91 Days

Spoilers ahead!

I feel like I have to start off by saying that I am Italian. Countless movies on the mafia have been produced, and documentaries and novels had a great overall impact on the public. However, I feel like nowadays there is still so much ignorance around this topic, and people dedicated to visual arts tend to romanticize mafia-men as sexy people with influence and power, surrounded by luxurious women and riches. While this product is indeed Asian, being it an anime and the language spoken Japanese, the setting involves the United States and follows the dynamics of mafia families with Italian names. I believe this kind of "porridge" is an attempt to represent the mafia as a universal problem, not limited to a specific country or setting. I appreciated it. These Japanese-American characters, with Italian names, have peculiar ways to incorporate the Italian culture and tradition into their lives: Don Orco (nowadays, the prefix "Don" both refers to the custom of addressing a Catholic Priest, and it is also really common in the Southern part of Italy to designate an influent and powerful mafia boss) owns a restaurant and he's really fond of lasagne. However, in an episode, he eats what in Italy could be the second dish (meat and vegetables) right before the first dish (lasagne), which is something Americans would do. I admit that when Fango put lemon on his pizza I almost fainted but, again, an American could do that without sensing how weird it is according to the Italian culinary tradition.

The reason why it took me a lot of time to finish it - despite its 12 episodes - is that 91 Days is a slow-paced show that takes its time to give each character depth. Since the beginning, the public already knows where the story is headed to; Avilio must take revenge against the people that killed all the members of his family, and he is so determined (having nothing to lose) that we are not at all swayed by the hypotheses that he might change idea. The plot is character-focused, and I think there are both pros and cons to this narrative choice. The pros are the incredible details with which every character is depicted. Even the less important one has a personality that, in just 12 episodes, makes us foresee his choices, while we nurture expectations towards him. The show itself greatly supports the characters' arcs, being it Corteo's (Avilio's best friend, a bond which is very close to brotherhood) reluctance to get involved in the mafia's evil deeds, Avilio's stubbornness in going undercover to complete his vengeance or Nero's struggle to make choices related to his powerful position, which inevitably influence who's around him. The characters are consistent and all-rounded. This is a big strength of the show. Also, being mafia a male-dominated and violent environment, the only relevant female characters are Nero Vanetti's sister (basically sold to get married to a member of the Galassia family to improve their bond) and Fango's girlfriend. As for the cons, I believe that the show can be perceived as too slow-paced. I'm not an impatient anime fan, I really appreciate the power of story-telling and I believe in the value of taking time during the show to actually convey a great ending that makes the viewer reflect on the necessity of taking it slow. In fact, the last five episodes are pure gold: action-driven, dramatic, dense in details, and with an ending that makes jaws drop by its beauty. But to get there, you have to be patient and understand that every episode and every character serves its purpose.

The opening really takes stock of these pros and cons: the tone of the show is depressing because the mafia doesn't leave space for delight, families are torn apart by individual interests and the code of honor they live by is inherently flawed. To achieve something, one must be ready to sacrifice everything and eventually ends up obtaining nothing but loneliness and anxiety for the next betrayal. In the meantime, the local population either silently accepts their presence, the manipulation of market prices and copes with their power, or must be prepared for death. The lawmen are corrupted, and those who aren't constantly receive threats. This is how the mafia works. You don't fall in love with these characters: it's impossible. They are blinded by their ambitions, they don't care about unnecessary casualties among the "common" people, they may perceive like they're surrounded by many reliable people but, in the end, they are lonely, violent, cruel, and merciless.

The ending is one of the most beautiful and well-written out there: Avilio understands that he can get his revenge by actually breaking the connections of the Vanetti family (some members of which, years ago, killed his family members in front of him), that is actually how mafia families maintain relations and become stronger, instead of just killing the people involved in that specific tragedy. One of these people is actually Nero, who develops a fondness for Avilio despite not knowing that he is the boy he couldn't shoot and kill that very night. Avilio naturally resents him, but he knows he's alive just because of his long-gone mercy. Until the very end, these two characters show the depth of their built bond: they are reluctant to kill each other, even if there are a million reasons to do so. However, their friendship is doomed to a halt, and Nero kills Avilio. He betrayed him by working undercover, he ruined everything his family has accomplished until then, he killed his faithful right-hand man. Avilio, on the other hand, lost everything and cannot find another purpose to go on living.

This show is extremely thought-provoking and pretty accurate in its representation of how the mafia works, so I highly recommend it.