Shigurui: Death Frenzy is deathly serious, but I wasn’t expecting reach-into-your-stomach-and-pull-out-your-own-intestines serious. In one of the opening scenes a Daiymo’s advisor pleads with the lord not to hold a competition with real swords. To illustrate his point of what will happen to these promising young swordsman he reaches into his own seppuku wound and pulls out his guts.
Uh. Okay. I was expecting violence, but this was a bit much. I shrugged it off and continued watching. We meet the main characters short after: the blind swordsman Seigen and the one-armed swordsman Fujiki. They obviously knew each other as they entered their sword stances ( which amazing the onlookers….even though the blind man’s stance involves stabbing his own foot). Just as they were about the attack we are thrust into their back story. This story is where most of Shigurui takes place.
Shigurui is ultra detailed. Kimono fabrics have rich patterns. You even see the weave of the floor mats. However, all these detail makes for very stiff animation. Most of the animation are mouth movements and small head movements. You don’t see Samurai Champloo’s explosive fight animations here. Fight scenes are stylistically chopping and slow motion. The style tries to build tension and drama, but it actually makes the animation look stilted. The scenes look very good, but they just don’t move.
The choppy animation turned me off to the show as well. Although it is meant to be this way. Shigurui’s visuals are haunting and beautiful, despite the extreme violence. I may give it another try sometime, but I doubt I can finish this one. I don’t like extreme brutality – particularly toward women.
Since I didn’t finish the series, I leave the final judgment to you.
“I don’t think someone pulling out their own intestines is that realistic,”
I mean that’s a pretty sheltered thing to say.
One doesn’t really even have to pull much
I’m not a physician, but considering the documentaries I’ve watched that involved autopsy, a lot more cutting of the joining tissue looks to be needed to pull out the amount you see in the anime.
Shigurui is on my top ten list of anime. It is so easy to become tired of big haired friendly samurai who help everyone and only use their swords for justice. Samurai where not like that. As it stands Shigurui is the best depiction of the warrior class I have seen in an anime. Granted the violence is a bit much if you do not have the stomach for such things, but this is what happens when people go at each other with three foot instruments designed to kill.
They did capture the violence and speed of samurai fights well. The violence was just too much for me, as the article explains. I used to be able to watch gore and other violence but not anymore. I may still give the series a try sometime.
I also thought about comparing it with Basilisk, but where Basilisk is clearly an animation series with super-powered ninja, Shigurui is an ultra realistic portrayal of samurai. Even on a superficial level, they don’t really compare, since Basilisk is obviously intended as melodramatic popcorn fare, but Shigurui is an uncompromising artistic endeavor. It’s a lot like Texhnolyze, but set way in the past rather than way in the future; a kind of lawless contempt for anything that’s good in the world; there is very little hope for these characters.Your relation with the Arab landscape is about right. These guys can maim or kill each other with very little to stand in their way. It’s simply survival of the fittest, though several of the characters clearly enjoy the violence they are inflicting on others and obviously don’t see their cruelty as morally objectionable. I suppose we have to remember that these men and women were raised in a culture of violence and punishment; to them, chopping off a head or two is simply the way things go.Also, Shigurui is definitely the opposite of moe-centric material, but I’m hesitant to use TJ Han’s yin phrase because he uses it to describe anime that, despite being objectionably good, are fundamentally hard to watch because they are so negative. I agree with him in the sense that there are certain anime (Bokurano, for example) that are simply down-beat and depressing, but I never really get that feeling from Shigurui. I had to describe it as an odd mixture of the attractive and repulsive precisely because while I feel like I should be totally disgusted by what I’m seeing, I find it oddly fascinating too in fact, I can hardly tear away my eyes from the screen during an episode.I don’t really know anything about Japanese history, so I’ll just pass on your comment with regards to the period setting. Tokugawa does come up a lot though; I always remember that name from the Ninja Scroll movie.Finally, you should give it a shot. I don’t think you’re supposed to feel comfortable with the violence, but that doesn’t make it as less fascinating. Shigurui is a rather visceral and objective exploration of violence, people are exploited and the weak are executed, but just because something makes you feel disturbed shouldn’t deter you from trying to meditate on what you’re seeing.
Anime that is either too cute or too violent tend to turn me off. Shigurui falls into this range, but I plan on giving it another try sometime. The violence and cruelty is the point, I gathered that much. However, it felt almost like a fetish. People were no more violent during Tokugawa Japan or other eras than they are now. The lack of balance is what turned me off to the violence level. But then, I couldn’t get through that many episodes despite the haunting beauty of the anime.
so let me see if i have this right: you haven’t watched the anime completely, and yet you propose to review it? that goes beyond ignorant, especially when your review is a negative one, as you have admitted to not having even seen the item you are reviewing.
regards,
joe
I admit to not seeing the entire series (I watched several episodes before the violence bothered me) so readers can take my views for what they are: initial impressions. Not everyone likes bloody and gory shows. I find it helpful to read initial impressions when looking for something new to watch so I can avoid things that bother my sensibilities. Shigurui bothered my sensibilities so I thought it would be wise to write an impression for people similar to me.
Shigurui is easily the best anime I’ve ever seen. I haven’t seen as much as the agraeve anime fan, but I seriously doubt anything could be better than this. I think it’s about time this got some attention. I find it amazing that every episode is completely necessary to the entire story, it’s like watching a beautiful and distorted painting come together. Yeah, that’s what Shigurui is like, a moving and enthralling painting. Not even a single frame is wasted in this anime. If there’s an insect there flying, if there’s a flower in the foreground, it’s there for a reason. I just love it. And so much detail is put into each episode they feel like 12 20 segment movies instead of episodic adventures like most anime.And the dialogue is great, the animation rivals anything that’s out there. The movements are extremely realistic, and the facial expressions are human-like. That gives this anime so much more. The best part, though, is easily the direction. I have to say the final 2 minutes of episode 6 (the part where the monsters were born ) was probably the best 2 minutes I have ever seen in anything .just amazing. If Kurosawa and Takashii Miike came together and made an anime, this would be it.
The first thing I noticed about Shigurui was the attention to detail and the painterly qualities. They also had haunting contrasts to the violence, like the flower you mention. However, the violence level turned me off. Lately, I don’t have much stomach for violence or gore at any level. I will have to revisit the anime sometime.
The pace of storytelling is slow and deliberate , but the effect of this is more painful than suspenseful or pensive or any positive attribute. Each episode could have afforded to be ten minutes long. If you prefer well-developed series with a reasonable amount of action and a half-decent soundtrack, this series is not for you.Certain artistic techniques were entertaining and valuable to the emphasis on flesh as a theme. It was far more graphic than any series I’ve ever seen, at times bordering on guro and hentai. I’ll try to avoid detailing the series as a whole, but the portrayal of the characters’ bodies and not just their faces by the artists effectively mirrors the characters’ spirits and motivation. But this is the extent of positive reviewing I will give to this series.On the surface, the slow pace and irritating soundtrack might be seen as artistic, but these factors quickly become irritating when you begin to see through the artistic factor and realize the developers were really just cutting corners.
Shigrui was crude and appalling in many many respects. Somethings these men committed through the show were down right gruesome and grotesque, they’re things that only someone twisted can come up with. Its one of these shows that shows you the ugly side of man-kind. Although its a graphical skeptical (Madhouse always creates solid titles) there are lots of still images, yes finely detailed but with little motion. One of those forms of entertainment that are gross and violent for the sake of crossing borders, meaningful this is not. Remember Hostel? I’m not even going there.I’m usually in line with your thoughts on most shows Bateszi but not this one, well I never was on that would stand violence I guess that plays a part. Heres hoping Madhouse spends its budget on something that actually has a heart.lol This might seem like a offensive post, but its not! I respect your opinion.