Shigurui

Be prepared, Shigurui: Death Frenzy is not for everyone. It's gruesomely violent, has very few redeemable or likeable characters, it's rapey, shockingly gory and has pretty much zero moments of humour. I also kind of loved it. The story takes place in the 1600's and follows a sensei who is training samurai in order to choose his eventual successor and the backstabbing, murder and betrayals going on in the background. That's the basic gist of it, i don't want to spoil anything. Pretty much every character is a psychopath especially the sensei, the fight scenes are so stylish and brutal and the tone and atmosphere so thick with dread and tension that i do not blink when i watch this show. The violence really is extreme with dismemberment, eyeballs being slashed with swords (and eaten), jaws being detached from faces and characters having teeth stuck in their fists after delivering particularly hard blows to their opponents. It really isn't for sensitive viewers but if that sounds cool to you then....well it is pretty cool. I enjoyed the soundtrack too which is mostly traditional Japanese instruments and dark ambient drones which make it feel really intense. It's like watching a horror movie. I can definitely see some people hating it due to it's slow pace, relentlessly downbeat tone and extreme content (including sexual violence) but i think this is an underrated gem.

Let's get this straight. This anime is not for weak stomach. If you are a sensitive soul dont even try to watch it. I dont think the 18+ is enough for this anime. Not just because of its goreness, but because of the series as a whole. This is definitely one of those which is made for mature audience. What did I say? (*ragenoises*) What I mean by this is after a while you'll start to see the repetitive patterns in the art. The same "deep meanings" that have been processed a thousand times, and they came to the same conclusion. Nothing new just different wrapping with the same content. In reality the man is simple... So you'll start to appreciate the atmoshperic art, which does not strain to convey something very deep (and doesnt try to be "such wow, much thinking"). This is where the anime came to me. The characters were nothing special. The story was simple. The music was minimalistic, yet I really liked it because as a whole it had really uniquely dark atmoshpere which was captivating to me. It was really facinating to me how it depicted the chaotic and animalistic nature of the humanity without the strong rules what keep us in bay nowadays. The anime settings was just after the sengoku jidai which was really chaotic and brutal period in japan's history (Unlike in the movies, where the samurai is a hero and the embodiment of honor, which could not be further from the truth, except maybe a few cases). The show doesn’t try to moralize, it just shows things the way they are, in their unjust form. The story is really really slow, which is actually positive in this case. It lets you accommodate the experience. If you like long trashtalks between the villain and the protagonist, than this show is not for you. The flexing here is much more meta. This show tells its message through imagery mostly, so you need to watch it carefully (which is easier said than done in some cases). Additionally if you want to see long and flashy fight scense than you are in the wrong place. 1 slash and death thats all. You might consider this as budget sollution, but in reality the fights rarely last longer than 1 or 2 slash or stabs. In fact, this minimalism is a distinct characteristic of this show. Visually this anime is outstanding and beautiful in its grotesque gorey way. Its really rich in details. Audio wise the anime contains mostly traditional japanese music, which fits perfectly for the minimalistic theme. Just as the sound effects which gives the show a dark and sinister atmosphere. Summary: The atmoshere of this show is really unique and excellent in its own grotesque way. I'll give to it a 9/10 (because the ending was abrupt for me). All in all this is a hidden gem (its a really dark gem though).

Shigurui is not for the light-hearted. It's dark, violent, gore-y, rape-y and showcases the cruelty and callousness of humanity. You'll feel bad for some characters, possibly even root for them, and for others, hope for their downfall. The plot is one of revenge, pride, and power. There's a lot of fodder characters who get slayed, but the core main characters are pretty interesting. We come to know their emotions and motives. Rather than a linear progression, the anime begins with an introduction of two handicapped samurai who are about to engage in battle, then the story follows their rivalry while meandering into backstories. The traditional Japanese OST is excellent and totally sets the mood: amplifying the intensity of what is happening on the screen. I enjoyed the suspense and uneasy intense atmosphere of Shigurui. Tedious at times, but it's a real slow burn that forces you to focus on the details. The fights and art were well done. I don't recommend this anime to those who hate gore and slow burns.

If you want a concise review that isn't riddled with vague pseudo-intellectual nonsense, read this one. It's basically a tragedy where apprentices compete for being the heir of a renowned sword dojo, with a twist on the story. The atmosphere is extremely cruel. There is a massive amount of gore and sexual messed up moments. There is not a single scene of humor. Attention to detail is insane, you feel like you're reading a novel with how everything is "audiovisually" described meticulously (face expressions, movements, sounds). Combat is very concise and extremely precise. Key movements that showcase a certain technique. Every single movement is amplified by various cinematic and audio techniques. You see things such as toes movements, the sound of body parts moving and x-ray muscle scans. Most fights are quite literally a single slash with an immense build-up.

This anime is both visually stunning and has some excellent period music. The mood and tempo are serious and well paced as a Historical Drama. Some of the action sequences were very well done, others stayed in more of a story-board format and I am not sure if that was due to budgetary or time restraints. The parts of the story and plot that are told are well done. What this anime is lacking most ...is an ending (I can only guess you need the manga for the complete story). There are many parts of this story that require thinking and close attention by the viewer to interpret, and I enjoy that. What I do NOT enjoy is when an anime "Summary" and First Episode describe an epic battle which the anime then never shows nor provides an outcome for. Similarly, the anime and summary characterize a party in said "Epic battle" as a "one-armed samurai" but then fail to show how that condition came to be. Regarding it's Rating of R+ ; As other reviews have stated, the gore in many areas is rather disturbing, mostly due to it's rather accurate anatomical representation. There is some nudity and mature situations in many of the episodes but not to the point of overbearing the story plot IMHO As is the case with countless anime, had the anime gotten a Second Season, wherein the story could have been finished, I would likely have given Shigurui a review of 8-9. But even with an incomplete story, I still gave it a 7 overall.

One of the best samurai anime i've ever watched, but unfortunately, if you want to fully understand the story you have to read the manga, because the serie was made before the manga end. It is full of nonsense flashbacks that make you get lost in the story so you cannot focus on the plot. The animation is very shiny at the day and very dark at night (maybe because the 1600's years and shogunate period ambience that reflect the fact of having no electric power and roads made with rocks that reflect too much the light of the sun). I don't like specially samurai anime but i have curiosity, if you are truly in love with the history of the shogunate and samurai era watch it without hesitation and read the manga, if is not the case you better watch some shoujo or shonen

This anime was exquisitely drawn and edited, some of the most graphic violence I've ever seen, and the characters and everything were awesome- but the ending was awful. Keeping in mind you see the end of the story in the 1st episode and the other episodes build up to that, there was still a lot left out, like there should have been a second season. Had there been more episodes to properly complete the story, this would have been a 9 or a 10. It was worth watching, was very good and enjoyable, the ending was just a huge let down, like there were was this big chunk missing from the plot.

There’s a lot of weirdness in the anime world, and this is one of them. It’s a samurai anime, but there’s a bunch of muscle flexing like Baki. However, what made the anime so disturbing was the animation and the story. The anime looked entirely surreal. During the day, everything is dreamy and bright, while at night it was ominous. All of the samurai’ faces, except for Fujiki, creeped me out in different ways. One has ginormous eyeballs, one has a wide mouth, one has feminine lips, etc. Then, the slow music added more creepiness to the show. The main story wasn’t that hard to follow, even though some transitions were too abrupt. However, the characters’ actions were what greatly disturbed me. Some scenes had me internally screaming and cringing. If you think samurai are cool, then this anime begged to differ. The biggest bummer about the anime was that it has been 14 years since season 1 ended, so the anime ended on an unfinished cliffhanger. Overall, a bizarre, gory, violent, yet somehow very good anime. 8/10