Laughing Under The Clouds: When swords were outlawed in the eleventh year of the Meiji era, the mighty samurai population began to dwindle. Those who rejected the ban on blades rebelled, causing violent unrest to erupt throughout the countryside. To combat the rise in criminal activity, an inescapable lake prison was constructed. Three young men, born of the Kumo line, were given the duty of delivering criminals to their place of confinement – but could there be more to their mission than meets the eye?
Laughing Under The Clouds follows the three Kumoh brothers, Tenka, Soramaru, and Chutaro. They inherit the family shrine after the brutal deaths of their parents at a very young age. Tenka being the oldest acts as the parental figure to the middle child Soramaru and the youngest Chutaro. The series is filled with mythology that is often seen in anime, specifically surrounding the Orochi. Orochi in english translates to Eight-Forked Serpent.
The early background story of the mythology helps to lay a good ground work for the series as we begin to learn how each of our current characters fit into it. The series takes a few episodes to get going but once you hit episode 6, it gets damn emotional. The dynamic between the changing cultures of the Meiji era moving into a culture influenced by western cultures leads to interesting, and at times funny, moments with Tenka and his former squad the Yamainu. Soramaru struggles to decide what he wants to be, just trying to get out from under his older brothers shadow. For Chutaro’s part, he is just being a kid completely blind to everything that is going on. However, even Chutaro finds his way to growing up before its all said and done.
However, then comes episode 6. A filler episode is given at the half way point but it gives us a much fuller picture of the mythology involved with the story. The pace overall for the show is very steady and well laid out. After the filler things start to change quickly with twists left and right that through viewers for a loop. Admittedly a few of them were easy to spot early on, but others not so much. The final few episodes climax the story with meaning and not with uneven shorthanded story telling that can sometimes be found in some anime.
The emotions are not limited to just the middle of the series but continues as we watch the three brothers, who love each other dearly, fight to protect their family. While at the same time being brothers, who can and will annoy each other from time to time. The animation isn’t the best I have seen, and there are a few spots where large explosions are used to cover up some sub-par animation. But overall the core of the story is about Tenka, Soramaru and Chutaro’s bond, with the mythology surrounding Orochi being second.
We certainly recommend Laughing Under The Clouds to anyone who enjoys a mix of samurai, ninja, magic and mythology that includes familial antics between brothers. You can pickup your copy today over on Amazon.com
