 If you liked
The Hakkenden
|
 ...then you might like
Shigurui
|
More often than not, anything with a period piece setting has an artificial, glorifying gloss painted over it. And this is a problem with Japanese period pieces in particular since there was never anything beautiful about a culture where atoning for mistakes involved other men watching as someone stabbed themselves in the stomach and attempted to slice diagonally across (FYI, this is how Shigurui begins, complete with intestines hanging out). The samurai period in Japan was a cruel one, and that's what these two series capture superbly.
Shigurui would have been described as an 'ultra violence' series, had it came to be during the OVA
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Recommended by AironicallyHuman
Both of these anime take a grimly artistic approach to the samurai genre and are notable for their highly stylized, symbolic visuals and imagery. Although, it should be noted that The Hakkenden is rooted in folklore and contains fantastical elements while Shigurui doesn't.