| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
The anime series is almost completely different from the manga. The anime essentially takes the core of the manga and changes everything else. If you read the manga and are now looking into watching the anime... expect to be surprised. A lot of characters are cut, and the ones remaining are changed. Even the character designs are different (slightly anyways).
Essentially, Kurozuka is a love story told over hundreds of years. Lots of action and gore along the way. That's it, that's all you really need to know and is probably the only reason to watch this series.
The story is pretty unique and the slow development
that fits the dark nature of the series is strong to start off with... but finishes pretty poorly. If you were watching this series as it was airing... the progression was pretty good... but if you wanted to pick it up and watch it now that it's complete... the flaws of the series will really show. There's a certain mysterious air that's created that may keep you entertained but it falls flat at the end. A lot of the events that happen, you can look back on and wonder why any of it was important... because really... they weren't. It's essentially one action scene tied to another. The ending was way too rushed and gives you a feeling that Kurozuka just didn't get enough episodes. However, even though the story development finishes off poorly, it's the character development that causes Kurozuka to be one of those animes that you put into the "could have been" list. More on this later.
No background is done for any of the characters. We don't really learn about why any of them are willing to go to the lengths that they do to help Kurou on his journey. Nor do we really learn about why the love between Kurou and Kuromitsu is so strong. The deaths of major characters are also poorly done. It's like one minute they're alive... the next they're dead. There's no extended scene or any speech given by the dying characters or anything like that. Most of them don't really make it worthwhile to remember them either. They're just Kurou's companions. That's it.
Visuals are pretty though. The dark style followed by short scenes of vibrant colours really helps to create a mysterious, horror-like atmosphere throughout the series. However, I think the action scenes could have been done better. There's just something missing that could make the action scenes more intense. Can't really put my finger on it though. The blood is also pretty poorly done... which is pretty bad since there's a whole lot of it... the ending literally has a flood of blood...
I thought the soundtrack served its purpose to the anime. Although I know a couple people who really don't like it. The opening and ending especially I felt were pretty well-chosen for this type of series. The voice cast was pretty strong but I felt that Kuromitsu could have been better.
Eh, I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone unless you're looking to kill some time.
Manga was much better than the anime. The sex and nudity in the manga helped to balance out the gore... without these qualities the anime just came off as a series with an excessive amount of gore. Not to mention that the ending was more satisfying in the manga. If you're really insistent on getting in on Kurozuka... I'd recommend the manga over the anime. read more
