Main character Shinkurou Kurenai could definitely use some of this "power" as he is an orphan, having lost both of his parents in a terrorist attack. He's currently employed by a woman by the name of Benika Juuzawa, working as a so-called "dispute mediator". Which is a dangerous job; Shinkurou's activities include beating up Yakuza and protecting various people from harm and even though he's only 16 years old, he does a great job of it. In hand-to-hand combat, you do not want to face Shinkurou since he's been trained in a secret, clan-specific type of martial arts and has some type of special weapon in his body to boot. One day he asks Benika to assign him a more complex mission, hoping to impress her and get some extra money out of it while he's at it. Benika then wants Shinkurou to protect a little girl who appears to be the heir to a traditional family called the Kuhouins. Only later Shinkurou finds out about the cruel ways of the Kuhouins and why exactly he was chosen to protect the girl.
Now the one thing which carries this story is the bond between its various characters, most notably between Shinkurou and Murasaki Kuhouin, the seven-year-old girl. This relationship is so touching it really leads you to believe this is a romance anime about these two characters, but as one is only 7 and the other is 16, you can see this is not the case. It is really hard to describe how these characters exactly relate, but it is a very interesting bond they share nonetheless. Both characters possess loveable personalities, Murasaki being the cheeky preschooler with an extraordinary take on modern society and Shinkurou being the caring and somewhat indecisive pushover who slowly takes the form of an strong and admirable parental figure. Kure-nai is a story about its characters and the characters are great. Not to say the rest of the show is bad, but this aspect really saves it from mediocrity.
The first half of the story is decidedly lighthearted as we see Shinkurou and Murasaki interact with their environment in a slice-of-life sort of fashion. This is where the 8 for "enjoyment" comes in. While even these early episodes aren't particularly humorous I found them very enjoyable, once again thanks to lively characters such as Shinkurou's roommates Tamaki and Yamie. After a while though, the happy-go-lucky atmosphere grows old and especially episode 6 felt particularly forced. From that episode on however, the story turns gritty, new information regarding Murasaki's family comes to light and the family itself shows up as well, in their attempts to take Murasaki back at all costs. Shinkurou's situation becomes pressured and he starts to question his own strength after realizing how this job was probably more than he could handle. After seeing Shinkurou has grown in his determination to finish what he started and protect the ones he cares for most, Benika also finally starts to show her human side. By the end of the story the viewer will also find out a little about what exactly drives her, though it's really kind of an afterthought compared to Shinkurou's story.
The final episodes however, are undeniably silly at times. At some point there is a carchase in the snow which in my opinion was entirely unnecessary to the plot and really was there just to entertain action-fans who stuck with the show until the very end for some unknown reason. The ending itself was pretty powerful in my opinion because it was unexpected and it made me think if the characters had really made the right decisions, however at the same time it was very unrealistic and it would've been much better once again, if Brain's Base would've just toned down on the violence and ever-apparent murderous intent everywhere in the final episode. There was much more hand-to-hand action than usual near the end, which wouldn't have been bad if it wasn't for two things:
Firstly, it was important to the story the combat was done unarmed, to really see the link between one's physical strength and ones inner strength. This has been done really well overall, but when you really look at just the story and not all the themes woven into it, it really begs the question why not a single person opted for a firearm throughout the show. One 9mm handgun could've easily turned the tables on Shinkurou.
Secondly, this show is not Gurren Lagann. Art-wise, Kure-nai looks excellent, but the animation quality was rather inconsistent. As mentioned before, there weren't a lot of challenges for animators to overcome as the show mainly revolves around its dialogues, but when things heated up, the animation disappointed me greatly. It always caught my attention at the moments that really mattered, and that's never a good thing. At first I was really impressed by Kure-nai's visuals but the aforementioned issues turned my rating down to a low 7.
Lastly, let's discuss sound. The first thing that will definitely catch the viewer's attention in Kure-nai is the OP. Not because of the music, but because of the visual style. If you want to know what I'm talking about you really have to go and see it for yourself. My problem with this OP is that while it's certainly not generic (which is almost always a good thing), it doesn't suit the show's feel. At all. The ED is a little better but far from a reason to watch the show in itself. It seems Brain's Base realized this after a while and they decided to fix this. How? By completely removing the OP and ED. That's right. From around episode 7 on, this show has no OP or ED. Which is sort of lazy. The last time I can remember watching an anime with no OP was FLCL.
However, FLCL still has its excellent ED and overall J-rocky soundtrack going for it. Kure-nai only has some instrumental tracks which are hard to notice while watching, but most of the time there's just silence. Which also works. In that regard, Kure-nai's "sound" isn't all that bad, but the Kure-nai OST is definitely not a must-have.
Overall, Kure-nai didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted it to. With this show, Brain's Base does some things not many studios have, but the the themes and morales that encompass the entire show sometimes really cause its credibility and plot to suffer. At some point, Kure-nai turns almost Shakespearian in its approach, with long, complex dialogue, even from seven-year-old Murasaki. I'd say these are things that are good to know beforehand, and that is also the reason I write this review. I hope that after reading this review, you will have an idea of what to expect from Kure-nai and perhaps you will be able to enjoy it even more than I did, because I had to figure all this out along the way.
Kure-nai's a great change of pace from the more generic shounen and high-school series, but in the end one's opinion of this show is really something personal. Shinkurou and Murasaki's story was touching enough to me, but there's no saying if this goes for all viewers out there. Still, if this sounds like your kind of show, don't miss out.
