Anime: Shigurui 1z3h2f

Shigurui gets top marks from word go for magnificent art. Virtually every scene in this twelve episode series carries with it the intense care of an animated feature, and it makes each 25 minute morsel feel like an hour long experience without a lot of the plodding that would ordinarily be associated with drawn out episodes.

From episode one, character development is heavy. Starting in the present with a mountain of scars on two nearly crippled swordsmen, the rest of the series takes place in the past with the origin tale of these two bitter rivals.

It's something of a classic story of the boy who would be king, two promising students with distinctly different methods attempting to ascend to the top of a regionally renowned and brutal school of sword play. But unlike the long and fantastic story of Goku or Naruto, this is a short and brutal dissection of two men with inhuman dedication and a Ninja Scroll level of violence.

There's insanity, there's rape, there's plenty of gore in the way of severed heads, limbs and disembowelment, almost all of it unflinching and carried out on screen in the same relentlessly beautiful art style that captures the mountains, rivers and forests.

The only reason I can't recommend this universally is due to the ending. Having started down this path in a tournament between two ruined fighters about to duel to the death, the series does not conclude with the tournament we started from, nor do we see all of the cause for their present day wounds!

The main arcs are complete; the first days at the dojo, return of the fallen, death of the master.. but we're left to dangle. Someone hasn't lost a limb yet, and the ultimate outcome of the tournament fight is undecided. It fades to black with no epilogue, and considering its finale over six years ago, there's virtually no hope for resolution without turning to the Manga source material. Sigh.

Final Score: A masterpiece of brutal, blood stained sword play. Its only short coming is that it literally feels two or three episodes incomplete.

Did he just cut a rice grain in four? … That was on top of a woman’s nipple???
This is not a mainstream anime. It does not have characters with multi-colored, spiky hairstyles. It does not have girls hitting boys and making fun of their sexual tension. It does not have laser beams, voice-dependent special attacks or transforming swords/warriors/animals. It is quite realistic in depicting life as it was in the feudal era. And yet, it is still not completely historical as everything in it is plain madness. Enjoy … or better say … gasp with it.

PRODUCTION VALUES
It looks freaking realistic! And packs numerous imagery concerning bugs, fabric decorations and cultural symbols that simply make every scene to seem like a psychological dive into the disturbed minds of the protagonists. Oh Madhouse, you beast; you are undoubtfully the king of anime shows.

Although quite alienating for the average viewer, the characters look and act appropriately for such a show. They don’t have any weird cloths or tattoos to attract the average eye. They stare, make facial expressions and move in ways that is quite reminiscent of dramatic theater plays. And yet, when they fight or have sex, you feel like they are real people, with body features and internal organs showing up as real as hell. Of course, all these are depicted in pretty grotesque ways. I mean, women are practically tortured and raped, while shown naked or in bondage. And when someone is decapitated, it’s usually not from a cut in the neck. The upper part of his head is sliced diagonically and falls to the ground while staring at us with empty eyes… Brrr! Internal organs splatter from someone’s belly on the ground… Yikes! Fingers snap and are shown deformed with a close-up shot… Puke! Definitely, not for those with weak stomachs and a high esteem of righteousness.

This is also amongst the very few series that really went into all the trouble of reconstructing the society, as it really was back then; both in historical and in cultural aspects. So, how can you NOT like the backgrounds? There were even feng-sui decorated sand yards, for God’s sake!

Visual effects are great too. Although there is way too much black in this series, even the slightest ray of light or shadow screen is there for a reason. Amazing camera angles and shots, atmospheric depiction of emotions through lines and eerie colors. A wonderful presentation that really gets to you.

Voice acting is generally flat, meaning it doesn’t have squeaky voices or young males voiced by women. And if you think about it, they really were talking very serious back then, all the time. No idealistic bullshit monologues about perky youths talking about saving the world in the name of justice. Obedience! Manner! Principle! Order! Only military-inspired themes are present.

BGM is full of actual musical instruments of that time and traditional music are heard all the time. No anachronistic J-pop or rock themes exist here. Swords sound like swords, as accordingly does everything else. They really put you in the mood to pay attention.

A minus is the use of stale images in order too “freeze time” and inflict emotions is overused to the point of yearning for some action to take place. Not that it is a series of frozen pictures. It is just that it overdoes it in this department. You can skip entire minutes without missing something important (other than the attempt to be sucked into the scene, that is).

SCRIPT
Two handicapped samurais are ordered to fight each other for the amusement of their lord. A flashback occurs, showing the events that led to that day. We see how they were raised, trained and made to be ruthless and heartless… Is it much of a story? Not really. It doesn’t excuse 13 episodes with just that. In fact, the pacing is ssssssslllllllllllllloooooooooowwwwwwwwww. It is 90% atmospheric build-up and 10% actual plot. It sucks you in completely, but refuses to let you go, even when you start to get bored or overly disgusted. A thing that might alienate you is the fact that many events are there only for shock effect and play no overall purpose in the story. Rapes, tortures and twisted imagery are there to make you feel bad but otherwise they are not part of the plot. Plus, no ending. The series ends without even getting to the part when the two main characters fight in the first episode. Another case of stopping a series, while the manga was still under production.

Fun fact: It is directed by Hamasaki Hiroshi, who also did Texhnolyze and Steins;Gate. I sort of see his distinctive style in all three titles, so in case you liked it make sure to check out those too.

CAST
Imposing, at the least. Emotionless expressions are excused and the martial forms they use are simply mind-numbing. Not to mention the multitude of nude and mental torture they inflict to one another! They are also crazy! Lunatics! Coo coos! None of them will make sense to an average viewer, who is ignorant of autocratic societies. Still, if you do take into the fact that the people back then were living just to (usually brainlessly) give up their lives for one of their master’s self-centered orders or train like crazy in order to become artists in their respective fields, then all this psychological madness is excused.
Women that are treated just as sex toys and breeding machines?! Yes, why not?
Samurai that fight to the death, just to please their insane master?! Sure!
People gutting themselves just to show how against they are to an order? Definitely!
This is Japan for you people! These things really happened. They are excused. They are overdramatic but excused.

Sadly there isn’t much character development. Everyone is there without much explaining and all the training and the events simply make them crazier, not different. The lack of a conclusion also means a lack of catharsis; so don’t expect anything amazing by the end of the day.

LEGACY
It is very shocking and memorable but the lack of an ending and the slow pacing damages the whole a lot. You will skip a lot of scenes if you ever bother to watch it again and even then you will have little to no motivation to keep going, since the only driving force will be the shock factor you already got over. So nice watch as something out of the ordinary, but it could have been far more than this. It did manage to make me fell like shit and appreciate the freedoms and sanity I enjoy today. But the incomplete story, the tooooooooooooo slow plot and the overuse of violence and sex to the point of feeling totally pointless and petty, really spoiled this deliberately bad feeling I got from it.

SUGGESTION LIST
Berserk, Rurouni Kenshin

And now for some excused scorings.

I expected this review would be rated by, at most, 6 people. HAH! It's my most-rated review to date, showing me there is a huge audience for sick slasher series. So,did I totally misjudge the appeal of this series? The rating is based on the A-E/Saizen fansubs. Warning: This series is so violent, so over-the-top, as to qualify for an R rating. It's dark, it's disturbing, and it's gritty in a "I'm totally disgusted" way. But if you're a fan of Nakazato Kaizan's 41-volume novel on the Shougunate, Dai-bosatsu tôge or Quentin Tarantino, or enjoyed Texhnolyze, this series is for you!


This series is full of sword fights and gore and violence and sexual references and... Rated MATURE. Hide the kids!

Animation: This series was directed by Hirotsugu Hamazaki, who directed Texhnolyze, and shows much the same interest in shadow and b&w, as well as a dark fascination with violence. It's taken from the gritty period manga of the same name. Dark, completely realistic, and set in the Edo period, it tells a complex tale without major cinematics (lens flare, etc). Think Basilisk in half-shadow and with open wounds and guts hanging around, and you have the idea. It is a series told mainly at night, indoor, and in shadow, with lots of chiaroscuro. Animation feels claustrophobic at times. Director decisions seem to be to go for slasher thrills, and it's a slight deviation from the style and character of the manga (not distractingly so). Fluid inbetweens and good (not blazingly great) backgrounds give this series good to excellent technical animation.


The series feels like a movie (in fact, it feels much like the famous Dai-bosatsu tôge, the 1966 film by talented Kihachi Okamoto), and uses the best film-noir and samurai-movie traditions, and as such, it's a total hit. Fluid swordfights, superb animation, real-world physics, and when a finger or a bone is cut or broken, OMG you see everything. Ditto for naked people (there is a liberal usage of nudity & sex here, and you see nipples, etc.). Not much (if any) 3D, it's all good 2D. Color palette is stark, with lots of dark colors and a few symbolic uses of color. There are lots of static cells, and the series went for a b&w look too. 9 for animation, missing a perfect because the low number of cells and it's maybe TOO realistic for daytime tv.


Sound: Technically, the sound is excellent. Very effective use of foley and sfx. Creepy music that reminds you of the period (taiko drums, flute, shamisen). Good op (blood red is the theme) but a very bad ed (what, no montage? Nothing but B&W credits? Here's a $20, splice some footage). Soundstage is nicely separated and effectively used. Seyuu don't get much to do, as it's low on dialog, but they do it well. 8 for sound, could have been my fansub cap though. I'll likely change this once it comes out in DVD. 


Story: Mortal enemies sworn to kill each other, each a monster, each incredibly gifted. The story is dark, however. Don't look for much humor in this dark and depressing series. In a slow-paced short series, you expect atmosphere to be 20% of the value, and on atmosphere and style alone, it would get a 10. Good shock value in places, though.

The pacing of the story is slow, and the effect is very gory and creepy, with a large amount of tension built for the fights and reveals. But there is so much over-the-top gratuitous violence, it put me off the story (I mean, who wants to see a woman's nipple being eaten?).

The second flaw is that there is no real ending of the series, and no resolution of one of the three main themes. It cries out for a movie, but the question is, would it find an audience (yeah, it would, and that's a cultural commentary of it's own). 10 for atmosphere, 7 for kinky story lines, 6 for no real ending, for an average of 8. And many of you liked it, and I know who you are.


Character: What can be said about nicely drawn, well-formatted, interesting characters that you can't root for because they are monsters? And about a series where the main character(s) are violent and perverted? Where every guy is a bastard and the women are just sex objects? What audience were they going for? The sick-and-perverted-and-their-understudies? Because yes, it’s art, but is it appealing? Most manga and anime goes for a softer presentation, but this series almost wallows in the muck.

Still, very interesting characters: one-armed Gennosuke (voiced by Daisuke Namikawa, Rock in Black Lagoon), and blind Seigen Irako (voiced by Nozomu Sasaki, Johan Liebert in Monster) are compelling, unusual (and different!) characters. If you love your samurai film noir, you'll love this series. However, it's too short for character development, and you'll hate the lack of character resolution. 6 for character, maybe though it's just because I don't like/appreciate the manga-inspired ending (your mileage may vary, if you're a fan of the manga, which is still ongoing).



Value and Enjoyment: I found myself having to root for the bad guys only because everyone is flawed. I did hope it would become less violent, but it really didn't (no, it didn't). I found the second half to be very engrossing, but then the lack of a satisfying ending was a major disappointment. The grouping of flaws and gems is the most unusual since, well, Texhnolyze. And I enjoyed that series a lot!


I give it a 7 for value, and an 8 for enjoyment, but I'm charitable for the latter because it is so darn different from anything else out there. And yes, that includes the flaws it has. You sickos will enjoy it.


Conclusion: Anime by and for cannibal-slasher or art-house people. Needs a final wrap-up episode and if I were the writer, I'd have lightened it some, maybe used a bit of banter to help contrast the tension and create likable characters, though to be fair, it's not in the manga and it's not the feeling they were going for. Pure samurai slasher. It's scary how good it is, in spite of the flaws.


Appeal: its a depressing series. I didn't write it. But I enjoyed every minute! Don't blame me, I'm sick just like you.