transformation of Reiji even better.
Overall, Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom starts off strong bust fades in the later parts of the anime. The world of assassination is portrayed pretty well but falters towards the end. The third arc is pretty bad, which holds back this overall pretty good anime. It is a good anime as a start for others but could’ve been done better.
