When the words “samurai anime” are mentioned, most people instantly think of animes like Rurouni Kenshin and various other shonen titles with lots of fiction and very little fact. While history of Japan in general and stories from the Sengoku period are popular themes in seinen manga, barely any of them ever make their way into animes. Shigurui is one of the lucky few such mangas that’ve been made into animes.
The biggest selling point of Shigurui is gore. Yes, there’s no use to deny it. The story and characters don’t have much depth, but man, the gore in Shigurui is awesome! The blood actually looks like blood and not just bright red mess. The violence is extremely detailed, and if I’m allowed to say so, truly beautiful. I also like the kenjutsu featured in Shigurui. While it’s not exactly realistic. It sure looks more convincing than the usual bullshit swordplay with all the flashy techniques that look rather silly.
The story of Shigurui is decent at the best. It had a lot of potential to turn into something better, but the ending is absolutely incomplete. As the last episode ends, you’ll probably get the feeling that you’ve just seen the first part of the story, but there is no more to see. Now I’m hoping that the manga is translated to see if there’s more to the story than this.
If you’re into gore and kenjutsu at all and you think you can deal with the incomplete end, Shigurui is a highly recommendable anime to watch. Otherwise, it’s nothing special and there’s no particular reasons to bother with it.
April 28, 2008 at 11:03 am
I just watched this and was looking to see if I was missing some episodes or what, but apparantley not. WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WITH THAT ENDING!?! I watched the entire series waiting for the big climatic battle and I feel like I got jewed.
April 28, 2008 at 4:08 pm
My feelings exactly. If Shigurui hadn’t began with the scene that shows how Fujiki and Irako are going to settle the score, I wouldn’t have minded not seeing that battle fought since I wouldn’t know there would be such a fight. But after watching all the episodes, I know why are they fighting each other and it was a big disappointement that this fight was never shown.
If it wasn’t for the disappointing ending, Shigurui would easily be one of my favourite animes. If there would be an OVA sequel or second season, the incomplete ending could be forgiven. But if it’s going to be left like this, all I can say is “good anime, horrible ending”.
February 14, 2009 at 5:42 pm
This anime is horrible. Don’t waste your time with it if you watch anime for a good story, because you’re totally screwed on this one. Sure, the animation is good, the voice acting is good, but where’s the character developement? Most importantly, where is the rest of the fucking story? It’s like the producers ran out of money during mid-series and said the hell with it. If this was their attempt to get me to read the book it’s based off of or the manga, good luck!
April 25, 2009 at 2:05 am
Actually, the anime is incredible and the manga is even better.
May 1, 2009 at 7:42 pm
You have to appreciate the artistry and the ideas. I think that you are supposed to see it as a “complete” idea that you need to interpret and understand on your own. As the last 10min were approaching, I made sure there weren’t more episodes or a sequel. But after a minute or two of contemplation, I really enjoyed how it ended. Like with most things, though I do believe they had a chance of doing it right, it is difficult to completely tie up the story line well and still make you think as strongly as the ending of the series made you think. Give it a chance. Its a great show