
Originally based on an eroge visual novel (with a very different plot), Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito centers around a magical library that houses individual worlds within each book. That sounds a little bit like one of those literacy campaigns that tries to encourage kids to read, but no, it’s just a plot device in a mediocre yuri anime that misses the mark.
To me, the story was the biggest problem with this anime. The idea of traveling to different worlds is interesting in a way, but either not enough time is spent fleshing out the details of that world, or that particular world just isn’t all that compelling. For me, it was definitely more of the latter. Sometimes, it feels like the world-jumping is just filler content that doesn’t play a major role in the narrative. To make matters worse, the old “our princess is in another castle” trick is used ad nauseum, and it gets tiring fast. There isn’t anything enjoyable about being led through a labyrinth of mostly uninspired scenarios that do a poor job of explaining who these people really are and why these things are happening to them. Oh, and the ending sucks. That had to be said. In conclusion, it’s easy to see that telling a good story wasn’t high on the to-do list of the creators, if it was there at all. It’s not the worst story ever told, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what this anime does right in that regard.
Given how lackluster the story was, you’d hope the cast of characters would be memorable and help redeem the show, but I can’t say with any certainty that that was actually the case. Well, Hazuki was a pretty nice character, but I didn’t feel that her supporting cast fared quite as well. I think at least some part of this can be attributed to the fact that there’s a revolving door of characters that drop in for a minute, then are quickly forgotten about when we move on to another world.
Youko and Milka are a couple of examples of interesting characters whose screen time was over too quickly, in my opinion. Then there are the characters who hang around for a while, but are just meh. Lilith and Hatsumi aren’t so bad, but others like Gargantua (and most of his contigent) long overstay their welcome in my eyes. Taking the time devoted to him and using it to better expound upon Hazuki and Hatsumi’s relationship would’ve been a much better alternative to what we ended up getting, but I digress.
Hatsumi (Hazuki’s adopted sister), doesn’t say much at all, which limited her appeal to me. She seems like a sweet, innocent girl, but unfortunately, there isn’t exactly a lack of those going around. Looking elsewhere, the comic relief comes in the form of a few characters, namely Ken and Lilith. They’re equal parts entertaining and annoying, though Lilith’s yuri-ish tendencies do raise her stock a bit. All in all, Hazuki is the lone character who left a positive impression on me. The others were an assorted mix that ranged from okay to bad (I’m looking at you, Gargantua).
It’s been a dozen years since it was released, but if you can get past the old-school character designs, Yamibou was actually a fairly nice-looking anime, back in its heyday. Yuri anime mainstay Studio Deen (MariMite, Sakura Trick, Simoun) are at the helm, and they managed to produce a sharp-looking anime that isn’t lacking in detail or charm. With Hazuki and her sword emblazoned all over the promotional art, you’d think there would be a ton of dazzling action scenes, but that’s not really the case. Despite that, the emphasis on shading is evident, and it plays a big part in making this a pleasant experience for the eyes.
Like many of the other elements of this anime, the audio is decent, yet unremarkable. Whether it’s the average to slightly above average voice-acting or the music that has its moments, but doesn’t stand out as being especially memorable, the quality is enough to warrant a respectable rating, but not high enough to garner much more than that. The same can be said of the OP and ED themes, since after one or two episodes, my desire to skip them was just too much to resist. All in all, there really wasn’t anything that stood out as particularly noteworthy or very different from your standard anime.
![]() You go from this…
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From the get-go, the yuri arrives in grand style. Hazuki walks in on Hatsumi taking a bath, and Hazuki’s already strong feelings towards Hatsumi are sent into overdrive. This may sound extremely promising from a yuri perspective, but that momentum isn’t sustained. There are still some sweet moments between the two, but there could’ve been so much more. That’s the heartbreaking thing about this anime. It squanders a perfect chance to make up for the bad story with some great yuri, and it doesn’t capitalize. I should also quickly mention the hetero angle present at a few points in this show. It’s only briefly touched upon, but it’s definitely there. That’s like adding insult to injury. In short, Yamibou can’t manage to get out of its own way and bungles what could’ve potentially been a great yuri relationship.
Yamibou has some redeeming qualities, but the disjointed and inane story is a major problem that cancels out the positives and keeps this as nothing more than a barely tolerable yuri anime that could’ve been better.
Length: 13 Episodes
Genre: Adventure, Ecchi, Fantasy, Magic, Mystery, Yuri
Characters: 7
Animation: 8
Sound: 7
Yuri: 8
Total Enjoyment: 6
This is probably one of the most polarizing Yuri animes ever. I think it's a love or hate sort of thing.
Me? I love the ending because it's a Konjima tier WTF moment.
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And a huge, most likely intentionally “Fuck you trolllololololo” to fans.
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Congratulations, Bbb. This is the very first mention of “fuck” in the history of YuriReviews, which is rather shocking, given L's lewd yuri tendencies. 😛
And there's the scene from Touka Gettan where they just twist the knife even further. Oh, the feels….
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Damn shame. I would watch it just for the artwork, I'm a sucker for this kind of style.
Those yuri pics are also very tempting.
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Someone did a edited version of episode 12+13 to make the ending better, here's a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncPR4YLC7C8
I haven't actually watched it, so I can't attest to how good it is, it's just something I have bookmarked for whenever I get around to watching this series.
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Well I only watched 3 episodes before watching this..but now I’m not sure if I want to watch anymore. I really liked this ending. I would hate for the original ending to ruin it for me like in the movie “Pay it Forward.”
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Thanks for review.
Never heard about this before, but i'm not very hyped to watch it propably. Too much things on the “to watch” list.
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The pix aren't really indicative of what happens in the anime (unfortunately), but they are pretty nice, I have to admit.
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That ending might've added another point or so to the score. 😀
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You and me both with that overloaded list~
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Boss, you're a boss. That's most fitting. If there was ever an anime that deserves YR's first FBomb, it's Yamibou without a doubt.
I'm also impressed that you didn't do the mandatory comparison with Kannazuki. Yamibou is the older sibling: even more polarizing, even bigger WTF moment. So much hype, so much potential, just for the ending that lets you down more than CLG and Cross Ange put together…This asks the watcher exactly how much are you willing to endure for yuri, and then how much do you rate the ending vs how much do you rate the ride?
Ah well, that makes Yamibou one of the best fanfic material animes.
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Worst ending to a yuri themed anime ever. No one can convince me otherwise. If worst is too much, then dumbest.
I was cheering for Hazuki all the way. Heck I would have gladly taken her and Lilith hooking up. Oh well. Still enjoyed it for what it was, craptastic ending aside.
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Hazuki and Lilith?!?! That's madness, I say!
Hazuki x Hatsumi or bust.
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Hi! Well, this review was enlightening. I still might get it just because I kind of want to collect every non-hentai Yuri. So, I don’t know. Echi is maybe kinda iffy. I do love the art style though. Hmm, now I have something debating to do.
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Some debating. Bleh, typo.
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Yeah, I’ll try and check it out. I’ve finished debating.
Yuri wins!
Gosh I wish I could edit my posts so I don’t have to reply to myself like a weirdo.
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