Without Honor or Humanity – Shigurui: Death Frenzy Review

Shigurui: Death Frenzy DVD Set

Mad House has created seminal animation when it comes to Ninja (and Catgirls…), so I was more than a little excited to see the renowned studio’s take on Samurai. Believe me when I say, it does not disappoint.

Plot Summary

The story of Shigurui: Death Frenzy starts in media res at a tournament in Sunpu Castle. Fujiki, a one armed swordsman is about to throw down against Irako, a blind swordsman. As the crowd looks on, the story dissolves into a series long flashback that explains how these two men came to that point in time.

Starting as the disciples of a legendary fighter, the two warriors fight for the right to be named successor; a right that nets them the Sensei’s daughter and the knowledge of his most lethal technique. Over the years, they cause injury to each other, but never stop fighting to achieve their goals.

Review

To say that Shigurui exceeded my expectations is an understatement. There were very few elements that I was not blown away by. Especially engrossing was the progression of the story. Instead of starting at the beginning of the timeline, it starts at the end.

The viewer knows right away who gets the girl and what becomes of the two fighters. Then, as the flashbacks begin, there’s a sense of expectation, and it makes the payoff all the more awesome. Take for example the blind fighter, Irako. It is clear from the first ten minutes of the series that he’ll be blinded at some point. Knowing that Irako will lose his sight, while piecing together the events leading up to it, works well for the anime. One would think that knowing the end before the beginning would be a drag, but experience Shigurui and you’ll understand.

Fujiki and Irako get ready to cut pieces off each other.

Aside from the structure, the series has excellent pacing. Much like the old Kurosawa films that discussed much of the same subject matter, Shigurui unravels slowly at first.

This gives the viewer time to really dig in and understand the era and story. Whenever a major plot shift is incoming, you can feel the pace pick up into a canter, and then a full on gallop into calamitous events. These impact every action from then on. Afterward, as before, the plot slows down to let you fully digest what’s transpired.

Shigurui is unflinching when it comes to adult subject matter. The violence is as brutal as I’ve ever seen. Bones are broken, appendages are severed, and a copious amount of blood is spilled. Shigurui also examines sexuality and infidelity without eroticism or idealization. Everything in this series is raw and unfiltered.

One of the few moments without blood and dismemberment.

I have very few gripes with Shigurui. However, one such complaint is the use of CG elements that really detract from the exceptional animation. I wish studios would stop using CG as a go-to for complex images (such as intestines flopping around).

Another complaint was the series’ bizarre ending, which left me wondering if there was another episode on a different disc. I checked the packaging and this is indeed all she wrote. I don’t mind not having everything spelled out for me in grand detail, but the anime seems to just put down the anchor and stop before it reaches the shore, so to speak.

Character Development

I’m a stickler for motivation. If it makes no sense for a character todo something, then it should not appear in the script. The creators of Shigurui obviously understand motivation, and are experts at giving their characters depth.

Gennosuke Fujiki is the strong and silent warrior. Before Irako shows up, he is considered to be first in line to succeed Iwamoto, the sensei of the Kogan style.

The other side of the coin is Seigen Irako. A rake and a user, Irako is out to do whatever it takes to become renowned and surpass his humble beginnings.

Neither character ends up as he began. It’s refreshing how the story and the harsh environment around them morph their personalities into something new and foreign. The tragedy of Irako and Fujiki’s brutal lives shape them, not the other way around.

Character Design

Swordplay can be brutal.

The characters in Shigurui are designed with amazing detail. Deformities, clothing, innards: nothing is spared intricate detail.

Even throwaway walk-on characters are given unique flaws and interesting artwork. The effect used whenever two fighters are about to clash works especially well. The series uses an x-ray effect to show the bones and sinew on a character as they strain under the weight of complex combat techniques.

Animation

Aside from the aforementioned CG elements, the animation in Shigurui is superb. The crimson blood being thrown around on screen accents a cold, muted color palette. Oddly enough, the detail and execution of the artwork and animation only makes the violence that much harder to watch. The beauty of the brush increases the hideousness of the sword. Mad House has always been in the upper echelon of animation. Shigurui is no exception.

Music

Shigurui understands when to crank up the music and when to let silence accentuate the tense feelings in the room. When the music is on, it is perfectly set to the action. Lutes, taiko drums, and even a didgeridoo: the soundtrack has it all. The opening theme is an assault of drums and symbols, while the ending theme is a reflective accent to the carnage preceding it. Both were made by Kiyoshi Yoshida and are sure to be appreciated by fans of traditional Japanese music.

Voice Acting

Voice work for Fujiki and Irako are very good in the English version, but the women in the dub just aren’t as fitting as their Japanese counterparts. My main gripe is with Laura Bailey, the actress behind Mei. She’s not a bad voice actor at all, but whenever her voice came from Mei’s mouth, it was enough to break immersion.

The subtitles make it easier to figure out the dates being used in the flashbacks. The English version just says the era and the year, while the subtitles in the Japanese version throw in a numerical year in parenthesis. That gives it a small advantage over the dubbed version.

Conclusion

Shigurui is a must see for fans of samurai epics or adult oriented animation. Despite the dead stop ending and CG misuse, I consider is to be a spiritual successor to Ninja Scroll. It cuts out the mysticism, but Shigurui delivers a dark and foreboding world that you would never want to visit. Rent it or buy it; it doesn’t matter how you see this series, just see it!

Rating

Shigurui: Death Frenzy, gets 4.5 outta 5 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Funimation
• Release Date: March 31, 2009
• Retail Price: $59.98
• Number of discs: 2
  
• Run Time: 300 minutes
• Rating: TV-MA
• Language: English, Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen