Discussion Juni Taisen: Zodiac War

Episodes: 12 | Source: Novel | Genres: Action, Suspense, Gore, High Stakes Game
Synopsis
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Every 12 years, mercenaries who possess the highest caliber of brute strength, cunning wit, and deadly precision gather to participate in the Zodiac Tournament. Each warrior bears the name and attributes of one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. With their pride and lives on the line, they engage in vicious combat until only the victor remains.

The 12th Zodiac Tournament begins in a desolate city, devoid of any evidence of the half million people who recently lived there. To raise the stakes, each warrior ingests a poisonous gem, thus setting a time limit on the tournament—and on their life. With one wish for the victor up for grabs, the Zodiac Warriors start their cutthroat battle for survival.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

 

Episode 1 was good. I was actually pretty invested in the beautiful psycho Toshiko warrior of the boar. So her father was victorious in the previous Zodiac Tournament, and selected her younger sister Kiyoko as the next participant between the two sisters, this utterly devastated Toshiko. Kiyoko was apparently obsessed with killing (animals) and Toshiko seemed to be the less favoured of the two, so was jealous. Toshiko trained her and kept pushing her to kill people, which eventually drove Kiyoko insane and she killed the attendants of their family. Kiyoko got locked up in a form of isolation as a result, and Toshiko then gave her a weapon to kill herself with.

Toshiko finally is getting to participate in the Zodiac Tournament 12 years after her father, with the prize being any wish granted. The participants all swallowed a poisoned object they have to collect all of to win. They will die in 12 hours without the antidote, and the winner will also receive the antidote after the rest are all dead.

Toshiko seemed to have her strategy to win down and was mostly weary of Sharyu. Usagi also seems like a complete psychopath and had killed one of the contestants before anything started. Usagi is a Necromantist, allowing him to control those he killed, and so Toshiko seems to have died to him.

 

Episode 2 was good. Everyone seems to be of the opinion that Ushii warrior of the ox is the most dangerous and strongest of the group. Interesting to see it confirmed that the entire city of 500,000 people was cleared out for a single night. Not sure if they were killed or just moved. So the person to set off the explosion was the one to offer the peace treaty, Sharyu the Monkey warrior. Nezumi, warrior of the rat is the one who agreed to team up with her and they have escaped into the sewers for now.

Niwatori warrior of the chicken found the hiding spot of Dotsuku, warrior of the dog's hiding spot, and in the end, Dotsuku agreed to an alliance, although he intends to just use Niwatori and kill her off. Dotsuku also seemed to think he counteracted the poison, as his killing technique revolves around poison he injects into victims when biting them.

Using Niwatori's ability to control/communicate with birds, they continue keeping tabs on Usagi and his two bodies, planning on taking him out. Dotsuku bit Niwatori, poisoning her only this one was a power up. He intended for her to take out Boar or die trying. In the end, it backfired and Niwatori killed him by exploding his head.

Uma warrior of the horse had an unfortunate run in with Ushii.