Petals of Reincarnation 1×1 Review

Petals of Reincarnation anime season 1 opened with a familiar narrative. However, it’s the surprising twist involving the male lead that’s got me very excited about the second episode.

Storylines about certain characters gaining access to the skills and memories of their past lives or ancestors aren’t anything unique. So, how a creative team decides to handle said developments is what helps make a particular piece of content stand apart from the rest. When it comes to Petals of Reincarnation, the debut episode didn’t showcase such a familiar premise being handled most uniquely. And I don’t fault the anime for that at all, considering it’s more of an action-heavy offering instead of a narrative concerned with diving deep into the emotional core of the cast of characters.

However, having said that, what made me invest in Petals of Reincarnation, for now, was the portrayal of the lead character named Touya Senji. He’s a teen searching for some kind of talent to not only help him escape the shadow of his deceased elder brother, but also to prove to his parents that he’s not useless. Nothing’s been working in Senji’s favor since childhood. Due to his elder brother being perfect in academics, sports, and extracurricular activities, Senji’s parents also made him follow his brother’s footsteps, with unfortunate results. It got so bad that his parents kicked Senji out of the house after his brother’s untimely death.

Constantly being compared to the “more talented” siblings or other family members is something a lot of us can relate to when it comes to academic and professional lives. I felt for Senji’s struggle as he kept trying to find something he’s a genius at. It’s not as if he wasn’t putting in the work. The first episode had him engrossed in his studies with no time to make friends. But then again, his low self-esteem was rooted in the family and self-inflicted expectations of needing to be “perfect” instead of just “good” at something.

Our lead was desperate for any kind of win, and that, eventually, came in the form of a new student, a young girl named Haito Luo Buffett. Through Buffett, Senji quickly got introduced to a secret world where ‘The Branch of Reincarnation’ was tasked with eliminating Returners who harmed humanity. In this particular fictional world, a special dagger allowed the user to tap into the skills and abilities of a past life. While an exciting opportunity, accessing a past life was also a gamble. There was no guarantee that your past self wouldn’t end up being a villain or a deranged person.

In my opinion, the writers did an okay job of providing enough information to lay the groundwork for a well-paced premiere episode before expanding on the lore down the line. As of right now, I hope there’s a better explanation about the need to slit your throat to tap into a past life and the resulting flower petals flowing out instead of blood. To me, that particular development came across as an excuse to deliver on interesting visuals instead of anything deeper. But we shall see.

The concept of gender bending current and past characters via their connection made sense. For example, Haito Luo Buffett called upon the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. I’m glad the narrative will be heading down such a path instead of adhering to strict gender presentation. However, I wouldn’t call Petals of Reincarnation a queer show yet.

The action was fun, with Buffett and Senji needing to go up against a murderous butcher named Fish as well as Vlad III. Apparantly, calling upon your past life also influenced your demeanour in the present. As an example of that, we got to see Buffett not being a fan of dragging out a battle with Vlad III to collect data. She wanted to keep attacking.

As for Senji, the dagger worked on him, and he gained access to an ability called The Right Arm of the Thief. This particular short-ranged ability defied the laws of physics and allowed Senji to steal anything. Think Shadowcat from the X-Men, but instead of only phasing your arm through material objects, you can also reach out to steal a person’s blood, or even their talent. I wouldn’t be surprised if The Right Arm of the Thief allowed Senji to steal souls. With the talents being inspired by historical figures, I’m looking forward to learning the person behind Senji’s ability.

Now, while worrying about a protagonist going down a dark route wouldn’t really be an issue, depending on the type of story being told, Petals of Reincarnation was a different matter. We have seen Senji being desperate about unlocking a talent to help boost his confidence. That’s why it made sense when we got to see Senji not being satisfied with just one ability. Nopes. He wanted more! And it wasn’t as if he was struggling with said decision either. Near the end of the episode, Senji deliberately waited for Vlad III to seek him out after he had stolen the villain’s ability during their initial battle. And Senji was ready to return it, but through his left hand, unleashing the ‘Spoils of the Thief’ talent. Witnessing a lead character being so casual about killing his first bad guy was a refreshing sight.

The dispatcher of ‘The Branch of Reincarnation’, named Neumann, did tell Senji that the talent itself wasn’t bad or good. It fell on the Returner to find a way to utilize said talent to better humanity. But yeah, Senji’s on a power trip, and understandably so.

I’m not saying that we won’t see Senji realizing his faults as the anime progresses and decide to firmly stand on the good side, but as of right now, I’m here for a storyline following a greedy lead who can’t be satiated and was okay with murder. That particular twist made Senji feel more human to me. Buffett and Neumann sought Senji out for a reason. There’s definitely more to his story. I wouldn’t be surprised if Senji’s brother was involved with ‘The Brance of Reincarnation’ somehow.

The promotional material has shared that the anime will be bringing forth Newton, Florence Nightingale, Schrödinger, Nostradamus, and yes, even Hitler. So, yes, I’m willing to stay on such a wild ride, for now.

Did you watch Petals of Reincarnation anime episode 1? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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