(There will be SPOILERS in my review)
[Story]: (6/10)
The story is set in Heavenly Host Elementary School, an elementary school that was torn down following the murders and disappearances of several of its staff and students. One night, a group of students are telling ghost stories when a sudden earthquake transports them to another dimension where Heavenly Host Elementary still exists and is haunted by the ghosts of the school's murdered children.
Ahh, my very first horror/extreme gore anime. There are a lot of reasons why I don't watch Japanese horror. One being that Japanese Horror creeps the hell out of me way more than the American Horror. Corpse Party is no exception..I did say I watched this at night right? 'Course I did. Most of the time, I would be looking behind me because of my paranoia and there were times where I would need to stop for like 5 minutes because I was watching this anime alone.
Now my opinions on the story...I am fully aware that the OVA was adapted from a video game and I am also aware that the OVA was not faithful to the source material. As someone who hasn't played the game yet, I gotta say the plot was ok. Although, there were a lot of plot points that was never explained because of the show's 4 episode constraint. There's also the fact that the show's pacing was absolutely rushed. I was still able to understand half of what was going on but I was left clueless on the other half. In my opinion, the show has a lot of potential to become a great anime series. The plot is there and it's a great plot. It just needs more episodes
So are the fear and shock factors present in the show? You bet your ass it is. However, there are absolutely no jump scares in the show. The show's fear and shock factors comes from the extreme/excessive gore itself. In other words, the show will mentally and psychologically f*ck you up for like a day. The show contains A LOT of gore which contains human guts, dead bodies/decapitated bodies, stabbing scenes, cut-out tongue scenes and more.
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[Art/Animation]: (8/10)
The studio, Asread who also animated The Future Diary and one of my favourite anime Ga-Rei Zero, also animated the OVA of Corpse Party. OVA's don't usually have those top-notch animation that you mostly see in most animes these days so I wasn't really expecting the animation to be that great. The show's visual and animation looks fairly good but obviously not the greatest. The character designs also looks pretty good. However, they did an amazing job with the show's dark atmosphere which added a whole lot of creepiness to the show. The gore animations are disgusting so good job for the well-animated human guts, I guess.
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[Sound]: (9.5/10)
The soundtrack is pretty good but just like the animation, not the best. None of the background themes I heard were even remotely scary. Although, the laughing kids did freak me out. Now the OP and ED theme song
The OP theme song is "Hoshikuzu no Ring" by Asami Imai and the ED theme song is "Hotaru-bi" by Yumi Hara. The OP and ED theme songs are the reason why I rated the soundtrack of the show with a 9.5. The OP theme song sounds amazing. The singer just makes the song so damn beautiful while at the same time, the song has that horror flare in it. I also love the ED theme song because of the emotions in that song. It's like someone just died and the song is being used in their funeral or something.
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[Characters]: (7.5/10) (SPOILERS)
If you're thinking of falling in love with any of the characters or maybe even liking them then don't. If you like one of the characters maybe because that character is a lesbian, that one guy who everyone likes, the energetic girl, the little sister who constantly says "Onee-chan", the great big brother, and etc then prepare to get your emotions crushed as one of your beloved characters dies in the most horrible way possible.
The characters get no character development at all...Maybe they did but how would I notice if there are only 4 episodes and the show is rushed? So you have to find another way to like the characters like I did.
Oh and before I move on to another category. Everyone dies except Ayumi.."Ohh but Naomi lives too!". Wrong, she killed herself after everything that has happened to her in that god-forsaken Heavenly Host Elementary. “Heavenly” How ironic.
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[Enjoyment]: (1/10)
Let me explain, do you really think I enjoyed this anime? Well, in terms of its horror then yea, I enjoyed it but did I really enjoy the anime? Do you really think I enjoyed all the character's deaths? Am I going to watch this anime again? Answer is No, No, and No.
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[VERDICT]
"Corpse Party: Tortured Souls" might not be the greatest horror anime out there but it's still a good show to watch...if you want to scare yourself. If you're looking for an anime with deep and philosophical or whatever story then this is not an anime for you. It's simply for the viewers who wants to get scared or just wants to watch some horror shows. If you're a sick person who loves human guts then this is also for you. Well, time to undust my PSP so I can play the "Corpse Party" games.
So what's the moral lesson of this show? Do Not believe everything that you see on the internet.
[OVERALL]: (8/10)
Pros:
+Decent Storyline
+Animation is Well-Done and Great Dark Atmosphere
+Great OP and ED theme songs
+Excessive Gore at its finest
+Decent Characters
+Anime is pretty scary when watched alone at night
+Not Afraid to kill its characters
Cons:
-Plot has potential but failed due to 4 episode constraint
-Lack of Character Build-up/Development due to 4 episode constraint
-Some characters died in a ridiculous way.
-Tons of Plot Holes
-Rushed Pacing
