Manga, Anime: The Skull Man was originally a 100-page one-shot story done by Shotaro Ishinomori (famous for Cyborg 008 and Kamen Rider), released in Shonen Magazine's 1970 issue, and is cited as one of manga's first anti-heroes. Ishinomori did a rework of it just before he started work on the live-action show Kamen Rider (translated as Masked Rider) in 1971, as Toei wanted to use it for the basis of the show, and it was just a bit too dark and gory for a kid's show. And then in 1997, just before his death, he contacted Kazuhiko Shinamoto with plot points for a remake that would have a continuing storyline and have more complex artwork than the original. This version was released by Media Factory, and ran from April 7th, 1998 to May of 2001. The latest version is the one that Tokyopop picked up Stateside; the seventh and final volume was released August 12th, 2003.
The anime itself was done by Studio Bones (famous for Fullmetal Alchemist and Ouran High School Host Club) and directed by Takeshi Mori (famous for the Gunsmith Cats and Otaku no Video OVAs, both of which you've probably never heard of) . It ran on Japanese TV from April 28th, 2007 to July 22nd, 2007, and has yet to be licensed at this point time.
Story: Mkay, so the episode kicks off with this guy on TV lecturing about how medicine and the military are becoming too closely entwined, even after the war, then cuts to woman being chased by these demon-dog-looking things, and a guy in a leather trench coat, a cravat, and a skull mask.
Turns out that she ends up murdered, and there's been other reports of incidents like this involving the dogs and the skull mask man in Ootomo City, and a newspaper reporter (Hayato) wants to go and investigate it. He ends up picking up a bit of an annoying brat named Kiriko, getting put under surveillance, and going back to his old hometown, which is just outside of Ootomo. After he gets kicked out of his house in the evening by Kiriko for accidentally seeing her naked, he sees a guy get attacked by the skull mask man and the demon dogs.
From there, the rest of the series is spent trying to find out who the Skull Man is, and what it is that he wants, which leads into all sorts of interesting things.
I was worried here, for a bit. Most of the series is spent building and building up the mysteries around the Skull Man and the involvement of various organizations within the town and conspiracy upon conspiracy upon conspiracy that I was afraid it was not going to touch on any of them, like Rozen Maiden, or would end up falling victim to poor pacing and try to use a deux ex machina to take care of things or be handled sloppily, like in Nishi no Yoki Majo: Astraea Testament. Luckily, I was wrong; things start coming together in the tenth episode, and are fully explained in the eleventh and expounded on further in the twelfth episode, which set everything up for the final episode, which wrapped things up perfectly.
You'll see a lot of elements of V for Vendetta and the Count of Monte Cristo in the story, and mentions of Nietzsche, Wagner, and Shakespeare. It's these elements, along with the way pacing was handled, that makes this such a good show.
It's not without its rough spots, though. It's hard to remember all the characters' names, and I usually ended up referring to them either by their job, or by their relation to the main characters if I couldn't remember their given names. They bring up some elements, toss them aside for a few episodes, and then bring them up again just as you forget about them, which annoyed me a bit. And it seemed all nice and resolved in the last episode, up until I watched the bit after the ED, which practically screams for a second season, or at least an OVA for explanation.
Art: The art for this is overwhelmingly dark in its tones. The designs for the monsters are very well done, too, even when they end up showing en masse later in the series. However, when CG is used, it stands out quite a bit, and ends up looking a bit unattractive.
Music: The OP is this awesome little rock piece, and seems more like something you'd hear in an older show, which is a nice touch, and very singable. The background music itself is very noir-ish, and in the case of some pieces, very dramatic at times, but not overly so. The ED is kind of... eh, as it's your typical wistful female JPop ballad.
Seiyuu: Fumiko Orisaka (who also did the voice work for Firiel in Nishi no Yoki Majo: Astraea Testament and Chise in Saikano) plays one of the main females names who I can actually remember, Maya, and Ayako Kawasumi (also known for her work as Saber in Fate/Stay Night) did the voice work for Kiriko, the other main female whose name I can remember. Also, Toshiyuki Morikawa (who was Sephiroth's seiyuu) did work for one of the main characters I can't remember for the life of me. Also, Hiroshi Tsuchida did the voice work for the Skull Man, which was absolutely outstanding, along the lines of Joji Nakata's work. So, overall, outstanding seiyuu here.
Length: Perfect. Any longer, and it probably would've had to resort to filler, which just wouldn't have fit, and any shorter, and it wouldn't have been able to play things out the way it did. I would like that sequel/OVA to explain that bit after the ED in the thirteenth episode, though.
Overall: An excellent story with elements of V for Vendetta, perfect pacing, excellent music and seiyuu, even if it's hard to keep track of all the characters. Let's hope they expand on that bit after the thirteenth episode's ED, though.
Story: 8/10
Art: 7/10
Music: 8/10
Seiyuu: 9/10
Length: 8/10
Overall: 40/50; 80% (B )
