Shigurui: Death Frenzy

Synopsis:

1629, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Two samurai of incredible skill are about to face off against one another in a tournament and only one will walk away with his life. Fujiki Gennosuke, the one-armed swordsman will be fighting Irako Seigen who is both blind... and crippled. But before the duel begins, let's see what happened to bring these two together to this death match.


Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 12


Review:

Never before has show as powerful as this one drawn me in so quickly within the first episode. It wasn't the plot or that the characters held any real on-screen presence but it was the realistically styled animation combined with a wonderfully haunting soundtrack that it heightened the atmospheric tension making it so thick you could practically cut it with a knife. This is a magnificent presentation of a story that involves a samurai school called the Kogan-Ryuu school with it's own fighting techniques and secret stylized sword-fighting and it shows you all the hardships it's students endure to be accepted and remain as a pupil under it's demented grandmaster Kogan Iwamoto. This anime portrays this out to the audience so well that every time a blade cuts through the flesh or a balled up fist strikes with such power to dislodge a few teeth, the anime uses a quick yet very dramatic effect and you can practically feel the pain being inflicted upon the victim but at the same time you can sense the power of the predominant character. This presents you with clashing feelings of sympathy and dominance at the same time which is an incredible way of causing inner conflict in the viewer and when the blood flows... it comes as more of a shock to the system rather than something to be expected. Throughout the show not much is really spoken but the eerie soundtrack is more than enough to keep the audience wondering what will become of this school as things keep getting worse when things like money, power, and debauchery, enter the story you watch as one of the most extremely powerful samuari schools implodes into a shadow of it's former self.

Superb animation, a magnificent soundtrack that makes an incredible atmosphere that offsets it's lack of detailed characterization that sends chills up and down your spine, and enough blood to make you wince in pain every time you see it seep from a fresh wound, Shigurui: Death Frenzy should not be missed. Even if you're not an anime fan, give this two-disc set a shot as it will not disappoint.

Shigurui: Death Frenzy (trailer)

Recommendation: |High|

Media type: DVD
From: FUNimation Entertainment
Spoken languages: Japanese;English
Subtitles: English

Watch the entire series at FUNimation's website here:

Shigurui: Death Frenzy (subbed)
Shigurui: Death Frenzy (dubbed)


*Note - I do not care for English dubbed anime so I can't comment on the English audio track. However, there were no typographical errors in the subtitles so this anime kept me enthralled the entire time. What are you standing around reading this for, go watch this... NOW!!!

*Note 2 - You may need to disable AdBlock Plus to view the videos. I've read that there are some issues with the online player that are being addressed. At this time it occasionally tends to lock up so if something happens, just refresh the page with the video and skip to the point where it left off and you're good. Videos play much more smoothly with the Firefox web browser.