Fuse: Teppou Musume no Torimonochou

Everybody knows that dogs are a man’s best friend, am I right?

They are cute, intelligent, affectionate, and loyal until the very end. Now what does that have to do with the movie Fuse: Memoirs of the Hunter Girl?

Fuse (pronounced “foo say”) is the story of an energetic hunter girl named Hamaji who moves from the mountains to the bustling city of Edo after the death of her grandfather. Hamaji is taken in by her older brother, who is also a hunter himself. Shortly after arriving, Hamaji is greeted with a rather gruesome site of bleeding dog’s heads put out on display for the entire town ... to see. Taken aback by the display, she lashes out in horror. The citizens tease her a bit and then explain that they are fuse; half dog and half human menaces that terrorize and murder the human residents of Edo. A hefty bounty is put on the heads of these fuse, so every third rate samurai across the city is after their heads for the money and the glory.

Well gee, so much for being man’s best friend.

Hamaji’s brother wants to hunt down the remaining two fuse. Little does he know that Hamaji had already met and befriended a fuse named Shino on her way to his humble adobe.

The thing that stands out the most in this movie is most definitely its art, animation, and sound. The movie has a highly detailed, colorful, and polished world. Backgrounds are bursting with life and vibrant color. Beautiful Edo will amaze you with its sights and sounds, from the chaotic red light district, to the elaborate feudal castles, to the beautiful foliage. The character designs themselves are also quite interesting, vaguely resembling the characters from a Ghibli film or perhaps an older anime from the 90s. The soundtrack is also given equal treatment, with a traditional flair pulsing from its chords.

The movie’s story is an interesting yet rather simplistic tale. It’s an engrossing, character driven story from beginning to end, though it is not without its flaws. Character development is rather minimal, aside from what’s given to the two main characters, and the ending to the movie felt rather abrupt. Which was a shame, because it had such an epic buildup. The pacing for most of this movie was just right, with no scene feeling like filler, nor were any of the scenes dripping with an overabundance of cheesy melodrama. And thankfully that is the case, considering the movie’s focus on romance. Now the romance of the movie could have been handled better as well. Like the ending, it is given a rather unsatisfying conclusion. Throughout the movie, it’s built up in a rather subtle way, not feeling as if it were awkwardly shoehorned in.

The relationships of the characters were the main focus of the movie, though it does have its moments of brutal and bloody actions scenes. These scenes are rather fluid and detailed, down to every drop of blood, every bullet, every swift swing of a sword.

However, the characters, not the action, are what make this movie so interesting. The main character Hamaji is a country bumpkin at heart, illiterate and quite ignorant of city life due to her upbringing that took place exclusively in the mountains. This gives the viewers a convenient window to learn about the city of Edo and its culture. Her relationship with the fuse Shino is the main focus of the movie. Shino is revealed to be somewhat of a tormented and deeply troubled character later on. They grow closer and closer as the movie progresses despite the people of their respective races being bitter enemies out for each other’s blood.

The other characters include a cast of lively and fun individuals. There is Hamaji’s older brother Dousetsu, a somewhat childish bachelor that appears to be far less responsible and much less humble than his little sister. There are also Dousetsu’s neighbors, a young man and his son, and a round heavyset man with a not so subtle crush on Hamaji. There is Dousetsu’s love interest Funamushi. There’s also Meido, a talented artist and writer. She is the grandchild of a famous author who attempted to paint the fuse as something more than the monsters they were made out to be through his revered novels.

In a way, perhaps the movie was trying to convey a message of acceptance and understanding. The humans would mercilessly hunt down fuse without a second thought, all for the sake of protecting their own people. Although it’s also clear that some were only hunting fuse simply for the money and fame. Likewise, the fuse hid amongst the humans and ate soul after soul, like animals making no effort to restrain themselves. Neither side made much of an effort to call a truce. Neither side tried to come to understand each other. Instead, a vicious cycle of killing turned without any hope of stopping. It presents an interesting “chicken or egg” argument. Did the Fuse start eating human souls because the humans were killing them? Or did the humans start killing Fuse because they started eating human souls?

Of course, that conclusion was drawn up with a generous amount of personal interpretation. There was far more room for them to convey their message a lot more cleanly.

Fuse is an interesting little feudal fantasy tale that comes together as a wonderful experience bursting with life. It has its obvious flaws, but it’s a great little lighthearted watch.

It has a very feel good vibe to it and is definitely worth your time.

For those who are impatient, my simple review would have me say that i found it a mixed bag. I really wanted to write two separate reviews for this -an unbiased one and a personal one- but that's quite tedious and im not sure MAL would allow it. Anyways, i'll try to keep this short and simple.


Going into the film, i really really wanted to like it - I really did. And that's likely why i felt a bit disappointed. The simple plot of the story sees our lone heroine move into edo to live with her brother and to help ... him hunt down the fuse (human/dog hybrids). Her search leads her to meet with Shino.

My unbiased review would have me say that the story is fairly simplistic (no major plot twist) and maybe even enjoyable. In other words, if i were to take it at face value, there's nothing really wrong with it. However, a personal review would have me say that something about it just irked me. One of the genre listed with this film is "drama" but it didn't really feel as dramatic as it could have been. I blame this on execution. I personally think they could have focused more screen time on the fuse and their situation/circumstances instead of the heroine who hunts them down.

The character development was almost none existent imo. I wont hold it strongly against the film, cause it IS a film but im suppose to feel inclined towards Hamaji and Shino when they only meet up 4 times in the movie? About the fuse, particularly Shino, I just never got around to really liking him. I cant really describe why i feel this way without spoiling so lets just say i felt he doesn't get enough screen time/explanation for a character of his importance.

As for the art, i have no real complaints per se, but i personally don't think it really matched the theme(s) of the film. The art is variant and almost colorful but that doesn't really match with the theme(s) found in the film, etc:'we're gonna hunt down these fuse, cut off their heads, and display it for the public.' This is just a personal opinion and most people are hardly going to have much issues with the art.


OVERALL

There's nothing really wrong with the film, it has decent plot and action but i found that it suffers from its inability to make me want to try and connect with the characters. I think the story would have had a much stronger impact had they choose Shino as the main lead instead of Hamaji. Anyways, as another reviewer said, it does kinda have a Princess Mononoke feel to it except that its more action orientated and slightly less developed characters.

So, do i regret watch the movie? kinda, but not really. Would i recommend it? As long as you go in not expecting anything great. It has a "meh" fell about it.

I had a lot of fun watching this movie, it kinda reminded me of Princess Mononoke. :')
(No spoilers.)

Story: 9/10
(Read the actual plot on MAL for more info)
Hamaji, a young girl hunter living alone, gets a letter from her brother living in edo, to come and help him with hunting, Hamaji goes to edo to help her brother out and ends up meeting Shino, a very beautiful guy with shiny silver hair, and she runs into him a few more times later on trough out the story. In this movie there are 'Fuse' part human, part dog creatures that eat the orbs from humans, when beheaded ... they die. (Okay, I suck at explaing things and I don't want to just copy and paste the plot from MAL because that would be stupid.) but anyways, the story dose sound a little cliche, sure. You probably think 'Oh, another InuYasha wannabe or something.' But it's actually pretty good and heartwarming. Makes you feel all fuzzy inside after it ends. Like you feel after you finish a good Ghibli movie. :)

Art: 9/10
They art was very good and eye pleasing with much detail to the background and scenery, Not really focusing on the people, they they where nicely done too. Another part that reminded me of Ghibli.
Also, they where not scared to use lots of Blood, another plus side imo. ;)

Characters: 9/10
The characters wheren't cliche, they where funny and I didn't feel like ripping my hair out watching any of them. I fell in love with Hamaji, she was such a strong, brave, beautiful and passionate girl.
Shino was hot, mysterious and interesting. He ate people orbs, and he wanted to eat Hamaji's too, but he tried very hard to fight his hunger, and not harm her.

Overall: 9/10
It was funny, I laughed, cried a little and smiled like crazy while watching this movie. It was very exciting and I can't wait to own it on DVD. ^_^
It's def one of those 'feel good' movies and I recommend it to people who enjoy movies like that.
(Okay, now I can take my sleepy self to bed. //yawn)

‘Fuse: Memoirs of the Hunter Girl’ is the fantastical brain-child of Masayuki Miyaji – an assistant director on Spirited Away - yet is also a work inherently dependent on many other historical writers and creators, most notably the author Takizawa Bakin. A recent anime TV series adaptation of his most famous work, the epic Nansō Satomi Hakkenden, was highly derivative of – and, in my opinion, somewhat insulting to – the source material. Fuse, on the other hand, seems very playful, reverent and effective in its adaptation of the same novel’s premise. Not only does the film pay it homage, it also directly references it ... and even features both Takizawa as a minor character and his granddaughter Meido as a member of the supporting cast. Aptly, it is through Meido – an aspiring writer herself - that the metafictional concerns of the film are mostly explored, supporting the notions of “fakes” and “counterfeits” that are central to the characterisation of the Fuse – mythical were-wolf like creatures - and the Shogun, who serves as the narrative’s underlying antagonist. Indeed, it is through Meido’s perspective that the film is given a narrative frame, thus adding to the sense that this story is very much enveloped within the traditions of Japanese story telling itself.
Another key theme touched on throughout is that of prejudice, though the extent to which it is successfully tackled is up for debate – after all, it becomes quickly apparent that humans have a very genuine reason to fear the Fuse, despite however much the latter may try to control their natural instincts. The discrimination and subjugation of women is, on the other hand, depicted in a historically accurate manner for the most part, with a poignant parallel being made between the lives of the Fuse and the ‘pleasure-district’s’ courtesans about half way into the film. The female lead and her samurai brother’s love interest are also used to explore the nature of womanhood and the construction of gender identity throughout, though in between everything else these areas aren’t really given enough time to be dealt with deeply, and the answers offered are again of questionable significance. However, the fact that the film manages to touch upon such things without losing its balance between fun and drama means that their inclusion is in no way detrimental.
One of the film’s most striking factors is its direction, which – once you get into the meat of the plot – may seem somewhat all over the place at points. This, though, is sort of the point: in order to locate the film in a broad historical context of Japanese story telling, a menagerie of varying techniques from a diverse array of traditions is used, from parodies of famous wood-block prints to a depiction of a Kabuki theatre play. Whilst I can’t deny this was an approach somewhat alien to my general cinematic experiences and perceptions, it certainly had the desired effect more often than not.
Despite the interjections of these sometimes visually contrasting modes of story telling, the movie does not eschew aesthetic unity: there is a default art style used throughout the majority of the film that features a Ghibli like approach to scenery coupled with the more distinctive character designs typical of most serialised anime. The animation is also largely of a high standard, aside from a few points near the beginning where it seems to slow down unnaturally for brief instances. What’s more, the various other aesthetics that are superimposed on the more conventional style - such as the woodcut imitations and the use of charcoal lines to depict aerial spinning motions - are used repeatedly, thus creating a continuity that makes them seem less intrusive and obscure when regarding the film as a whole.
Continuous movement between light and serious tones – as befitting traditional Japanese stories - is another effective aspect of the film: for the most part, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the humour is very well done. Despite some typical anime fare - brother and sister becoming emotionally hysterical and beginning a sobbing contest upon reuniting, for instance - the various comedic elements, from the woodblock parodies and use of several Ronin film clichés to the more self-referential conceit of the story itself being "counterfeit", are all executed well. However, one couldn't help but laugh at the unintentional ludicrousness of the film's climax. Indeed, the last twenty minutes or so are perhaps the only parts of the film were it strays slightly too far into reliance upon typical anime tropes. It was refreshing, though, to see a somewhat more abrupt and believable romantic confession from the female lead as compared to most anime heroines, even if the peripheral circumstances and the reaction of the male lead were excessively cheesy.
The film’s pacing is also generally quite good, though one sequence of events in the mid part of the movie – involving the introduction of a relatively important character, and several rather sudden revelations and pivotal plot points – comes on slightly too suddenly for my liking. Aside from this, the film breathes when it needs to – for example, in the introductory scenes in which Hamaji the hunter girl pensively stalks a wolf through a forlorn and snow-covered mountainous landscape - and keeps the action from getting too frenetic during the various fight scenes.
The characterisation was something that I was wary of in the opening minutes – given Hamaji’s anachronistic character design and voice - though as the film progressed any fears were for the most part laid to rest. The main cast are quirky, but not to the extremes anime characters are often prone to be, and none of them are particularly one-dimensional. Hamaji, her brother Dousetsu, and Shino – the male lead – all receive good character exploration and development. Indeed, I particularly appreciate how some of Dousetsu’s actions - being perhaps slightly deplorable to a contemporary Western audience - seem in keeping with the historical context he inhabits, and that he remains an endearing character in spite of also being very much a man of his age in some retrospectively negative regards.
One element I feel is too much of a mixed bag is the soundtrack. Whilst the sound design itself is fine, the musical score is somewhat inconsistent: several pieces sound very much derivative of Joe Hishashi’s Ghibli scores, whilst others seem to have come straight out of very average TV productions. In particular, the music underpinning several anticipatory periods building towards visual climaxes are very cliché. There was one montage sequence, however, in which one of the Ghibli-esque pieces was juxtaposed well against the unfolding visuals, providing an emotional commentary that would not have otherwise been apparent.
For many, the main caveat for greater enjoyment of the film would be a broad understanding of historical Japanese culture, including myth, art, theatre and story telling. That being said, the only one of those things that I had a small degree of knowledge in was woodblock printing – along and a vague idea of what the Hakkenden was - and I still found the film very enjoyable and humorous. Indeed, though I came away from Fuse with somewhat antithetical feelings in regards to how well certain aspects really worked, my final impression was an overwhelmingly positive one; for me, it is without doubt one of the best anime films of recent years not to have come from either Ghibli or Mamoru Hosoda.

This is a great film; I really enjoyed it. Definitely worth the watch. Many people are confused about the ending, I was too, but I thought about it and wanted to share my view.

<spoiler below>

I believe many others like myself are left confused near the end of the film, how Shino tells Hamaji to connect with her forever but ends up leaving her to go elsewhere. While it may appear contradictory, it does come to make sense.

Throughout the film, Shino struggles to embrace his identity. He tries very hard to remain human, but as a fuse, he faces immense difficulties restraining his ... animalistic nature. Being neither a human nor animal, Shino is unable to reach an equilibrium as he fixates himself into fitting in a single term, let it be 'man' or 'beast'.

After having defeated the final boss so to speak, he ultimately renders his attempts in being human worthless and concludes that he is a monster that can never become human. He hence attempts to end his life there. Hamaji stops him, however, and brings to attention the highlight of the film: one does not have to sacrifice a part of themselves to compromise for what they wish to become.

Hamaji reminds Shino of his humanistic side that he himself has ignored, that no matter how desperately Shino lusts to devour human souls he always manages to stop himself at the ones he care for. At the same time, as a huntress, Hamaji also acknowledges Shino as a fuse, a monster, but in spite of that, she still loves him for who he is. At that moment, Shino realizes he doesn't have to pick a side—he doesn't have to abandon who he is by default (a fuse), because he can't, and just because he can't doesn't mean he is incapable of possessing the traits of a human either.

With that being said, Hamaji is only able to help Shino come to terms with himself. Being in a constant struggle to accept the reality, Shino has yet to develop his own identity; one can interpret this as a child who has just seen themselves in a mirror, how they've only started to comprehend the "tools" they are born with. Thus, Shino sets on to a journey to balance the two sides of himself before he can stay with Hamaji; if he had stayed, he risks harming Hamaji in the process. There's no promise being made, because he is not certain how long it would take or if he can succeed in the journey, but Shino is able to comfortably leave because of the reassurance he got from Hamaji, how they'd always be 'connected,' an intensity paralleled with that of a hunter and prey.
--

The theme of identity is also prevalent in Hamaji; having to neither abandon her huntress nor feminine side, she grows into an individual comfortable with herself. She no longer fears that being a woman would devour her huntress side and vise versa because she is able to find her own equilibrium. The emperor, on the other hand, serves as an example of one who abandons all else just to devout themselves into one aspect they possess. The film warns the audience the risks towards that route, as the emperor becomes defeated and therefore loses the meaning of his whole existence, thus reverting back to a baby (how he sucks his thumb near the end).

_Fuse_ is an odd duck. Overall, I endorse Theron Martin's ANN review of it.

The main appeal of the movie is its gorgeous depiction of Tokugawa Edo: the vast city with its teeming throngs and characters, lovingly depicted from the spear carriers of daimyos to the firefighting bridges and their tactics of pulling down buildings to halt fires to the popularity of woodblock prints to grandstanding actors playing to their crowds even to less pleasant aspects like teeth-blackening (which is often omitted because let's face it who wants to see pretty actresses with black teeth?). There are many little touches I enjoyed a great deal, like ... the cat looking in astonishment at Hamaji walking on a fence like a cat or the conversation between Hamaji and her friend while a craftsman makes colorful banners. This is a movie you'd enjoy watching and rewatching with a commentary & Wikipedia at hand.

The character designs are effective and Ghibli-esque; Hamaji could hang out with Nausicaa and Princess Kushana without skipping a beat, and the director clearly worked with Studio Ghibli in the past. This means the characters are not conventionally attractive, but they are memorable and fulfill their roles, and by verging on caricature, one can't deny - the old boat man certainly does look like a shriveled old man, the shogunate does look like a feeble young man, etc. (One dishonorable exception is the Fuse courtesan who is simply bizarre and looks for all the world like a parody of American greasers from the 1950s or something with what literally looks like a blonde mohawk.)

The plot... is a bit of a mess. The Fuse hunt initially seems to be the main plot, but is it trying to justify fuses or humanize them? Except it does a bad job of that (they are pretty heavily implied to have not limited their hunting to self-defense, and is it really self-defense when they're after you for previous murders? and almost all of the Fuse are dead before the story even starts) and it wanders in focus from the hunt to other topics like Hamaji's ne'er-do-well brother (who one wonders how much he actually likes her given he only calls her to Edo to use her in hunting Fuse) or the shogun (whose own subplot makes no sense even by the end, as we never find out how he's an imitation, what his connection to the Fuse is, or how he apparently channels the grandfather of the Fuse) or Bakin's writing of the Hakkenden (another issue, there's clearly supposed to be some sort of meanignful connection between the Hakkenden and the 'real' story of the Fuse but we never understand what Bakin was trying to do as the story of the Hakkenden could hardly justify or spin the Fuse's murders). The courtesan Fuse's character hinges on her son, who is never seen and his death is mentioned almost as an afterthought. As well, Hamaji seems to be often dumb as a box of rocks: she never seems to think 'oh, that strange white-haired guy who murdered a bunch of people in front of me and transformed and jumped around is one of those Fuse my brother is trying to kill' and has to ask Shino's name though I'm pretty sure he was named twice before in her presence, and the final pairing of Hamaji & Shino hardly makes sense either. And what does any of this have to do with dogs, anyway? By the end, I was left nonplussed.

Enjoyable and worth watching, but the story is too peculiar for _Fuse_ to become more than the sum of its parts and be classed along with the best anime movies.

This movie was a very enjoyable watch, though it comes with a few (but important problems). The world building was spectacular, but the character relationships were lacking.

Story: 7/10
The premise of the story was simple and easy to follow. Though the idea of a misunderstood and feared species is not exactly original. The story is character driven and focuses on romance. The romance was somewhat forced and there were little to no relationship development between the main characters. The ending may seem abrupt (though to me it was okay). The story of about the "fuse" was nice, nothing new, but I liked it.

Art: 10/10
The art was ... easily the best part of the movie. Scenes felt very lively and the backgrounds very beautiful. The colours were vibrant and the style matched the atmosphere and music. The animation was also smooth and beautiful. The world building was also great. Honestly, my words could not do the movie justice.

Sound: 9/10
The music was memorable and fit the atmosphere of the loud and lively Sengoku period. The voices fit the characters very well. (I watched the Sub)

Character: 8/10
There were many great characters. The main characters were great. The female lead as very cute but could fight. The male lead's character was very realistic. His moral dilemma felt real and emotional.
The other characters had their own charm. The fuses also had good backstories, though some needed more development. I just wish that the romance between the leads was developed more.

Overall: 7.8/10
I wish I could give this movie a higher rating. The movie had great world building the story holds promise, but It was greatly lacking in character development that made me feel for the two main characters. I was somewhat invested in the romance, but it didn't quite hit the mark

If lack of character development bothers you, then this movie isn't for you. But If you want some eye candy and want to watch a beautiful movie, this movie is perfect. It's an enjoyable watch and I would recommend it for the art and atmosphere alone.

I was literally in a pool of emotions watching this movie.

It was funny, sad and heartwarming.


The artwork was gorgeous, and the colors really draw you in 10/10

The ending song was also amazing 10/10

Each character has their own amazing quality that you can't help but admire about them, but there wasn't enough back story about most to really understand 9/10
...
The storyline was well-written, but again, there were missing pieces. I still admired it enough for an 8/10


I do praise the artwork, the pastel colors really brought out another side to "Edo" than I've seen in any other anime so far.
What really drew me into this anime however, was the storyline.
I've always had a soft spot for the whole gray haired, light eyed boy anime types. The fact that they end up being half wolf or a yokai is what draws me in even more.
*Tiny spoilers*
Hamaji has trouble finding her feminine side, she was raised in the woods along side her grandfather, so her values are old-fashioned. Her grandfather was eaten by a bear recently, and so she's lonely. Her brother left to the city, and writes a note telling her that he'd be willing to take care of her, so she sets off.
What i really admired about the movie was that there was no gender stereotypes. I like that it captures the worst and best parts of Edo in that time period, and that it really sets the line to how humans can be v. any thing that isnt a human.
It wasn't as gruesome, the "Fuse" didn't eat hearts, but life orbs.

Onto the "fuse" aspect of the story.
The sad part of this whole movie was that it didn't really go in depth as I hoped it would. But although I was confused at Shino's behavior every now and then, I did try my best to get what was going on besides all that. I like the character developments, and the pace. But it feels as if it tries a little to hard to pull your emotions. Some quotes are really sad, but you don't get to know the characters enough to make you feel sad about it.

The movies cute points, sad points and action points make you love it enough.
I found it amazing in it's own ways. Its definitely worth the time and with all the different amazing characters, I'm sure you'll agree.

This is kind of a bittersweet review for me. Sweet because I loved the art and wanted to love the story. Bitter because this movie is is dreadful and not worth watching. With a premise similar to the likes of Tokyo Ghoul its unfortunate this lacks all the moral gray area. Newsflash: the Fuse ARE the bad guys, they kill and eat people's souls there's no way around it. There's a tiny mention against this in a single line at the very end but honestly, I'm not even sure I understood it correctly. This is the sort of thing that I feel HAS to have ... been told better in the Manga. While I understand self-defense and all that, it doesn't change that Shino's body count is over 30, and if we count what happens at the end as his fault probably several hundred. I'm not even opposed to having the bad guy be the "hero" of the story but they portray it as if what he is doing isn't wrong. Shino kills a man as he runs away, he was no longer a threat he killed him because he likes to. Anyway, even though this review isn't liable to be read by anyone I needed to say something due to all the people who seem to think mass murder is okay.

This standalone movie takes some ideas from Wolf Children, some ideas from The Boy and the Beast, and puts them together into a coming-of-age love story type deal. The result is nowhere near as good as either, but it's also not too shabby. It's a pretty mundane story about prejudice and love's power to transcend societal barriers. It wasn't the worst hour and a half of my life, but certainly not the best, either. You might want to give this a try. Then again, you might not.

It was produced by TMS Entertainment, the same studio behind Megalo Box, D.Gray-man, Baki, Dr. Stone, ReLIFE, Rent-a-Girlfriend, and ... many others. The technical production value, while not awe-inspiring, at the very least leaves little to be desired.

First things first: When I started watching the movie the plot seemed diffuse and didn't make much sense, and that's ok as you can use it to strengthen the story later on, but that just didn't happen.
To sum up my experience of this movie I would say that it didn't really go anywhere. The heroine stayed a crybaby and not much happened except for that she started dressing more like a girl at the end.
I'm assuming there was supposed to be love in this story, but it just doesn't make sense to me. As another reviewer said, Hamaji and Shino met only 4 times ... during the whole thing and nothing really went on. He borrowed her gun, he bought her a kimono, he invited her to a play and asked her to kill him, she chased him down in the castle and gave him a letter, done.
The characters had little personality and it didn't change through the movie as there were basically no character development.
The sound was the highlight of the movie, IMO. The sound were ok and solidly done, but not anything special to make me love it.
At the and of it all I was somewhat torn. I didn't like the story much, but I didn't really dislike it much either for some reason. Objectively I thought it was kinda bad, but somehow it worked well enough that it wasn't a total waste.
I don't understand why this movie has such a high rating as it does, but I would say that if one just wants something to watch while doing something else, like eating or knitting, this is an ok movie.
Ultimately everyone has to choose for themselves if they want to see it.

I'll admit it: I was lured into watching this movie by seeing a clip of Shino doing Kabuki in women's clothes and looking absolutely breath-taking. That scene, to my infiinite dismay, was however not really important and also not very long.

Anyway, this movie is about the Fuse, dog human hybrids who consume the essence of humans to survive (this is exclusively done by killing the human in question) and a hunter girl named Hamaji coming to the big city to hunt Fuse with her big brother.

Of course, she befriends and falls in love with a Fuse and doesn't even realize it for the longest time.

The ... story is a bit lack luster when it comes to the love story. Shino and Hamaji meet each other four times in total and while there is the potential of friendship and even love I just didn't buy it.
Fuse is also a movie that, as I'd like to call it, suffers from Shiki syndrome. Humans and Fuse are portrayed equally bad and to be honest, humans even more so for hunting down and killing Fuse. Fuse are given the handy excuse of having an unbearable urge to consume essence. It is rather unclear if they have to consume essence since we are later introduced to a character who presumably resisted from killing humans since she gave birth.
That, however, makes it really hard to root for the Fuse and the love story specifically. Shino consumes the essence of at least three people on screen, kills at least six people in an alley and then proceeds to kill dozens of soldiers and admits that he can't really stop himself, pushing him, if anything, into Tragic Monster territory and not slighlty monstrous but ultimately lovabe Love Interest territory.

The movie might have benefitted more in this regard if the story was told from the perspective of Shino or another Fuse, describing how exactly it is to live as a Fuse.

There was also strange bit with the, I think, Shougun who was constantly muterring about the Fuse being impostors. Impostors for what? Even with the reveal at the end it didn't make much sense to me.

The rest of the characters are quirky, nicely done but ultimately not really that important.

The art and especially the backgrounds... majestic. I wasn't always a fan of the character designs but they kinda grew on me.

Overall watchable but don't expect too much. Also don't expect too much screentime for beautiful lady Shino.

Story:8/10

Fuse Teppou Musume no Torimonochou begins with young wild girl from the mountains known as Hamaji. She was taught to become one with her prey at its last moments. She makes her way to Edo because her older brother wanted to use her skills. When she first arrives she meets a interesting fellow.

Art:8/10

The art was rather amazing catching my eye with the cover. The problem was that I noticed some faults in some of the scenes. Like, how was that building there? There were also some breath taking scenes that could make you lose your breath.

Sound:7/10

This the only area i felt it was lacking. ... After awhile some of the crisp environment sounds seemed to dwindle in power. It seemed to rely heavily on the voice acting which was really well done. The voice actors tone seems to mature as they go through the story.

Characters:8/10

The people within the story all seem to be portraying the era. The seemed to have good expressions and did not go for the common "Moe" look. They introduced most of the characters while giving them an important roll later on. My main issue was Hamaji who at times seems completely out of place.

Enjoyment:9/10

I enjoyed it rather well. I would laugh went things were funny and tear-up a bit when needed. I felt chills when action took place.

Overall:8/10

Overall it was a good story with some nice art and voice acting. At times it felt like something was off, but that aside I would recommend this to anyone.

Note:this is my first review hoped you found it useful in some way.