It is my opinion that Shigurui is a fine anime series, though incomplete. There are not fantastic beings and unbelievable fake situations as in "Death Note", nor strange ploys and personal super-powers as in "Basilisk", no strangeness as in "Afro Samura", or We all know he wins at the end like in "Samurai X". Shigurui is a purely Japanese vengeance story, where personal revenge intersects with family and dojo feuds, in the fabric of 17th century Japan, where the feudal samurai rule is a reality you can not evade or joke with.
The problem with Shigurui series is that it is not complete. Once you arrive at the end, it will leave you so thirsty to know the rest that, most probably, as I did, you will run to read the manga (if you will be wise enough to search for it ), yet I gave the series a 10 out of 10 because it is an anime that I deem very good in everything, with complex characters, a believable storyline and plot, full of emotion and empty of void fantasies or childish tricks. A half-demented savage legendary swordsman, a promising pupil, a sneaky coveting pretender, a pretty but stern daughter, a tragic adulterous concubine, a crazy sadist daimyo... But it is not all. Beside the crazy sadist daimyo who remains such from the beginning till the end, all the other main characters kill your expectations for simplicity and the usual "the good beats the bad" and show unexpected character facets, giving the movie depth, beauty and humanity. Especially the antagonists - Irako and Fujiki, while starting as the opposite of each other in every thing, expect the ability in swordplay, at the end of the story become so close to each-other that you loose the human vice of trying to categorize them in some false moral attribute and just contemplate on the transiency and vanity of man and maybe even shed a tear or two for the tragic fate that we all will share at the end, no matter by what means. The series are very lean, very much Spartan, so very much Japanese. I couldn't find anything excessive in it, same as in the soundtrack, unbelievably abstemious, deep and drastic, giving a clear hint to what will be unfolded in front of your eyes , beating in time with the deep breaths between the duels. The dialogues are also lean, not full of heroics or pathetic speeches, nor burdened with funny sequences just because putting in some funny phrases will bring more viewers. The movie is dramatic and the dialogue follows the drama faithfully. The swordplay on the other hand is similar to what you will find in 7 Samurai - true Japanese swordplay where you swing toward the opponent only once or twice, not toward his sword in order to produce the fake sword-clash sounds of Hollywood.
It is a gray world in Shigurui, mostly void of colors, to better emphasize the intensity that swirls in, catching your eyes and choking your breath to the end with its tragic beauty, a masterful Tsubazemari that will throw you defeated on your own passions and dreams. Will you wish to be Irako Seigen or Fujiki Gennosuke?! Why... you are both of them and more...much more...
The problem with Shigurui series is that it is not complete. Once you arrive at the end, it will leave you so thirsty to know the rest that, most probably, as I did, you will run to read the manga (if you will be wise enough to search for it ), yet I gave the series a 10 out of 10 because it is an anime that I deem very good in everything, with complex characters, a believable storyline and plot, full of emotion and empty of void fantasies or childish tricks. A half-demented savage legendary swordsman, a promising pupil, a sneaky coveting pretender, a pretty but stern daughter, a tragic adulterous concubine, a crazy sadist daimyo... But it is not all. Beside the crazy sadist daimyo who remains such from the beginning till the end, all the other main characters kill your expectations for simplicity and the usual "the good beats the bad" and show unexpected character facets, giving the movie depth, beauty and humanity. Especially the antagonists - Irako and Fujiki, while starting as the opposite of each other in every thing, expect the ability in swordplay, at the end of the story become so close to each-other that you loose the human vice of trying to categorize them in some false moral attribute and just contemplate on the transiency and vanity of man and maybe even shed a tear or two for the tragic fate that we all will share at the end, no matter by what means. The series are very lean, very much Spartan, so very much Japanese. I couldn't find anything excessive in it, same as in the soundtrack, unbelievably abstemious, deep and drastic, giving a clear hint to what will be unfolded in front of your eyes , beating in time with the deep breaths between the duels. The dialogues are also lean, not full of heroics or pathetic speeches, nor burdened with funny sequences just because putting in some funny phrases will bring more viewers. The movie is dramatic and the dialogue follows the drama faithfully. The swordplay on the other hand is similar to what you will find in 7 Samurai - true Japanese swordplay where you swing toward the opponent only once or twice, not toward his sword in order to produce the fake sword-clash sounds of Hollywood.
It is a gray world in Shigurui, mostly void of colors, to better emphasize the intensity that swirls in, catching your eyes and choking your breath to the end with its tragic beauty, a masterful Tsubazemari that will throw you defeated on your own passions and dreams. Will you wish to be Irako Seigen or Fujiki Gennosuke?! Why... you are both of them and more...much more...