Posted by : MrSentimental 
Posted on : 2009-06-28 
We're talking "Death Note" level disappointment with this one. I appreciated the good "thumbs up" reviews from some respected reviewers here at Anime-Source. The first episode showed great art-work and Ninja Scroll (the Movie; It's always the Movie; The series was not great at all) level intensity. I was getting real excited since I haven't been finding too many quality intense shows lately aside from "Sword of the Stranger" and "Kurozuka", which were both very entertaining. But I did not find this one appealing.
The art-work was the strong point here. It reminded me of the good quality stuff in Seirei No Moribito, but i did not find any real likeable or interesting characters in Shigurui, or anyone I was routing for like with Balsa and the Prince. With no likeable or interesting characters, like I experienced with "Death Note," my attention with this one waned, and I was losing interest big-time by the 7th or 8th episode. By then it was: "Fast Forward. Fast Forward. Fast Forward." The Ninja Scroll movie had likeable good guys, and very interesting good guys AND bad guys. This was just not the case in Shigurui.
Instead of interesting and likeable characters, this Anime seemed to focus most on seriousness, pain, and suffering. The beautiful artwork did very well in portraying extreme gore and ugliness. But I did not find this enjoyable or entertaining myself. It also started to remind me of the "Gantz" series which had lots of extreme violence, bad treatment of women, and had no real interesting characters or plot.
The music, I guess, did a good job in helping to portray the feel for the time-period of this Anime.
So, if you're into great artwork that nicely depicts lots of gore, have a blast. Otherwise, I myself did not find this one worth my time at all. I was glad when it was done. 4 out of 10 Rating. 2 STARS.
Posted by : joem20
Posted on : 2009-05-17 
Story
When I saw the first scenes of this series, I am completely shocked. I didn't expect this to be so good. This is the kind of ‘Samurai’ anime that I’ve been looking for. I think this one is more convincing about how a samurai is. Their strength, physique and principles in life are really amazing. This series will answer your question ‘When you slash a body, do their internal organs will come out?’. If you are trying to watch this, prepare your hearts and minds because this is not your typical anime to watch.
Animation
As expected for a madhouse piece, Perfect! The animation was perfectly done and its quality was constant through out the series. There is a saying that duels between masters were decided in just one blow, and it is amazing this anime shows what it’s like. The definition of their muscles, their deadly sword techniques and their feelings that reflected to their swords, it’s truly amazing.
Characters
All the characters were very strong! Fujiki and Irako are very well developed. What can you say when the two strongest fighters have their own handicap, Irako being blind and Fujiki only has one arm. They are monsters!
Overall
Superb. Even if the series was short, it was very enjoyable. It will leave you craving for more. One of the best I've ever seen in the past years.
Posted by : Viseroid
Posted on : 2008-08-31 
The Good:
The art work is astounding, the pace is perfect, and the story is compelling.
The Bad:
It is only 12 episodes long, ends where it starts, and leaves you right when you want it the most.
I am surprised that not many people have seen this, considering how well it is constructed. From the art work to the story telling, this anime stands out from others. Characters are convincing and really play out their roles well. Good and evil is not black and white and makes one question what is right and wrong. This anime is a shining example of how a job is to be done.
I recommend this anime to anyone who enjoys feudal time settings, sword play, and great artwork. Those who enjoyed Kenshin: Reminiscence will adore Shigurui.
Posted by : Faebinder
Posted on : 2007-12-30
Reviewed this after episode 10 and edited it after the last episode. Wow, what a series. The story is about two rivals facing each other in a grand duel before the emperor and it turns out that they have a long history together. I am quite amazed at how dark and gory this is. It reminds me of Berserk very much and just like Berserk, the first episode is in the present and the rest are the past it seems. It has the theme style of Basilisk but much more gory and less "magical". Unfortunately, I think it needs one more episode. It's just too bad it didnt give it. DAMN! Otherwise... if you loved berserk then this is for you.
Artwork: 9/10, Great flow in the fights. Wonderful display styles. Unfortunately the color choices was very radical with huge contrast of bright and dark. Some characters were hard to distinguish and that's another negative. Still the art is wonderful.
Music: 8/10. Could have been better. Solid good opening. The intraepisode music was ok, it was mostly old japanese style and that can have good impact on the mood but you can do better IMO to set up the fear in the episodes. Although the other features did this too well.
Story: 10/10. Wow solid 10. Unexpected series of events. Completely caught me off guard in some cases. Great job showing how good both sides are. I was hoping to see more sides to the grand duel but so far nothing. A couple of warning about this series. This is EXTREMELY gory and EXTREMELY violent with several nude scenes and sexual scenes. No flash backs, no unimportant episodes and certainly no episodes goes by without something getting killed/chopped.
Character Design: 9/10. Well, it was hard to distinguish some of the side characters. Many of the side characters looked similar and I didn't like that. I suppose the artists could have set them up to be more vibrant but I guess they didn't want to take away from the main character focus. Their personalities on the other hand were solid. No argument who is sharp, who is angry, who is fiendish, they are all clear.
I am pretty excited about this series at this point. I can't believe the turn of events was so good. Great imagination on behalf of the writer.
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