Kurozuka

Lazyman reviews.

Alright, so this is about an Anime called Kurozuka. Rated R -17+ and up For it contains: Mild nudity, Suggestive Themes, Boring Violence, Repeated Scene Effect, Ear Bleeding Laughter, Vampires of The Non-Twilight Kind, Zombies, Demons, Mutants, The Quest to Tap it and Blood. Lots of blood. Not so much Gore just blood. They seem to censor or magic pixie fuzz any or all of the gore out.

As we go along it’s good to know that this show aired back in 2008 and was animated by Madhouse studios. Go Madhouse! Another thing to notice is the extreme skinny people and bazaar limb length that ... you will see quite often in this show.

Right off the bat you’re slammed with the power of the Annoying Red Haired Masked Man With Fan while he spurts out what seems to be haiku’s sung with extreme Old Man’ness. It doesn’t get any better… just more reoccurring.

Now I shall touch a bit on the shows Intro. I’m not a fan of screamo or screecho or whatever the hell people wanna call it. It sounds like someone was trying to sing while getting their entire head shoved into a fully functioning blender. The beginning song only fits because of the fantastic animation along with it. Yup, that’s about it.

As for the outro, if you haven’t already muted or closed the player then you will hear the sounds of a slow paced song set to ease your heart as you escape the sounds of the intro.
But you will still quickly move onto the next episode as the voice starts to slowly annoy you also. It’s like softer, slower paced screamo. It still doesn’t work. Some people out there might like it. Good for you. But this is mah lazyman review and my opinion is “Me No Like”. Mmmkay?

This show by far has THE MOST ANNOYING RECAP EVER DESIGNED.
Remember that Annoying Red Haired Masked Man With Fan I mentioned earlier? Of course you do, How could you ever forget him. Well, he reappears every single episode.
That’s right, out of the 12 episodes of this show, you see his ugly mug a minimum of 12 times. You actually see him more than just 12 times but I’m giving you a heads up on what to expect. But hey, at least you get to watch him throw that fan in the exact same way each and every episode and watch that fan land perfectly in the center of their organization symbol each and every damn time. Oh… wait… That’s pretty damn annoying as well now that I think about it.

Moving right along the action of the show is almost enough for some to continue watching until the end. For others, you will most likely be dropping this by episode 3 if you haven’t already. The beginning was still pretty good at keeping you interested in the things you don’t quite yet understand about the show. But even that has a limitation.

They try to pick up the pieces of the action by adding in slow motion and more Vampire like fight scenes. Which I must say, they did damn nicely. Although the whole inverted colour or heat detection mode is like you went back into the 60’s for some fun with colours. Ignoring the fact they almost all have the bone structure and appearance of malnourished basket ball players, the animation is freakin’ sweet. You can notice parts where they got a bit lazy and threw in a quick flash of white or black before they would change to the next part. It saddens me to see that potential go down the drain. Whos to say you can’t have good action in a romancy kind of theme? Well, for now, you might be right. At least in the case of Kurozuka.

The characters start off as interesting works of art and are slowly left in the pools of blood you will most likely see them lying in. Kurou is a love struck fool who just happens to have the ability to kill anything he wants. Kuromitsu is a siren-vampire-terminator who just happens to accept guests. Benkei… is a monk. The Red Emperor is a man of song. Rai is a rebel prostitute. I could go on but the list is long and the jokes only get worse.

At the end of watching it all… I felt the ending was pretty damn bleh. Sure, I understood the bits the show left everywhere for us to pick up and understand like a trail of candy eggs. It just didn’t solve anything it may have explained it but there was no actual solution. It’s like hitting the reset button instead of wondering why you have to hit that button and working at the problem from there.

The Story gets 6 Rusted Samurai Swords.
The Animation gets 8 Gallons of Blood.
The Sound gets 5 and a half Screams of Terror.
The Characters gets 6 Close Up Shots.

Overall the show should hold a 7 but it falls short of that mark and is left with the bitter taste of 6 Fans of the Red Emperor.

tl;dr - Kurozuka is a bad anime. I really support and like some points made, but the show itself is of pretty poor quality at most times.

You don’t know what to expect when you dive into Kurozuka. While this is true for a lot of other anime as well, Kurozuka is a special enigma. Being about vampires (especially the main leads) can turn people off, seeing how vampires are often portrayed nowadays. Sadly, thoughts hop to Rob Pattinson as Edward in the cringe-inducing soft pornography for girls known as Twilight. Sure, Twilight isn’t the only sinner, but due to it’s popularity, it is the most ... stand-out. Onwards to Kurozuka, then.

On first on-look, Kurozuka seems to be a love story about vampires, set in Feudal Japan. That preconception is quickly smashed to bits after the first episodes as we skip to a bleak future version of Japan that has been a-bombed. Back in the past, our hero Kuro (known as “Minamoto no Yoshizune”, a very famous and popular Japanese literature hero) was fleeing into the mountains, and came upon the lodging of Lady Kuromitsu. He and his close ally Benkei were allowed to stay under the condition that they do not approach nor enter Kuromitsu’s room. Of course, that promise doesn’t mean all too much and Kuro finds himself outside the mysterious woman’s room, where he sees her biting and drinking the blood of a man. The place is attacked, and Kuro is badly hurt helping his hostess. The two had quickly became attracted to one another, and Kuromitsu offers Kuro eternal life with her. Kuro accepts. Then the focus shifts to the future where Kuro has become separated from Kuromitsu and ventures to find her. He instead meets Karuta and Rai and becomes embroiled in what is basically a civil war between the Red Army and the rebels, both fighting for the very prize Kuro seeks: Kuromitsu.

I was pretty excited to watch this, as it felt like vampires were treated as a big deal and it also seemed like a cool set-up for a powerful romantic saga, but alas, all the potential amounted to jack shit in this absolute train-wreck of a series.

The series jumps from different time periods, usually at the start of episodes, without giving the viewer much warning or explanation, which is the major flaw of the series in my opinion. It’s very hard to get a grip on the characters as is, so there’s really no need to confuse viewers additionally.

It’s hard to gauge what exact powers are afforded to the vampires of the series, as Kuro just seems to go all Goku on people at times when he needs to put another gear in. Besides obviously being more powerful than normal humans, there doesn’t seem to be much to vampires, other than whatever odd time dilution Kuro can cause when convenient. It’s never really explained what they can do. The reveal of how they work is also incredibly slow-played, so there’s not much in the way of flavour being given to us, except for some bursts of information at times.

As is the case with the vampirism angle, characters in the series don’t really develop. They’re very static in personalities and in what they do. Not even the main character ever develops, he just learns more about who he was. Frankly it’s very disappointing, because when things happen to our tragic heroes, it’s hard to care about them as they’ve just been one-dimensional plot-points. That can work if you have strong characters to begin with, but as noted, these characters are dull as hell. You also get some unintentional comedy in the absolutely bonkers scientist with a penchant for torture, who starts quoting Stoker (because you have to fucking shoehorn that into a vampire show like your life depended on it) and Tolstoy, and is generally weird as hell.

The story is equally odd. Parts of it just comes and goes as it pleases, like there’s a revolving door of relevance. It really is hard to care about what is happening when you don’t grasp the relevance of events to one-another. Characters just do complete one-eighties in order to provide more filler before the end finally arrives. It really is a shame, because it felt like it was to be a show that made vampires rather cool again, but the amount of plot-holes and contrivances really do get in the way of enjoying it. All of the reveals towards the end just made me laugh out loud with their increasing craziness, until we arrive in bizarro-world come the ending.

Visually, it’s very pleasing for most of the time and there is a lot of incredible imagery, but then you get some absolutely retarded character designs that feel like they invaded from another series.

The sound design is pretty decent, but many characters in the series are woefully miscast and a lot of the performances are really bad. The soundtrack, however, is pretty damn awesome. Both the OP and ED are great.

Now, I’ve been shitting on Kurozuka a lot, but the final episode shows up and delivers the best possible ending the series could have had and I really freaking loved it, so I'm ultimately torn on where to go with the series; good or bad? Ultimately, with all the tomfoolery, I’ll go with bad, but there’s certainly enough good in here that a person that disagrees with what I found negative would find this to be a damn good show. It also increases my frustration with the series’ unfulfilled potential. The run-time of the entire thing is way too long relative to what it’s trying to convey. Honestly, remake this in film-length and condense the story a bit, and I’ll watch the hell out of it. I’m totally behind the point it makes about love and selfishness and I actually came away from it rather liking the vampire concept, but the length and general poor quality makes most of the series unbearable to watch.

The first two episodes of this anime really gripped me, even after the third i was left thinking that the story had such promise, it could turn into one of the best animes this season, sadly i was wrong the story is set wonderfully and deteriorates from there. Throughout the series you'll find a number of overly glorified battle scenes, (since kuro is a vampire) you can expect quite a few unrealistic feats to dash across your screen. Even as i write this review i wish i could go back in time kill the writer and take his job.
... The sound is solid not the best I've heard I thought the opening was iffy, The characters are not developed properly the story's many strings just dont tie together, i remember the end of episode 12 felt like being jabbed at with the bristles of a dirty broom (each representing a loose end). I suppose if u liked the senseless battles that afro samurai threw at you, you'll like kurozuka. But if youre looking to enjoy an anime storywise .. then steer clear of this catastrophe

[Spoiler Warning]

I am an idealist. Always have been. For those who are unsure of what, precisely, pertains to being an idealist. An idealist is simply someone who is guided by an ideal rather then (a) practical purpose or consideration. I don't wish to be rich simply because being rich is more practical to being poor- no. I want to be wealthy because I chase an ideal that emphasizes that being affluent will help me end my lifelong pursuit of happiness. It other words, I believe being wealthy is not the be-all/end-all, and that being rich will not directly result in happiness. There has to be ... something else- an ideal- that would be better accomplished through being wealthy. For me, that ideal would be raising a family. A consequentialist, on the other hand, would simply do anything necessary to accomplish his/her goal. (In this case, being rich.) Let's just say we were both struggling businessman. The practitioner would be willing to screw over both other businessman as well as customers simply to accomplish the goal of racketeering as much profit as possible. However, as an idealist, the goal of making money is secondary to the ideal. Even in the face of financial difficulty, that ideal is not sacrificed. It remains constant, whether the idealist becomes wealthy or not.

You, the reader, are probably wondering at this point why the hell am I going so deep into Idealism vs. Consequentialist in an Anime review. (After all, this is not a Philosophy lecture.) If that is the case- You, dear reader, are absolutely correct. The reason, to put it simply, is that ties directly into my review. It is the point of view I had going into this anime. It's vitally important that you, the reader, understand that. When I viewed Kurozuka, I didn't necessarily just see it singularly as a product, but also as the ideal is represents. One must remember that Anime, after all, is a form of art. As a product, I'll be the first to admit that it's a very lackluster series. However for the emotional impact (Think of the primary "WTF" feeling it gives you.) it succeeded -very- well; leaving me thinking back to this show days after it had ended. This, obviously, makes this show a bit of a paradox to review. Worry not, though- after hours of contemplation I finally feel resolve with my opinion of this show. I will share it to you now.

Just like we start any story, (Regardless of the medium) I wish to start my review from the point by which everything else starts to fall into place- the beginning. In the beginning, Kurozuka was the literal incarnation of perfection. If the show had finished as strongly as first forty minutes, then this could have been one of -the- anime classics of our generation. It's sad, really. Idealistically; Practically; it does not matter. There is no debate, and there is no question. Both realistically and literally this show has more or less one of the greatest opening sequences of all time. (A sequence many other anime, such as Beserk, Gungrave, and Ga Rei Zero have all tried but haven't gotten quite right.) But, alas, as the saying goes, 'The Brightest Flame burns the fastest.' So soon does the bright light all but disappear.
*Minor spoilers ahead.*

The main premise of this show is that of a journey of two immortal lovers who can not die. (Sounds interesting, right?) In the beginning, we see how the two primary characters meet and fall in love with each other. We start with a prince named Kuro who has suffered the ultimate price of being royalty- death. His family's political enemies want him dead, and have chased him from his home. Death chases him wherever he goes- and because of that, he's always on the run. However he already knows it's only a matter of time. (We even see him tell his assistant that he should simply kill him so he could survive.) The story starts when, having just barley survived an ambush- he takes shelter in a remote home in the mountains. It's there that he meets Kuromitsu; a beautiful woman who agrees to let the two fugitives take shelter in her home- on the single condition that they do not go into the basement. However, soon after Benkei- Kuro's loyal assistant- leaves to find medicine for the injured and sick Kuro, the house is attacked. One thing leads to another, and Kuro finds himself killed protecting Kuromitsu. Because he was the only person Kuromitsu had ever met who hadn't been afraid of her, and protected her, she makes him an offer to "chase eternity,"- together with her forever.

The only problem (And this is were this series starts to go downhill.) is that things do not go according to plan. Kuro, before he could become fully immortal, is betrayed and killed by Benkei- his loyal assistant and fellow warrior. Instead of chasing eternity with Kuromitsu; Kuro finds himself stuck in a loop where, though he is immortal and can not die, he has no body- and must change bodies every 100 years. (Or he really will die.) When he changes bodies, for whatever reason, Kuro also loses his memories. The show (or the rest of the ten or so episodes) starts about a two thousand years later. The world has ended and started again, and Kuro is still afflicted with his curse. Since he lost his memories, for about nine episodes we see Kuro do nothing but search for a woman whom he scantly remembers; (Kuromitsu.) only seeing her through random flashbacks. Literally, nearly nothing happens plot wise for the entire series up until the very last episode. In the very last episode, it is revealed in a climactic revelation that Kuromitsu had planned to finally break Kuro free of the cycle, which had plagued their chasing of eternity. Her plan failed, but being an immortal she simply made herself content to try again. And so, the show ends right where the series starts.

In the entire 12 episodes that this series encompasses, there is only about three episodes worth of story. In fact, this show would have done much better as a five episode anime short; like Afro Samurai. Or, even better, as a movie. (Like Ninja Scroll, which this show is clearly based off of.) If that had been the case- the score of this show would have undoubtably been in the eight to ten range. Sure, it would overshadowed and constantly compared to the earlier examples, (Afro Samurai and Ninja Scroll) but by being too ambitious and dragging out this story much longer then it should have been- this show only served to bring itself crashing down.

Again, unfortunately, this is not the case. This story is not told in a hundred-minute movie or a five episode anime short. The reality is we, the viewers, are left hanging around watching about nine and a half straight episodes of absolutely nothing but action. Sure, the action's good. Sure, we are introduced to really cool villains and get some strong backstory on them so that they are relatable. But this show, in my humble opinion, presents the action secondary to the plot. When the show (seemingly randomly) shifts focus from being an amazing story to simply being nothing except a series of amazing action scenes; I think there isn't a single viewer out there that didn't feel left out. To tell you the truth, I felt like breaking down and crying at the missed potential. And yet, the action is what encompasses and highlights the majority of this show. So it makes it very hard for me (as an idealist) to judge this show based off the assumption it was meant to be a story-related show. In hindsight, and after much contemplation, it's really quite clear (Though I don't want to believe it.) that this show was never meant to be known or remembered for its story. One only has to refer to the absurdly choreographed action scenes, or the sudden and random use of slapstick humor, or the restart ending. (The only reason that I could come up with for a complete restart ending is so they could continue the non-stop action in a potential second season- which would have undoubtedly been created had this show been positively received and/or successful.)

I know at this point I should go into other detailed aspects of this show. The action, the characters, the sound. But it's really all unnecessary at this point. All the side characters are simply there to continue the action. (Old wise woman states that Kuromitsu is being held somewhere else? Sorry, all that really did for me was remind me of how Toad would tell the player that Peach was in a different castle in the original Super Mario Bros.) There is no story related to them; and it didn't take a genius to figure out what their fates were going to be once the show (unsurprisingly) started killing them off. The sound, with the exception of extremely rare cases like Cowboy Bebop or Samurai Champloo- where they serve to be a deeply rooted theme found in the very foundation of the show- is simply something that exists to most of the time... A necessary burden for most TV series to help portray what they want to portray. This show is no exception. The sound simply wasn't exceptional or memorable. The sound didn't serve to be a deeply-rooted theme of the show, and there were no catchy soundtracks that one would want to go back and listen to. (Like in Black Lagoon or Darker then Black.) The animation was good, perhaps even great. However, the extreme feeling of disappointment I felt whilst watching this show all but cancels out the otherwise superb choreography and animation.

In conclusion, I recommend watching this show only if you really want to see what missed potential looks like. Never before have I seen something THIS close on the edge of greatness or glory. Perhaps if one were addicted to Ninja Scroll-type sword action and had all but exhausted all other options... (Very unlikely.) then perhaps they would be interested in watching this show. However, for everyone else- this show will not do anything for you except give you a depressed feeling of missed opportunity.

Thanks for reading,

Blitzburns4

Kurozuka was a potentially intriguing story that whiffed due to hollow characters, a stuffy atmosphere, and a confusing, labyrinthine story that attempts to provide you with food for thought that's mostly (unfortunately) made of rubber. I don't believe it's worth your time.

As is tradition, the art in this anime is pretty good, courtesy of Madhouse. The inclusion of CG is as close to flawless as possible, with one or two moments that stick out a little bit, but overall was very well done. The sound was pretty standard and did its job, although the use of the stormtrooper laser rifle sound during ... sword fights in a few later episodes was weird and threw me out for a bit. Together these create a fairly tense, serious atmosphere that may have become excellent if the story had the chops to match, but it doesn't; In fact, it reminds me quite a bit of Shigurui in that the atmosphere is almost too stuffy to let me comfortably enjoy the story. It was overdone, and loses points for the attempt.

The characters...I'm honestly not sure where to begin. Kurou is as bland as they come, and is supposed to be the generic-ish protagonist that allows us to jump into his shoes and suffer through the same confusion he does - to feel the same feelings of anger and frustration, love and longing, but most of the time he just feels like a disconnected zombie. Had we felt more of his struggle, love, yearning, desires, or past, it may have been possible to connect with him, but we received none. Kuromitsu is much the same - hollow - and the beginnings of their relationship in the first episode just lack a certain...connection. A relationship which lacks substance at its core doesn't allow the viewer to get attached to it, and is one of the main flaws of the series (and turned into a great disappointment for me, as I'm a huge fan of a love story). Had their flaws lined up to cover each other, or their stories met in the middle with a need or desire that fit perfectly, this could've been amazing...but none of that existed...so it wasn't. The supporting characters come and go with little impact other than being minor plot devices. The storyline(s) tend to jump back and forth, which is a bit confusing when you first encounter a new one, and it takes an episode to accept where you are and what's going on. That was exciting at first, but as it progresses it fails to fulfill on the fascinating premise it puts forth.

I've struggled quite a bit internally as to whether I should attempt to discuss the most interesting parts of the anime, but I really, really don't want to spoil anything for you. I would like to say, however, that as potentially interesting as they could've been, or should've been, or I would've liked them to have been, they don't meet expectations. They do not make this worth watching. The first four episodes or so left me interested, fascinated, yearning for more, and then as I watched more episodes, what I wanted just never showed up. The end arrived not with fanfare and revelation, or intrigue and shock, but like a scoop of icecream falling from your cone onto hot pavement. The icecream is your time. Don't let it melt away with this anime.

Kurozuka, is very interesting from the very first episode, the two monks, and when they meet the gorgeous female immortal vampire, kuro instantly falls for her, as you can see it in his eyes, he is mesmerized by her beautiful pale skin. I am very fond of the main character's determination to find the girl that he trot loves and cares about, among helping some new friends on their journey, which also becomes his along the way, it's a win win, for him and his rebel like comrades. I think this anime was comical, but, I also feel like it was rushed and not really ... put together well, I believe some parts were. But, some weren't, to live forever would be an amazing thing, but it would also be unfortunate, as you would have to watch all the people you care about and love, die or be lost to time itself.