Short Synopsis: A violent killer visits Kuromitsu.
Highlights: Production-values are less than in the first episode, but nonetheless gorgeous.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
As for One Outs, I’m very surprised at how underrated that series has become, considering how well-received Akagi and Kaiji were. Nevertheless, I still remember the pain it was to blog Kaiji, so I’m just going to sit back and watch it without blogging.
Anyway, I guess I’m going to be blogging lots of different horror-series this season. Kurozuka, Mouryou no Hako, Jigoku Shoujo, Casshern, Blade of the Immortal, Shikabane Hime. Heh, I originally didn’t intend to blog so many of them, but all of them have proved to be surprisingly good in their own way, and all of them explore different sides of the genre, from the flamboyant Jigoku Shoujo to the upbeat Blade of the Immortal, to the subtle Shikabane Hime, the charming Mouryou no Hako, and the depressing and thought-provoking Casshern.
Kurozuka promises to be explore the action and raw psychological side of horror. It definitely has the best action-scenes of the season, as well as the best OP. If the creators can get the characters right, then this series promises to be something very interesting, especially with the director of Death Note behind it. My big problem with Death Note is how it felt very unbalanced, and the creators never really seemed to exactly know what kind of direction they wanted. I’m really curious what his style can do to such a short, focused and series.
There’s also plenty of mystery in this series. Where does the cut-off head come into play? Why bother showing that killer in the first place? What was that strange room he ended up in? What happened to that main character’s best friend? Who were those monsters that were after Kuro anyway?
I think that this series needs to pay the most attention to giving the bad guys a bit more background and personality. Right now, they feel a bit too stereotypical. Kuro and Kuromitsu will probably be fine, and slowly grow throughout the series, but when it comes to bad guys that die within one episode, this series really needs to pay a bit more effort to make their deaths count.
I don’t know if “charming” is the word I’d use for Mouryou no Hako, but otherwise I agree that the horror genre is dominating this season with some of the best shows. My two favorites based on first impressions are Hako and this, which sucked me in with its dark vampire storyline compared to all those other questionable vampire animes of late.
naaa, i have come to dislike deeply kuro and kuromitsu from the manga and the manga itself, for numerous reasons, the charm will wear off eventually and the only thing left will be skelletons you will see and a bad taste of mouth.
If you haven’t read the manga, you won’t understand why bad guys seem “weak”. At first it will seem that bad guys are not so developed, but in the end thing will make more sense (supposedly). I also didn’t like how it ends, the manga that is. Dunno if the anime version will follow closely the manga version tho.