Shigurui: Death Frenzy (2007– )
"Shigurui" (original title)

Stars:

Kenny Green, Shôzô Iizuka, Seizô Katô

Cast

Series cast summary:
Kenny Green	...	Head Clerk (2 episodes, 2007)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

martial arts | battle | samurai | anime

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

19 July 2007 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Shigurui: Death Frenzy

Company Credits

Production Co:

FUNimation Entertainment, Madhouse Studios

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

if David Lynch and Takashi Miike and Richard Laymon made Berserk...

...it would be called Shigurui Death Frenzy.

This thing is a very atmospheric horror samurai tale. The baroque approach reminds me of Lynch on occasion, and the bloody and nasty violence certainly recall the icky tactile gore of Richard Laymon's books and some of Takashi Miike's best known work.

The narrative is not straight forward and there is a fair amount of ambiguity, so this is not thoughtless action fare. Typically, when things get this violent in anime (nc-17 kind of stuff), the creators have far lower aspirations than did the makers of Shigurui-- this is bold experimentation with the medium and dark/perverse storytelling. (Yoshiaki Kawajiri is involved, the man best known for Ninja Scroll and Highlander and Wicked City, but should be best known for directing the X TV series, which is the most nuanced and beautifully navigated television show of the last decade in any format).

Anyways, Shigurui is structurally diverse, very dark, graphic, engrossing and disturbing (really, there's some unsettling stuff here, not just 'blood fountains'). It compares to Berserk, though is more experimental and darker. Really.