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91 Days
Sleep with the Fishes
Series in a Sentence
After seeing his family killed before his eyes during his childhood, Angelo Lagusa joins the mafia family that committed the crime in order to destroy them from the inside.
What I liked
A lot of shows take a few episodes to actually get into the main meat of the plot but 91 days was not afraid to immediately set up Angelo’s motivations and put his plan into action. From the start, his machinations were both smartly written and interesting to watch, making the typical revenge story more interesting than one might think. Coupled with smartly written characters and a well written story that weaves in themes of friendship, loyalty and dedication, this series had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish and pretty much every episode had me clamoring for the next one because of some sort of cliffhanger. What also helped bolster the story as a whole was the setting. Being set in the United States during the prohibition added that extra layer of rum-running fun that was never too much as to overpower the main plot. Long story short, this is a series about revenge and doesn’t let you forget it. Such a focus only gave this series a polished feel alongside its already great story and animation. I’d go as far to say that this series in my own eyes struck, for the most part, the perfect balance of character development, story focus, and pacing that so many shows miss on.
What I Didn’t Like
For all of the praise I heaped on the pacing of the series, I feel like ending ended up putting on the brakes a bit too much. This is one of the rare series that proceeds through its plot at a breakneck speed without it feeling like it’s going fast and having an ending episode that ultimately makes you aware of the previous pacing and makes you wish they stuck with it is a buzzkill. Thematically and story-wise, it is a well written episode and serves as both a satisfying conclusion and an homage to the old mafia movies of the day but the fact that it didn’t match the speed of the rest of the show left a lot to be desired. After various rewatches I started to appreciate it more but the fact remains that myself, and others that I watched it with at the time, felt a bit betrayed by the speed of the ending.
Overall Feelings
If I had to make a list of anime that people who didn’t like anime should watch and would enjoy 91 Days would be among the top picks. From the classic mafia feel a la The Godfather and Goodfellas to the focused execution of the main plot and the smartly written characters, 91 Days is a show that is very hard to shake once it gets its hooks in you. It felt like each episode’s end was begging me to watch just one more and I was more than happy to oblige. Despite the personal gripe I had with the pacing of the final episode compared to the rest of the series, I would go as far as to say that 91 Days is a modern classic that should not be ignored. How far would you go for your family?