Before starting the review, I want to first address that if you go into 91 Days expecting it to be an action-packed revenge drama involving the mafia, then you will most likely be disappointed. While these elements do exist, 91 Days is, at its core, a slow-paced show that gradually explores its themes as well as the story and development of the two main characters.

This review will be spoiler-free since I want to give more people reason to watch this underrated show.

Story - 7/10
Although I don’t normally do this, I will only be rating the overarching plot in this section since I will cover the themes and other subplots in the character section.
The plot of the show is definitely its weakest aspect, which is expected as it is more character focused, however, that does not mean it gets a free pass. The premise of the show is not very original, however it is unique in the fact that the show feels very realistic and grounded as it is one of the few anime (that is not a highschool rom-com) without any supernatural or sci-fi elements. The show’s first main character, Angelo Lagusa (better known for his alias as Avilio Bruno), goes through a childhood trauma when his father, mother as well as his little brother are killed right in front of him. The majority of the story takes place 7 years later when Avilio begins to seek revenge after receiving a mysterious letter detailing the names of everyone involved in the death of his family. One of the people on the letter is the charismatic Nero Vanetti, who is the scion of the Vanetti mafia family and becomes the second main character. There are two major plotlines in the show, the first being Avilio’s quest for vengeance against the Vanetti family (by going “undercover”) while the second being conflicts between the 3 major mafia families.
The show does have some twists and turns, but overall, 91 Days’ main plotlines are pretty standard, however it is good enough to support the character arcs, which is where the show truly shines.

Art - 8.5/10
The art is absolutely top-tier, especially the character designs and the animations. The characters in the show are all unique, easily recognizable, and they represent their characters' personalities perfectly. The animation in the show is also incredible, the characters are all very expressive with smoothly animated movements. The show does not have a lot of action, however, they are all well made and exciting for the most part. A big complaint that I have with the art is that the environmental designs do not match the quality of the other aspects such as character designs. Most of the environments in this show are very bland, especially the landscapes which have little to no details in them.

Sound - 8.5/10
91 Days’ soundtrack is great although nothing really resonated with me. The background music always felt appropriate and strengthened the emotions the scenes were trying to get the viewers to feel. The opening, “Signal” by Tk from ling tosite sigure, is very well made and in my opinion totally captures the tone of the show. The voice acting in the show is perhaps the best thing in the sound department. All the voice actors did an incredible job at voicing the emotions their characters were feeling at the time. One thing I want to point out is that I was not a fan of Avilio’s voice at the beginning, however, Takashi Kondo (Avilio’s voice actor) did such a terrific job portraying a soulless person that not only did his voice grow on me, I don’t think any other voice would fit Avilio’s character.

Character - 9/10
The characters in 91 Days are not by any means the most relatable, deepest or even the best developed characters to ever exist, so why do I keep saying that this is the best part of the show? The answer is consistency. Almost everyone in the show, especially the two main characters, are consistently written in terms of their development, personalities and goals. What do I mean by consistency? When fictional characters are created, they are given a backstory, a set of personality traits and some sort of personal beliefs (for example if they are cynical, naive, ect...). However, many shows and movies forget their own characters’ traits which results in them acting completely out of character, especially around the end of the story, and making their developments feel forced and unnatural. This is a problem that exists not only in anime but in fiction as a whole. Reasons for this can be because the writers are rushed during development or they simply fail to fully understand the characters that they created. This is fortunately not the case for 91 Days, as all the characters grow and develop naturally and the actions that they take are often influenced by the result of a major event as opposed to for the sake of advancing the plot.
Another reason the characters are incredible is because of how perfectly they portray the themes of the show. Although there are many different themes in this anime such as family, the most prevalent theme is without a doubt the consequences of vengeance. This theme is nothing new, however unlike many other stories, the consequence is not the people you need to kill but rather the loss of your purpose and soul. The show strengthens this theme through the story between two people, Avilio and Nero, who completely contrasts each other as characters not only in personality but in their development as well. While the story follows Avilio on his revenge quest, the show spends perhaps even more time on Nero’s story. Throughout the show, Nero not only gets the most development and backstory, he also displays the most emotions. This is done on purpose because even though the viewers won’t stop cheering for Avilio, Nero’s development is needed in order to show how the “protagonist” of the show has become even less human than the “antagonist”.

Enjoyment - 9.5/10
I obviously enjoyed this show a lot especially as I became more and more invested in the two main characters and their relationship together with each episode. The plot is not the best but it still kept me interested and I was only bored during one episode around mid season which was too slow and didn’t really have any major story or character developments.

Summary
There is a clear goal and vision behind 91 Days and it absolutely shows. The anime properly and successfully delivered a complete story for its two main characters that the writers perfectly understood. 91 Days is not a masterpiece nor is it something that will completely transcend storytelling in anime, however it is an extremely entertaining and thought-provoking show that I would highly recommend to anyone who doesn’t mind a relatively slow-paced character drama.