Review: Revisions (Netflix)

I finished watching Revisions on Netflix yesterday. Overall, I enjoyed the journey of the season, but there were definitely some glaring moments that made me roll my eyes and sigh in exasperation.

My exasperation mostly came from Daisuke Dojima, one of the main protagonists. I wanted to like him so bad. His character was voiced by Bryce Papenbrook in the English version. So he sounded just like some of my favorites anime characters. Characters that act as hero and protector seamlessly like Kirito Kirigaya of Sword Art Online and Eren Jaeger of Attack on Titan.

Those characters have their annoying moments as well, but they have more redeeming qualities to offset those moments. Daisuke, like the two characters I just mentioned, fulfilled his destiny but his journey was a bumpy ride.

Spoilers ahead

The Story:

Out of a group of five friends, Daisuke is kidnapped in 2010. He is saved by a woman from the future, Milo. She tells him that he will be the only one who can protect his friends when a threat comes in the future. His destiny is to protect everyone.

This remark stays with Daisuke and as the year’s progress, he looks for the threat that will save everyone from. Seven years later, his friends become alienated due to his overwhelming personality and inability to live in the present.

Eventually, the threat appears in the form of the Revisions. They time-jump Shibuya from 2017 to the year 2388 where a pandemic has killed most of the human race and left any survivors infected and deformed.

The five friends (Daisuke, Keisaku, MariMari, Lu, and Gai) form the SDS tactical force because they are the only ones capable of captaining the String Puppets, the main weapon against the Revisions.

However, Daisuke is unable to fulfill his destiny due to his cockiness and at one point loses hope in his destiny after he loses his best friend in battle. Only when he is able to let go of a preconceived destiny and allow each member of his team, SDS members and supporting cast, was he able to truly protect his friends, save the human race, and return Shibuya back to the year 2017.

Thoughts:

Two episodes into Revisions I thought it would play out a little like Erase. Erase is a story about a man whose life is turned upside down due to sabotage, but he’s able to go back in time somehow to change the events of the past so that the future is different.

However, I quickly realized that Daisuke is not like Satouru, the main character in Erase. Daisuke acts like a complete jerk most of the time and doesn’t hesitate to call himself the leader and the savior despite not even being the best at using the String Puppet gear. His friends are constantly trying to support him, but he makes it hard.

He almost ruined this anime for me. Luckily, he levels out some in the last four episodes on the season. It’s only when he finds out that he’s not really destined to protect everyone and that ARVH, the future organization that Milo works with, made an error and he actually evolves as a character.

Usually, at some point in the show, I have an emotional moment. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any feelings until Keisaku was the main focus.

I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say the anime has a bittersweet feel-good ending until you realize there is more of the story to come.

It seemed like a second season was set up for Revisions. I could be wrong, it might just be a cliff hanger to dismiss any semblance of a happy ending based on the sacrifices made.

I did enjoy Revisions and if Makoto Fukami and Taichi Hashimoto do create another season I’d love to see Daisuke’s character continue to grow in a positive way.

Honorable mention to Oral Cigarette’s who did the opening song for the series. The songs is titled Wagamama de Gomakasanaide and I like it.