Ranked #2686

Samurai Deeper Kyou

Samurai Deeper Kyo was one of the first anime I saw (after The Guyver and Perfect Blue – an interesting selection). It is the tale of the ‘strongest samurai alive’, a bloodthirsty monster called Demon Eyes Kyo, also known as the Slayer of 1000 Men, and his search for the only thing in the world that is important to him.

For the first few episodes, Samurai Deeper Kyo seems quite formulaic. Kyo establishes himself as a badass who can crush all opposition while sneering disdainfully, and combat consists largely of exchanges of flashy-looking quasi-magic power attacks. So far, so shounen. There are some un-shounen elements even at this early stage, though – if you’re paying attention. I didn’t notice until maybe my third or fourth viewing just how short the battles tend to be. This could easily be seen as a bad thing – one or two explosive techniques from each combatant and it’s all over. But having sat through (and enjoyed, mostly) every episode of Bleach to date, I’d contend that this brevity of conflict could also be seen as efficiency. There are no episode-long power-up sequences here, or even episode-long fights. Even the best shounen tends to have unrealistic bursts of dialogue in the middle of combat and foes who wait patiently while the hero recites the name of his attack, and that’s certainly true of Samurai Deeper Kyo, but unlike so many other series the fights here get to the point. Sadly, they’re also somewhat more stationary than people raised on Bleach or Samurai Champloo might be accustomed to; there is an over-reliance on speed lines, and a lot of the bog-standard non-superpowered sword swings look clumsy and artificial.

Like many other shounen series, Samurai Deeper Kyo leans towards being an ensemble piece, with an ever-expanding core group of characters who trail after the hero, or cross his path repeatedly in a variety of ways. Unlike some series, though, most of these characters are quite distinct and likeable as people. Few of them are particularly nuanced (with the notable exception of Yukimura Sanada, at least to this viewer), but they rarely blend together as some characters in this genre can tend to. As you might expect, most of the central characters have something to hide, or something to discover, or an unclear agenda – and while I doubt any of the revelations will make you gasp in abject shock, they’re not always easy to foresee.

One of the strongest points of the series, for me, is the fluid nature of alliances and good/evil – something I have a fondness for in other series too, such as Gilgamesh. While shounen as a genre frequently has enemies becoming friends and the like, lamentably few actually keep you wondering just who is really the enemy. Like the proverbial onion, Samurai Deeper Kyo sheds layers of intrigue, each time shaking an assumption you thought was concrete. Similarly, the series employs the well-established technique of 'threatening the badass' – that is, if Kyo seems to be an unstoppable killing machine in the early episodes, it’s only to impress upon us the seriousness of later travails that actually challenge him.

On the music front, Samurai Deeper Kyo really surprises me with its quality, though I didn’t notice at first. Some of the recurring themes really jump out at the viewer, such as ‘Awakening’ (the music that usually accompanies Kyo’s trademark Mizuchi technique), but many are quite subtle and atmospheric. I thought for a while that Kyo’s music was indelicate, almost garish, consisting of just one or two brash tunes, but when I listened to the soundtrack album I realised to my surprise that I recognised every one of the thirty tracks, and most of them were incidental themes, accompanying flashbacks or moments of tension. Curiously, much of the music, when listened to away from the visuals of the series, puts me in mind of console RPGs; some make me think Final Fantasy, others Zelda, and one even reminds me of an old NES game called Battle of Olympus. That’s not to say that the sound quality is shrill or the composition is lacking, simply that some of the tracks are more soaring or more grand than I would have expected. A particular highlight for me is ‘Begin’, an upbeat, airy, faux-string composition used for some action scenes.

Overall, then, I’d recommend Samurai Deeper Kyo to anime fans who enjoy action/fighting series wherein the plot isn’t exclusively a vehicle for the fights, the characters are simple but likeable, and there are enough surprises to keep things from getting boring. If you can overlook the sometimes stilted combat animation and are willing to be patient with the monster-of-the-week nature of the first few episodes, you might find Samurai Deeper Kyo a more rewarding watch than you expect. read more

Samurai Deeper Kyo has an unique and bizarre take on edo history, and the battles between samurai. The story has its twists, but when you think that the 'last boss' is defeated, more villians pop up. At first sight, the anime seemed like a fun hilarious anime with kyoushi junior, however when the "demon eyed kyo" takes over the anime starts in a much more serious tone, which prevails till the end.

The story centers around "demon eyed kyo", who has his soul entrapped in somebody else's body, so basically, he goes around defeating villians to get his body back. However, kyo is known as the man who killed a thousand men, the demon eyed kyo - reminds me of Kenshin and Battosai. I found the story a bit bizarre when Nobunaga Oda was introduced, and with all the messed up demons popping up.

Good Things:
. cool protaganist
. nice tense atmosphere
. good twists in the plot and character development
. badass looking demons and characters
. loved the opening song

Bad Things
. story is a mix mash of things which doesn't sit well with me
. fights are rather boring and repetitive, much like Kenshin using the same attack.
. kyo beats villian, moves on to anther villian, then another one, and another one and another one, until he fights the boss - very shounen, but the fights are not that amusing.

Overall: a mediocre anime, that I mostly forced myself to go through, but then again a watched 26 episodes in a day so that might affect my enjoyment of the anime. It's not bad, but not great either. Villians are very unique and have their own style and looks, very well done in the characters. read more