Shikabane Hime: Kuro

Apr 11, 2009

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 7

NoIceCreamForYou (All reviews)

44 people found this review helpful

I'm not sure why they decided to make Kuro into a second season, rather than just episodes 14-25 of Aka. Then again, who am I to doubt the genius of those who decided to make a story about sexy, gun-wielding, zombie chicks. For those who haven't watched Aka, go watch it. Those who have will find that not much has changed. There is a lot more ecchi/fanservice, because we obviously didn't get enough of our necrophilia fixation in season one. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate ecchi humour just as much as the next guy, but I can't help but feel they're sending the wrong kind of message to younger audiences.

Story: 6
I think my score is rather generous for a script I could have written in 7th grade. I mean I'm just at a loss because of how simple and illogical the story is. Certain characters gain sudden god-like powers that are often unexplained, and then defeat the villains. Oori and friends also discover a "shocking' conspiracy that puts even Area 51 to shame. I know its unfair to ask logic from a show based on the living dead, but we deserve better.

Art: 7
Was this show broadcasted in HD? Honestly, I couldn't tell. The animation was average at best, so those who have been spoiled by high-end animations will find it irritating. However, I thought the fights were fairly well drawn. It could be just my imagination, but I thought the animation was slightly improved from Aka.

Sound: 9
This is my favourite part of Kuro; the entire reason I decided to stick with this show. The OP and ED really gets you in the mood for watching undead babes open a jar of ass-kick on zombies (no sarcasm here). The sound of Makina's double uzis is just music to my ears, even during the 500th time they play it.

Character: 7
While its good to have dynamic characters and lots of conflict between them, its not so good when they act in such illogical ways that you can't help but give your screen the finger. It also makes little sense to give a huge amount of depth to certain supporting characters, but almost none to some of the more important ones. They wasted too much time in Aka in developing the characters, and its come back to bite em in the crotch this time around.

Enjoyment: 8
I'll try my best to keep my Yamagami Itsuki fantasies to myself, but I do feel the need to point out Makina's wardrobe malfunction. It is painfully obvious in the OP that she is not wearing any underwear, I mean how much more work would it take to draw in some clothing down there?
Despite its shortcomings I feel that many of you will enjoy Kuro, as I have. Temper your expectations and you will find this show a great way to waste 13 hours of your precious life.

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Jun 14, 2016

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

LeaderTGW (All reviews)

33 people found this review helpful

Have you ever just sat back, or laid down, and started to marathon an entire series because it's either unique or interesting? This was my case with the Shikabane Hime series

Story 7.6

I was a little disappointed that the real "plot" and "story" started a bit late. However I love how the helped with the building up drama for the climax of season 1 and the start of the second season. Now what I found interesting and a little disappointing too is that they changed quite a lot of things from the original source. This was very noticeable from the beginning of the season 1 and the start of season 2 . If you've finished the manga (or what's available raw and translated) before you watched the anime, then you will be able to tell the differences immediately because it's "in your face" type changes. Season 2 was pretty much just a continuation of the events going on after Keisei's death. Now what I didn't like obviously, again, was the changes. In addition to that, the events right at the beginning of Keisei's death became very predictable and not just because I finished the manga but because I've seen a lot of similar titles, I knew what was going to happen naturally. Ouri, which didn't surprise me, made a contract with Makina to save her. The true villains appear with and form their evil and somewhat convoluted plot. New characters are finally introduced and everyone needs to get stronger and work together to save the day. So it was sort of like, after season 1 I just put two and two together which totally took away a lot of the joy for me. The good thing is, even though it was predictable I still had an amazing time watching it. Seeing the truth and backstories behind both Makina and Ouri really helped enhance my attitude. After seeing what happened to Makina in the past, I was like "Awww girl, you better whoop the seven stars asses and get your long deserved revenge." Ouri's story was pretty upsetting but also interesting because I think, as far as main characters go in Shikabane, his backstory wasn't really... "deep" Lastly, and the biggest thing which kept me from giving the story a full 8 was the ending... now I don't want to spoil it, I can't spoil it, but just these following words will help you understand, God damn it Gainax. Overall, story 7.6/10 really interesting title to look into.

Art & animation 7.0

Pretty decent animation and artwork for the shows time. I wasn't too keen on most of the "special effects" and the overall quality the animators used during Shikabane battles. They felt a bit bland and unexciting. In addition to that I felt like the battles were very "repetitive." For example, I really wanted to get super excited when I see Shikabane get REKT by Makina (or other Shikabane hime but for now I'll focus on Makina. ) However a majority of her fights were Makina getting rekt by a shikabane, using hacks to get unlimited ammo and shoot her ineffective bullets at the shikabane. Finally, the "I'm a main character I can't die" comes in to play and she kills the shikabane. So the art and the animation, I felt wasn't the best, especially considering the time of the shows release. Overall, I didn't care too much for it.

Sound 6.5

sound wasn't any thing special. The background music was pretty bland, I didn't have a favorite song other than the opening. I wasn't too impressed with the voice actors. After finishing the second season, I decided to check and see what other roles the characters voice actors played in and was surprised to find that for the most part, they are inexperienced. Shikabane Hime was either first big role. When I first heard Hasome doing the voice of Ouri I was like "man did they just find some random person out on the streets." Makina on the other hand, because she had a "serious" personality, Nana spoke in a monotone-ish voice for her and I actually didn't like it too much. Like she does have the potential to train her voice more and land even better roles however, for Shikabane, I just wasn't feeling it. Overall I wasn't too impressed with the soundtrack.

Characters 7.5

I didn't care too much for many of the characters both new and re-introduced for season 2. I think Ouri was too generic of a main character to impress me. Typical weak high school student who gets involved in something he shouldn't be involved in. Doesn't experience any real growth until like the middle of the series, he was just awful. I personally think that Makina would have been great solo. I think she's one of the best and severely underrated strong female main characters in anime. Then again, there are literally like hundred-thousands to millions, of strong female leads who go unrecognized. Moving on, a good majority the side characters are forgettable, like Ouri's high-school mates. I felt like they were around just so Ouri had some interactions, so he didn't seem like the lonely type. I mean, to contradict what I said just a little, even though they don't play such a big role, they do help both Makina & Ouri with character growth towards the final episodes. Overall I wasn't to impressed with the cast of bland characters. The backstories were nice but didn't make up for my overall feeling towards them. My overall feeling for the characters is that they were "okay." There were lots of interesting characters to be found in Shikabane and I think that's more than enough.

Enjoyment/Overall 7.0

Needless to say, the reoccurring sense of enjoyment I had watching was off and on. But for the most part it was on and stayed on until fights felt repetitive or something tragic would happen. Overall, I believe Shikabane is pretty good, it's not the best when it comes to characters but the story is without a doubt one of the best and most redeeming thing that delivers in the entire series. I enjoyed my time watching it. 8.1/10

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Apr 23, 2009

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 4

Dorothea (All reviews)

29 people found this review helpful

Story
The concept behind the show is decent. The difference between an attachment to the world, which is what drives the Corpses, and the more fundamental concept of one's underlying Nature, was good. The constant reminder that the Shikabane Himes are not human beings was a good source of conflict in all the priests' relationships with the himes. Tthe plot never did much with these themes though. Other than one twist at the end, the story was predictable and pretty much a standard monster-fighting show.

Art
The main characters were well designed, the action was pretty good, and it managed to be creepy fairly often. Nothing read more

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Sep 28, 2010

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Aurynia (All reviews)

24 people found this review helpful

Shikabane Hime is kickass. The art is great, the animation is pretty awesome, and the story is well thought-out and structured.

The thing I love best, BEST, BEEEEEEEEST about this is:

Being a female, the fanservice can get extremely tiring in anime sometimes. Shikabane Hime is one of the few anime I've ever seen where the female characters kick so much ass and do it without all of the annoying fanservice. I haven't seen a single panty shot and the angled views that usually show the "goods" aren't excessive. Most of the angled shots are for the action scenes, and purely that. The only full-on fanservice read more

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Jan 7, 2015

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

xsis (All reviews)

9 people found this review helpful

The second season of Shikabane hime:kuro,the story occurred 6 month after the main event of Shikabane hime:Aka and after the dead of Makina contractor monk Keisei.As for Makina to full fill her contractor dying wish that to accept his younger brother as her temporary new contractor monk for prevent him to slowly to generate to become a Shikabane,at this second season it reveal the truth behind Shikabane as the legend said for the Shikabane's that manage to killed 108 corpse they will going to heaven however that legend was only a fake made by the monk organization for all the Shikabane HIme that answer has read more

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Sep 6, 2013

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

blob (All reviews)

6 people found this review helpful

Shikabane Hime : Kuro is the continuation of the series Shikabane Hime : Aka. There's not really a difference in time, it just continues like if it were the same series. My review will contain spoilers - the first part of this review is basically full of my emotions, whereas the second part is a bit more objective - hope you enjoy.

This is one of the best watches I've had in a LONG time. Action (GOOD action), DEATHS (YES), Horror, Drama, this shit is straight up awesome and really, the "unfinished ending" does not really bother, since the anime has everything pretty much covered read more

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Aug 4, 2018

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

VergilLeonidas (All reviews)

2 people found this review helpful

Well, that sure ended abruptly. The ending is honestly the only downfall of this series that most of the fanbase can probably agree on, everything else can come down to a preference, but the ending is hardly the best thing about this anime. Now I am well aware that the manga was yet to be finished by the time it got the anime adaptation so some things may be different, but I doubt I’ll go and read it, unless it pops up translated where I live. If someone has read the complete manga, please feel free to tell me if the main plot points are the same.

On to the actual review now. Being spoiler free was certainly a big plus this time around, I got to experience a fair amount of surprises, though they were hinted at throughout the series. Kuro is absolutely character driven, plot is there, the story is there, but the characters are the ones that carry it, their development is what pushes the story forward and because of that I do believe it’s better than Aka. Where Aka lacks in more connected story Kuro lacks in a bit of that everyday mission type of episodes, everything just ends without anything in between, like the final confrontation puts aside any other threats. An episode where Makina isn’t nearly as motivated to fight a shikabane that has nothing to do with Seven Stars would have been a great addition and a chance to catch a break for a moment.

I don’t know why but the sound feels familiar, like I’ve heard those soundtracks in some other anime or something like that, but it’s still enjoyable. I am hardly qualified to talk about art and animation but I’ve never felt a need to criticize it while watching, it’s certainly not the best in the world, but it’s fine to me. I was immersed in the action scenes, it didn’t feel like it was all over the place, it was consistent as far as I can tell and that’s all I ask for. When it comes to the story, I’ve already mentioned that it’s much more about characters and I absolutely enjoy that approach.

However, it must be noted that at times it feels like there is this big pile of information that the anime just drops on you in a couple of minutes every now and then. It does seem like a few more episodes would have done wonders, like the entire thing about shikabane hime, I’d rather have then deal with one than just hear about it. And it was such a waste not to do it in Akasha’s last appearance, I was there, just waiting for it to happen and then I realized there isn’t much time left so I was getting my hopes up for nothing. Staying on topic, it kinda left me with a bad taste in my mouth, the entire story mixed with the knowledge of what’s behind the curtains really makes it more tragic and I’m not against a tragic twist, but I wanted a better ending for them.

Moving on to the characters. Starting from the side characters, I can’t say they nailed it with that part. When it comes to say Sadahiro, Itsuki and others connected to the plot, sure, they got a bit of time to shine, but the side characters not involved in actual plot felt like they were there just for the sake of being there, though I guess that’s to be expected and many other forms of fiction suffer from that as well. I won’t draw this out for much longer by going over all the characters I feel are worth mentioning and I’ll just stick to the main four, Ouri, Makina, Akasha and Hokuto.

I’ve enjoyed Ouri as a character, more so after the entire reveal and then episodes 21 and 22, which are probably two of my favorites, he may be a generic main character in most cases but there’s enough of a reason for me to care about him. When he takes on the burden, when he chooses, despite everyone else telling him not to, to see Makina as a human, when he overcomes the mini identity crisis, in all those moments he feels real. Yes, I’ve seen better main characters but Ouri is most certainly not just a regular protagonist. He needs help and that’s perfectly fine.

Makina’s character arc is probably something I enjoyed the most about this season, though at first I kinda felt like she was getting off scot-free. This of course changed after the final reveal and I felt happy for her, really happy for her because of how the initial problem with her and Keisei resolved.

Akasha turned out to be a memorable character, with his motives explained he turned from generic villain to something better. To a villain I find myself agreeing and disagreeing with at the same time. Though I believe it was a wasted potential not to go further, but again, lack of episodes I assume.

And then there’s Hokuto, overpowered tool basically, yes there’s some backstory and I guess I should feel sorry for her, but there’s just nothing. Most of the other Seven Stars got far better treatment than the main threat and that’s a bit lame if you ask me. I wanted something other than pity for the character’s past to come out of her, but there was nothing and while I understand why it’s that way in the story it just feels like lazy writing and an extremely wasted potential. Still, as a whole it was a very enjoyable anime, one that I would like to rewatch in the future.

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Nov 5, 2015

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 5

Luquillo (All reviews)

4 people found this review helpful

The battle with one of the members of the Seven Stars ends tragically, and Makina and Ouri find themselves having to deal with the loss of a close friend. Makina is put under observation by her handlers, the Kougan Sect, while Ouri is forced to train into becoming a monk. While this is going on, the Seven Stars begin to reveal their plan to annihilate their enemies. -summary

Corpse Princess: Kuro features the last 12 episodes, and in addition to still focusing on action, the anime makes an attempt in telling more of a story. It follows the usual format by revealing more character background and introducing major plot twist. Even though it kind of felt like a "seen that before", the surprises and revelations really did come out of left field, and these elements set the anime on pace towards being better than what it should have been. Unfortunately, these ideas were wasted and Corpse Princess comes off as just another average anime title that really doesn't rank as a must see.

The action scenes are still entertaining though, and for action fans that's indeed a plus. There are plenty of shoot outs and good hand to hand exchanges that actually have a point, and aren't really tacked on when the motives are made clear. Visually, it's as good as the last chapter with some good action choreography on certain occasions. It's still cool to watch Makina in mid-flight action dodging scores of projectiles to move in closer on her enemies. The animation moves at a nice pace and there aren't many short cuts taken. The character designs are well done showing off some of the more endowed females. Although the production values are strong, it takes a small dip later on, but this can hardly be noticed and it doesn't hurt the show from where I see it. The only area on the style department I would say is still lacking would be in the overall music score. The opening and ending theme(especially) are pretty catchy, however, there's absolutely nothing in the BGM that stood out to me. It didn't exactly give off a bland feel for the action or drama-filled segments, but it didn't enhance them enough either.

The plot follows Makina along with the contracted monks and other Shikibane Hime confronting the Seven Stars, and trying to put an end to that small faction of very powerful Shikibane. Although many of the Seven Stars come off as stock bad guys initially, they are developed enough to understand their personal drives, and it's this diversity between some of them that makes the anime a little better than what it should have been. They actually felt more interesting than the heroes for me, especially since they were so serious and meant business. The characters receive quite a bit more attention in this second half, and the series manages to utilize its themes pretty well, which are love, obsession, and revenge, by showing the destructive path these emotions can lead to.

There are various plot twist that take place which builds up the story, along with certain questions pondered on the way, and these elements add a great deal to the suspense; but the series has issues in the writing with some of these questions either not being answered, or not answered to the point where one can be satisfied. I can imagine the action crowd not even caring much about that portion or just completely missing it. The same can't be said about those who prefer their stories to be wire tight, and if this isn't slightly damaging enough, the ending really brings things down and leaves major questions in the air. The series ends with a heavily unfinished feel, some folks may try to find some high artistic value in all this, but in the end it just comes off as lazy and nothing more. Corpse Princess is an action title completely at its core, and this is something that should have never been forgotten.

Corpse Princess is a decent title and nothing more. It's not something I would recommend as essential viewing at all. There are slight issues with tonal consistency for those who are bothered by it, fortunately, it appeared that the writers realized this would lead to disaster so it's calmed down rather quickly. Overall, it meshes action, drama, and comedy rather well with a heavy emphasis on the first two. It's not something I regret seeing, however, I know it's something I will never come back to.

Highs: Action, Plot twist, Production values

Lows: Bad ending, Most answers to questions aren't fulfilling

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Nov 3, 2009

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

undeadsarcasm (All reviews)

3 people found this review helpful

From the very beginning of the season, you can tell that they are tackling season 2 differently.

I would say that it was hard to adjust to the absence of Keisei and at times I felt that the characters of Umehara and Fresh (or Flesh) were a sad substitute.

By the end of the first episode, I was back in the game. The relationship between Makina and Ouri is fantastic and it always keep you guessing about what will happen next to those two.

There was an obvious change in artwork, looking drastically different from Aka. It was a bit distracting.

All in all, great stories, action sequences, and read more

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Feb 21, 2018

3 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 4

TheRedLine (All reviews)

1 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

Story:
direct continuation of first season

Art:
Generic late 2000's art style with a more muted color pallet

Sound:
Background music is bland and the VA's out just do there jobs while not being very good at displaying emotion(or over doing it)

Characters:
Terrible

Enjoyment:
none.

Overall - this anime series is bad, really bad. all the bad stuff that has happened is becasue the good guys refused to kill the bad guy. Because they dont kill him even though they have had many many chances he always escapes and is the free to go off and kill more people since the good guys and chicken shits.

I couldnt keep watching past read more

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Jan 13, 2018

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

BabyGirl06301 (All reviews)

1 people found this review helpful

I think my favorite thing about this season is seeing how everybody dealt with the aftermath of season one, which, of course, determines the plot direction of season two.

I absolutely adored the direction that Makina and Ouri's characters took, both together and separately. They sort of broke together and fixed themselves together. It was very beautiful to watch unfold, and I'm glad that the ending of the first season didn't adversely affect the second. I was worried that the series would be lacking from that point on, but it was much the opposite.

I do wish we'd gotten to see our lead characters fighting the read more

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Nov 27, 2014

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 5

nanyatimz (All reviews)

2 people found this review helpful

[THIS REVIEW IS WITH REGARDS TO BOTH SEASONS.]

Story: 6/10

The story was nowhere near great. But overall, it had its own scale of potential. A killing lassie owning a dual uzi-machine guns set to find revenge on her death is such a cool starting idea. Shikabane Hime series definitely got the right mindset on how to start with a bang. But as the story gets more developed, it went blurry and hard to appreciate. For sure, the series had its own good moments but honestly, that prove to be fatal as Shikabane Hime only had a handful of them limiting the storytelling into a mediocre one.

Sound/Art: 6-7/10

The art was classy and crafted really well. With a good art fitting the dark premise of the story, it certainly earned good points for the series. The included animation also wasn't short of great and as far as the fights are concerned, it was nevertheless entertaining and interesting. Although, I cannot say it's the entirety since there are key fights that doesn't even make sense or just too short to appreciate.

The sound wasn't a hit to me. The series had insert songs that is just not alluring but gets in the way instead of just using a good bgm. Repetitive use of the theme songs as inserts prove not up to my liking therefore earning a lower score than the other aspects.

Characters: 5/10

There's nothing more annoying than using a spineless and helpless wuss as a main protagonist. Concerning the shounen tag, the main boy protagonist definitely lacks the spark from start to finish. For sure, he was more developed episode by episode but let's be directly honest, wasn't there a need to make him that un-cool for the entire 13 episodes? Helpless, weakling, easy-to-beat... he was just way too unappealing for the part of the main character. Directly opposite is his counterpart, the main heroine. Their contrast was way too messed up. Their feelings were also un-synchronized and were totally forced to blend in the final latter episodes. In short, their personalities was forcibly mixed resulting into a hard-to-appreciate combo.

As we go to discuss their anti-hero opposites and supporting characters, it was my biggest disappointment that apart from a good background, their dialogues or their actions prove to be not fitting to the time they build up their characters. There's an awful lot of bad decisions that made the series so much mediocre ruining the chance to shine instead.

Enjoyment/Overall: 5

I'll be darn straight. The series was a big killer of enthusiasm.

I had much expectations on this title before watching. 5 years ago, I was able to get a complete copy of this series but ended up scraping it on my oldest HDD and completely forgotten to see the show I'm itching to watch before. For a synopsis with so much potential, I was nothing short of shocked as to why it just ended with that anti-climatic formula. The dark story, the good potential, the unattractive characters plus their dialogues. All of it didn't piqued a good amount of my interest. The mixing of all the factors were really the downfall of the said series. In short, Shikabane Hime failed to capitalized on its good start and ended up as one of the biggest disappointments in my entire seen roster. My sentiments, if only they had made the main protagonist more upbeat and more independent, it would've turned for the better.

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Apr 13, 2012

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

PPPPang (All reviews)

2 people found this review helpful

I really enjoyed watching an anime like this. Great story with my emotions involved and a must watch series. The only problem I found was the ending... if you have watched the entire series you will understand that the ending of episode 12 in Shikabane Hime: kuro/ episode 25 of the full storyline was just wrong. the to be continued sign made me so happy but to find out there was no more episodes broke me. aside from that it was a great show and I really enjoyed it.

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Dec 9, 2012

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 4

mrsKWON (All reviews)

1 people found this review helpful

Too be honest, I was expecting so much from this season as the previous season was not really interesting but I guess, I was expecting too much and I ended up disappointed!

I strongly believed that the story was made so out of proportion. Too much tragedy and too much drama which was not justify until it finishes. Most of the time I was irritated by lots of things like the story, characters, dialogues, and most importantly the ending which is very important whether a story is good or bad. Every scene had too much tragedy and drama almost like Elfren Lied. It was no longer read more

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