Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune (2023– ) User Reviews

Tasty and Filling

[keikoyoshikawa · 6/10 · 20 May 2023]

Yakitori is not for everyone. Based on a Japanese novel series, it is a military / sci-fi anime that is actually pretty good for what is it - a basic story about a young man looking for his place in the world, space dogs and cats and other species, and fluid combat that is not too outlandish if somewhat simplistic.

The Good: The animation is sufficiently detailed and crisp. There is good use of tracking shots, which in anime is not all too common. It's done skillfully and judiciously, thankfully. The story itself is also refreshingly interesting. And rare for Japanese anime, the English voice version is actually better than the Japanese once. Not that the voice actors are better - they're not really; it's that it fits better with the diverse human characters.

The Bad: The dialogue, as in many Japanese manga and anime, is terrible. Too much exposition and unrealistic ways of speaking. Good dialogue has a natural rhythm and recognizes that people talk differently, with each conversation propelling the narrative forward. Not so much here; it's serviceable though. Also there are some elements of the plot that is simply unbelievable, even for a sci-fi story.

The Verdict: Overall this is an enjoyable anime. Is it memorable or ground-breaking like "Akira"? Nope. There's nothing thought-provoking or philosophical like "Ghost in the Shell". But it is entertaining and at the very least not boring.

Good But Needs More Tension

[jamaisj · 7/10 · 11 June 2023]

Well, I officially have a new standard for "meh" anime. This is pretty much a middle-of-the-road anime; while the characters are pretty well differentiated both in terms of design and personality, the animation is smooth, and the world is definitely interesting; this is one of the few well-realized anthropomorphic worlds. It doesn't hold back on the violence, and the weapons and vehicles are well-designed. The continuity is actually pretty good and the world is well-realized.

However, it does suffer from the Navi problem and there is little tension. The administrative avatar, a cute bunny girl, can be all sorts of cloying and seems designed for younger audiences; its just too jarring for this and that it never speaks English doesn't help. That it's constantly dancing doesn't help much. There's also little tension; the cliches tend to rob the writing of tension because you know what's going to happen and it usually does.

However, at six episodes this is well worth the investment, and the show makes for a good couple hours of entertainment. Just don't watch the credits; no one needs that kind of torture. But do watch the show; it's definitely worth the time.

More watchable anime from Netflix

[krachtm · 5/10 · 18 June 2023]

After Earth is conquered, the survivors are pushed into becoming soldiers for an alien military.

This isn't exactly a unique idea, but it's nice to see a plot from anime that doesn't involve a high school student saving the planet using a giant robot. In Yakitori, it turns out that humans aren't really good for much but eating or using as cannon fodder. The recruiter is amusingly blunt about this and straight up tells our protagonist that the best he can realistically hope for is to come back with one or two few limbs missing.

However, this isn't just any recruiter. No, he's got a title that takes 30 seconds to say out loud. Something official-sounding that has to do with the United Nations. He's also got an enigmatic smile that seems to imply that he's a chess grandmaster who has already won a game that you didn't know you were playing. He denies that he's planning anything, of course, but nobody with good intentions smiles like that.

But who's our protagonist? You know, I couldn't really tell you. I think shouting angrily at people is his primary hobby. He also strikes me as being dumb as a pile of rocks. He's very committed to his stupidity, too. He'll see that there's an obvious solution to his problems, but he'll stubbornly refuse to take it just to spite viewers.

Eventually, over the course of several episodes, our idiot protagonist learns the value of friendship and teamwork. He continues shouting angrily at everyone, though. I think at least half of his lines in the script are in all caps, followed by three exclamation marks.

Once you get past the crazy number of flashbacks that establish all this, his squad is deployed to a tense situation involving the occupation of a world much like Earth. The rodent-like natives rise up in rebellion, and some of the most powerful units defect. The human squad has to shout at each other loudly, think up stupid plans, and have some adventures as they try to survive.

At this point, the story takes on a somewhat ambiguous tone. Poe's Law makes many movies like this ambiguous, really. The human squad mows down thousands of little rodent dudes who are just fighting for their freedom. Without the benefit of "Would you know more?" and "I'm doing my part!", it's harder to tell how exactly the creators feel about this, but it's easy to read in some satire.

It's passable. I think that if you're used to anime where the protagonist only has two moods (angry and I AM SO ANGRY THAT I WILL NOW SHOUT EVERY LINE AT MAXIMUM VOLUME!!!), you'll be able to sit through it. The art is occasionally good, though the frame rate is terrible. It can be very distracting if you're used to higher quality animation, but you'll get over it. Recommended mostly to edgy teens, who will probably appreciate the shouty protagonist. Adults will probably tire of him quickly.

Simple sci-fi action, whiney main character

[heath-jeffrey · 6/10 · 1 November 2023]

Basically a non-stop action flick that had the potential to be so much more, but didn't bother trying.

Various aspects of the background and setting established room for a lot of intrigue and mystery. There are various races and caste-like social levels with complex politics and rebellions, unexplained AI tools, powerful military machines, and serious moral and ethical dilemmas. Yet these are all subsidiary to the action and never explored.

The action is interesting enough, and there are historical reflection scenes that help pacing by allowing for an occasionally slower pace and a bit of character development. Unfortunately, that's pretty much limited to getting a bunch of selfish idiots to work as a team. Their individual characters aren't explored, and the two that get the most lines are the most annoying: one stereotypically silly and boisterous; the other constantly whining and selfish from start to finish.

It's also not very consistent internally. For example, early on the 'heroes' are fighting against tech that was effectively stolen from their own military. Yet, despite their specialist training they seem to have never seen nor heard of any of that tech before. They even have an AI assistant that can control some tech, but have no idea that it can.

The worst part is the ethics of the whole thing; but that's getting into spoiler territory.

Watchable, even entertaining, if you can ignore the whining. But don't expect much in plot or character dev.

Riding the line between deranged and brillianr

[asgerhb · 8/10 · 22 August 2023]

My overall impression with the intent of the show is that of a pro-military set of writers with a gleeful disregard for morals.

However, the intent of the author is always secondary at best, and the actual product can easily be enjoyed as an at times absurdist parody with some genuinely brilliant moments. Starship Troopers stuff.

Like how the dumbass protagonists go about mowing down waves of rebels even after their own planet has been taken over in the same manner they are now subjecting others to.

I'm completely obsessed with the bunny Hatsune Miku combat AI who steals the show by delivering notifications about death and war crimes with a pop idol dance.

Some of the action can be intense and grounded, with cool sci-fi weaponry and tactics. I recall an amazing shot where a spherical shield is hit by an impact, causing dust to swirl around inside the shield as well as outside. It was only there for a split second, but the effect was really neat and we'll thought out.

And don't get me started on the choice to give the humanoid zebra background character hoofs for fingernails.

The end fizzles out disappointingly, but the unexplored themes are a sight to behold.

It has space elevators and orbital drops, and the color and style of the animation is enjoyable.

Good animation, but terrible, terrible dialogue

[misteradi · 4/10 · 22 May 2023]

The series is pretty well animated, but unfortunately, all its visual beauty is stained by the absolutely, horrendously terrible dialogue, on top of making it really hard to actually like the protagonists.

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON!

You have been warned.

I cringed every time the characters had a conversation (if you can call it that, because even the fake scenarios I imagine while daydreaming or taking a shower are closer to real dialogue).

On top of the stupidity of the dialogue, the characters actions are not very clever either. Apparently, the protagonists only came up with the idea to nuke an enemy artillery base from orbit, when they were physically in the base? And subsequently, they are tried at a military tribunal because their bombardment hit civilians indiscriminately, but not whoever further up the chain actually authorized and executed the orbital strike?

Overall, the characters are not very likable either, and not just because "nuking civilians is not ok" is apparently something that they need to be taught. Their characters are very basic and lack any significant depth. On top of that, some of them are extremely unlikable, and behave like a complete a-hole until they suddenly change their behavior 180°? It makes no sense.

Besides, the enemies they're fighting (which are humanoid rats) are not really portrayed as living beings with any intrinsic worth, but it instead feels like I'm playing a zombie horde shooter (or more accurately, it reminds me of Warhammer: Vermintide 2, for whoever has played that game).

And that's all simultaneous to the rats fighting for their freedom because the Trade Federation basically has them under the threat of enslavement, much like humans in this world. Apparently, however, they are the bad guys, not the Trade Federation. In the last episode, the show tries to portray the protagonists as "just infantry" without any concept of good and bad, but that just feels like a weak excuse meant only to sweep aside the ethic dilemma, in order to make the story work.

TL;DR: In summary, aside from the visual quality, it feels like the story was written by a very young teenager, and not one with talent for screenwriting.

Watch original language with subs

[dgccw · 9/10 · 26 May 2023]

Lots of folks complaining about the dialogue but feel like that's generated more for the dubs. Animation wise was actually impressed. Finally a pretty great blend of 2D/3D and rotoscope. Reminds me of starship troopers in the theme, although earth is looked down upon and humans are just cannon fodder - hence the name "Yakitori." The solders are sent and served to the enemy to be grilled.

I feel like this may have done better if the animation was 60fps or blended the in-between animation frames.

The squad it follows are a bit unique in where they come from, typical misfits that start to break expectations in their own way. Recommend it, excited to see where it goes. Interested in the novel it's based off on.

very morally questionable

[gabesnider · 3/10 · 23 May 2023]

I'll admit the intro had me hooked, it seemed like a good premise that would have a lot of nuanced commentary, but after the intro it throws that alol out the window. Like am I the only one that thought that the actions of the main characters and of the trade federation were very morally wrong, like the whole show has them heartlessly gunning down waves of sentient rats that just want independence and they go as far as to orbital strike the city center in an action reminiscent of hiroshima. Then the characters are tried as war criminals and the lawyer uses a loophole to get them out of the consequences. After they are acquitted triumphet music plays and they laugh it out like they didnt just commit atrocities. It just seems all too pro-imperialism and pro-war. Watch this if you are ready to shut your Brain off.

Waste of time + genocide apology ?

[greennature-37238 · 4/10 · 30 May 2023]

I don't write reviews, that being said, let's get into it.

It's a competent if not seemingly algorithmically generated anime. The shots are done well, the art direction is nice. At some points in time, it can be visually beautiful. However, the dialogue is absolutely wack in some places. The characters say things no normal person would ever utter in response to someone else. Absolutely none of the characters are likable, and they're not fun to hate either. Akira in particular is absolute torture to listen to.

The premise presents an opportunity for some interesting plot developments. Earth being colonized and then the entirety of the planet being relegated to a "third world" status. The Trade Federation (the colonizers) offer contractual positions in their military for pay. These contracted humans then fight alongside other colonized species on behalf of the Trade Federation. The main characters are shipped to some planet and all fight mindlessly against a population of sentient mice who want independence, but have in many ways become reliant on Trade Federation tech. Basically, a near exact model of European colonization of the Americas. From here, there is no redemption for anybody. The main characters kill and kill and kill, and eventually, decide to release the equivalent of a nuclear attack on a civilian city. One even quotes Oppenheimer's death destroyer of world quote.

They are rounded up for a military tribunal, which is presented as unfair and unjustified bureaucracy. All of the characters get off the charges on a legal technicality and high five their former military commanders.

Another reviewer pointed out just how accurate this chain of events is and how much it mirrors the way our civilization actually works. I agree with this wholeheartedly. But the show itself presents no obvious angle to question the morality of the plot. The indigenous mice people are framed as violent bloodthirsty anarchists as they are mercilessly mowed down with high tech military weaponry as if zombies in some video game.

All in all, a soulless execution of a "by-the-book" anime. Watch this if you have time to waste.

Misses the mark for military scifi

[vic-notintheface · 5/10 · 12 February 2024]

A lot of folks in the reviews here are complaining about poorly written dialogue and simplistic characterization. They're not wrong, but to be blunt, that's also not really the strength of the military science fiction genre this is aping.

The concept of humans escaping conditions on earth by serving as foot soldiers among the stars is one used by at least three different military sci fi novel series I can think of (Old Man's War is probably the best of them). It seems a little overdue for a visual treatment. That alone is the reason I've rated it as highly as I have.

But while these books can't normally be counted on to be works of literature, you can at least expect that they'll present interesting tactical situations and the threat of mortal danger. This story misses the mark on both counts. The characters repeatedly charge headlong into automatic weapons fire at close range without being hit. The tactical situations they are thrust into are practically nonsensical within the context of the setting. The less said about the "moral dilemma" at the end of the show and how badly that was handled, the better, but you can definitely see comments about it here.

So anyway, my point is, if the idea of Yakitori appealed to you because you liked the idea of an anime with an approach to action that's more grounded in contemporary military fiction, you'll see plenty of promise in Yakitori, and you'll see all of it squandered.

Wow!

[joshua-97172 · 6 August 2023]

I can't even believe that you guys write so much about a six episode show and say the dumb things you say. It's ANIME! What else would you expect?!

The problem is the critical perspective and ant the critics don't create. .....it's worth a watch because it's short. I liked the actors,animation,and story.... Hopefully it goes on for another season... the show is more about the characters and their connection than it is the action, which is fine by me. Sometimes the bloodshed isn't the star. Once again, it's an anime show! So go into it however you want. It's short and sweet and won't cost you a weekend.

Enticing concept spoiled by polarized execution

[monsoonmast · 4/10 · 6 June 2023]

The Concept Yakitori: On a planet far from a fallen Earth, an experimental squad of misfits in an interstellar military unknowingly carry the hopes of humanity on their backs.

Unaware of secret plans by the United Nation agent who recruited them, they serve not as space marines fighting for freedom or virtue but as disposable pawns for humanity's conquerors who scheme to enforce a predatory loan threatening to enslave an entire civilized planet of intelligent rodents. Refusing to go quietly, the indigenous inhabitants swarm en mass, scurrying through sewer pipes and lifeless piles of bloodied fallen comrades, martyred in desperate revolution.

Will the Yakitori learn to work together to survive being cannon fodder? Will the revolution defy the odds? Will the U. N.'s secret plan work?

The REAL Yakitori: After slaughtering "rats" (read as derogatory slur) to club music, the squad hops in a yellow armored school bus and drives through an ancestral nature preserve where they get attacked by naked suicide bombers. Then, while a jarring dj remix of Mozart plays, the gang gets help from bunny rabbit Hatsune Miku to commit indiscriminate orbital bombing.

We watch as civilians run, families hold each other, and children look up with curiosity as they are all engulfed in blinding light and turned to ash.

"Oorah! Victory at last! Take that you *$@&%# FILTHY RA- wait why are you arresting us for genocide?" But just as our war criminals are at their most dire, "OBJECTION! I am a lawyer dog!"

Collective gasp!

"A lawyer dog, not a military dog? That's weird because generally our society segregates employment by what zoo animal we look like because our creators couldn't be bothered to come up with any original designs for extraterrestrial life!" Adjusts thin glasses intelligently, "True, but I, lawyer dog, am actually a private lawyer hired secretly the U. N.!"

Collective gasp!

"The Yakitori are innocent of genocide because guns don't kill people, people kill people! And these Yakitori are just disposable equipment!" (Mic drop)

Collective gasp!

"Flawless logic! Lawyer dog is right! Acquitted all changes!"

But how did lawyer dog know?

😎 "All according to my secret U. N. plan, good work lawyer dog." "Yakitori, I space marine dog support you! Glad you got away! Your brutality on the battlefield is space marine material! Also, we're good dogs even though we didn't stop you from glassing an entire city."

Que bunny rabbit Hatsune Miku "dancing" to remixed Mozart and roll credits.

Aside from Ken Ishii's nail-on-chalkboard music, I can't help but suspect the original material is to blame for Yakitori's failings, and that said failings were all preventable.

So, spare your ears and watch something else on Netflix, like "Love, Death, + Robots" which unlike Yakitori, is 10/10.

• Crosspost with MyAnimeList.

Terrible dialogue

[nathanbilleau · 3/10 · 29 May 2023]

The anime is extremely below average the dubbed version still has japanese speaking in it so not worth even if you can't read quick enough much better subbed but even then it's still poor story development and structure. I haven't reviewed anything before but this show was not even fun bad it was just boring bad the gore raised it a little, the anime is pretty much just the video game warhammer vermintide with waves and waves of endless rats just it's in space. Somehow humans have become subservient to alien humanoid dogs and there is not technology advancements from mankind which is a little strage concept it's ok to have a wasteland but the way this has been done is just cleché and no real reason just boring.

Bad character and dialogue writing.

[relixxd · 1/10 · 11 June 2023]

The characters are very generic and the main character is very annoying and acts against what the characters itself shows as values and thoughs. For example, he shows somekind of rebelty against a very bad federation that enslaved humans and then it decides to fight for with little problem to the point of commiting genocide to a race that before that he says that he feels empathy for them.

In resume, the characters are shown as the good guys even after they commit genocide and instead their actions are good and we should feel sorry for them because their are marginals of the mean society and bureocracy.

Besides the characters themselves don't have any dialogue felling sorry for mass murder a civilization pretty much like humans.

It could haven been easily decent, but lacks effort.

[cmartinport · 5/10 · 5 June 2023]

I am quite comfortable with both the animation, and the voice acting. They are not perfect, perhaps not even good, but more than enough to tell a story on a budget tv show. Really, no complain there.

Sadly, the story itself is very lacking, as well as sloppy, dumb and incoherent, and the characters don't add much to any of it. It seems like in no moment they considered asking any normal adult opinion, something with which the could have easily pull this up, and make some sense. Really, I believe that with some minor changes on the script, which some simple effort, it could actually make a decent story, and it has a lot of potential, which could be even deepen, but it wasn't actually the case.

It does provide some entertainment still, although skipping the flashbacks would help.

Horrible animation and Dialog

[rwwpvdsf · 1/10 · 31 May 2023]

The animation is buggy to the point it is not actually enjoyable. They have obviously gone with a low frame rate style that actually takes away from the show more than it gives.

The Dialog itself is absolutely atrocious. With limited ability to diverge from similar adjectives scene over scene. Lack luster voice acting delivers the final nail in this show. Accents change frequently on one main character. Going from Scottish to Eastern European. "Screw this", "you're an idiot", and other lines make so many repetitive appearances it could be a drinking game.

Not to mention the horribly done Rabbit AI that dances as the warriors are being shot at. This itself has me almost turning off the show.

This could have been amazing, instead it's mediocre at best.

Interesting concept ruined by terrible story writing in the last episode...

[MericaMadman · 1/10 · 26 September 2023]

I watched all 6 episodes and got drawn in by the group dynamic of the Yakitori to try to stay alive and resolve their situations. However, the flashbacks constantly disrupt the current action of the existing situation, which was extremely annoying. However, my main issue is with the last episode of the series.

In the last episode the Yakitori were brought up on charges of genocide that were dismissed on a technicality from politics. Weak. The massive oversight that took place in this episode is that it wasn't the Yakitori that were responsible at all for the orbital bombardment. They simply requested the bombardment. It was actually Commander Rimel that ordered the orbital bombardment. He should have been tried and charged for requesting it. This is a massive over sight of the story and the court due process proceedings.

Furthermore, they were being questioned for rightfully defending their lives against hostile creatures. They were sent there to defend the special envoy and the property there. In the military you are considered property, correct, however, even as property you have a right to defend yourself if you feel threatened. It doesn't matter that they didn't know the rules of engagement because they did what was correct. They were defending their lives. This is again another extreme over sight that didn't sit well with me in the story. I felt like the last episode just literally took a dump on the audience.

Horrible writing and creativity

[davidvonrue · 1/10 · 16 October 2023]

While the only plus to this show is it's animation quality, everything else drops off. The writing is horrible, stemming from a cliche "aliens take over earth, and humans are part of the alien system." As for the 'aliens,' they are LITERALLY just earth animals turned humanoid, they didn't even attempt to make any species look innovative or new. The story is lazy and just boring, I had to click off halfway through the first episode, and come back later. The characters are lazy and the main character is just annoying. Everything about the "war" aspect seems unrealistic with the first episode starting off with an entire army just walking up to attack unnoticed. The series ends on just a boring note leaving me, and I am sure others wondering, "that's it?" It is a shame to see movies, video games, tv shows, and all media just go so downhill. This show is a waste of anyones time.

confused storytelling

[whitewolfAL · 5/10 · 14 June 2023]

I have watched the 6-episode series called "YAKITORI" The story revolves around Earth being subjected to trade by the Cosmic Commerce Alliance. Due to a debt crisis, important resources are seized, resulting in the loss of sovereignty. The main character, resembling a product, is sold to the Alliance as a soldier to plunder resources from other planets.

The oppressed planets, inhabited by rodent-like creatures, desire to preserve their independent culture and sovereignty. As a result, they rise up in rebellion against the Alliance. Throughout the series, the protagonist actively fights against the oppressive group, indiscriminately bombing villages.

I initially thought that the 6 episodes would shed light on the dark side of the Alliance. However, the unexpected turn of events in the series has surprised me.