Sorry, no Death Note bashing yet, but something else I?m going to trash.
Shigurui can be described with probably just the one word: visceral. Almost everything about it is just that: visceral... the violence, the character design, the nudity, hell, even the plot (acceptance, development, betrayal, revenge etc.). But for some reason, while this is all well and good, I can?t consider this a particularly good series. It isn?t bad, and I even enjoyed watching some parts of it, but there?s just too much wrong with it.
Let?s see, it?s based on a manga, that?s based on a series of light novels. Now, it starts off with two guys about to fight each other, before launching into a massive backstory about the two swordsmen (though it less launches and more sedately saunters). The general pace of the series is very languid, which is a sharp contrast to the fight scenes, that, while good, are over if you blink, since the characters will often stand stock still glaring at each other for several moments while their muscles bunch up (which you see actually happening, with flashy visuals that would, if they had any more of them, make you epileptic).
And that gets me onto the visual style. Apparently, the violence was supposedly ?realistic? with shocking displays of blood and guts. Unfortunately, it can be likened more to Kill Bill than anything else with rather over the top sprays of red in all shades and consistencies. And one look at the guts that spill from a man?s belly makes you wonder at the diets of these animated characters... they honestly look plastic. So, that was some graphix budget that seemed completely wasted. And the pity of it is that I would have overlooked it if the acting was any good, but for all the period drama and traditional speech, the voice-acting was wooden and borderline soporific.
But probably the worst aspect was its incompleteness. Someone, somewhere, was hoping to make a second series to this... but since it?s four years old now, I don?t think it?s going to happen, but you never know. They set the scene in the first episode... but they don?t bloody deliver. Only half of it is even covered in the series and I?m inclined to scream ?why were there only 12 episodes?!? I honestly thought they were going to go back to the episode 1 fight during the last episode so that I?d at least see them clobber it out... but no such luck. Having not read the light novels, this kind of production in an anime really bugs me as it ultimately gives the viewer a lot of questions to ask but tells you to piss off once it?s answered one of them.
I will now refrain from finishing this review...
Shigurui can be described with probably just the one word: visceral. Almost everything about it is just that: visceral... the violence, the character design, the nudity, hell, even the plot (acceptance, development, betrayal, revenge etc.). But for some reason, while this is all well and good, I can?t consider this a particularly good series. It isn?t bad, and I even enjoyed watching some parts of it, but there?s just too much wrong with it.
Let?s see, it?s based on a manga, that?s based on a series of light novels. Now, it starts off with two guys about to fight each other, before launching into a massive backstory about the two swordsmen (though it less launches and more sedately saunters). The general pace of the series is very languid, which is a sharp contrast to the fight scenes, that, while good, are over if you blink, since the characters will often stand stock still glaring at each other for several moments while their muscles bunch up (which you see actually happening, with flashy visuals that would, if they had any more of them, make you epileptic).
And that gets me onto the visual style. Apparently, the violence was supposedly ?realistic? with shocking displays of blood and guts. Unfortunately, it can be likened more to Kill Bill than anything else with rather over the top sprays of red in all shades and consistencies. And one look at the guts that spill from a man?s belly makes you wonder at the diets of these animated characters... they honestly look plastic. So, that was some graphix budget that seemed completely wasted. And the pity of it is that I would have overlooked it if the acting was any good, but for all the period drama and traditional speech, the voice-acting was wooden and borderline soporific.
But probably the worst aspect was its incompleteness. Someone, somewhere, was hoping to make a second series to this... but since it?s four years old now, I don?t think it?s going to happen, but you never know. They set the scene in the first episode... but they don?t bloody deliver. Only half of it is even covered in the series and I?m inclined to scream ?why were there only 12 episodes?!? I honestly thought they were going to go back to the episode 1 fight during the last episode so that I?d at least see them clobber it out... but no such luck. Having not read the light novels, this kind of production in an anime really bugs me as it ultimately gives the viewer a lot of questions to ask but tells you to piss off once it?s answered one of them.
I will now refrain from finishing this review...