Shikabane Hime: Kuro – Soredemo, Hito to Shite

"Are you saying being with me is a punishment for you ?"
---Shuuji Isaki.

Well yeah.


I really wish I had of seen this first and then the rest of series not at all. It's not great but it's better. It has a story that works on its own. It's characters have motivations that make sense and are consistent within the very small window of the short. There's some nice complexity to them. Even when the story pulls crap out of it's rear end it's not that bad. That's great and it's really sad because the rest of the series and all the stupidity brought my ... enjoyment down.

This is the first time I have given a review where overall and enjoyment weren't exactly the same, and it's all because of the rest of the series hanging around this OVA's neck.

In short it's that one shot manga or short story that you really like and starts a series or manga that later gets killed by the endless volumes of stupid filler, throw away characters and cheap plot devices that you wish could of just been as good as the one shot.

Minai: Well by Jimminy Cricket she gets to be a real girl here. Unlike the main series where she is used as a throw away plot device you just don't give a crap about.

Isaki: Still an asshole. But an asshole you can appreciate a bit. I actually felt a bit of good for him. Try again and this time don't screw up.

Those two are the story. Ouri and Makina don't play much of a part and that's a good thing.

Presentation: Same art, music, voice acting as the rest of the series. It's pretty good. Not as much fan service.

TL:DR nice little short watch it by itself chances are good you will have no regrets.

Its an ova episode that takes place before Makina and Ouri met. Its about Minai Ruo the shikabane hime that gets treated badly.(spoilers) basically she lived with an abusive boyfriend after a while she was so scared she stabbed him and he died. Filled with guilt she committed suicide. When she woke up she discovered that her body was broken later monks found her tied her up and questioned what to do with her.
Then Keisei was asked to be her shikabane hime since he left his card at her work place. Anyways he declined then Shuji Isaki lied ... and accepted to be her contracted monk. He neglected her and insulted her but, it later turned out that he used her to try to get back at his older brother. His brother would do anything for money and he was scum. After that they developed a bond and it turned out they met each other as kids when he was helping run a family shop and Minai ate there when her parents were away at work.
So Shuji Isaki the abusive monk actually did care about Minai even though he didn't show it. So hes not a completely bad person (watch episode 7 and 8 you will know who I am talking about). I wrote this review because Minai is my favorite character from the series. Also this appreciated that this episode gave info about Minai and her contracted monk.