Shigurui Ep. 1

Trying to place Shigurui is hard. Initially, almost subconsciously, you want to bandy about Lone Wolf and Cub because they're set in similar eras, use swordplay and dojo politics as their main theme and have such an intense atmosphere. But really I think it's a lack of experience that encourages such comparisons. You can't really refute Lone Wolf and Cub's historical chops, and Dark Horse's releases honour such by providing us with comprehensive liner notes, but I wouldn't claim to know diddly off the back of that, or even from the few Kurosawa films I've seen. So, let's bank on my ignorant philistine ways and consider Shigurui on its own merits.

Direction-wise it presents us with something quite unique for an anime. The production values for this first episode are undeniably high, but the amount of actual movement is nominal. This doesn't seem like a compensation technique, however, because each movement is expertly considered and perfectly compliments its visual intensity. I wanted to write about how different it seems from Kurosawa's films, with so many invasive headshots and a general sense of claustrophobia controlling every scene - that it seems distinctly anime in its approach - but Shigurui has more in common with its live-action contemporaries than it does with other anime. Each scene is a set piece and any sign of movement is a signal, a direction for the audience with a distinct sense of meaning and purpose. Anime strides for capturing realistic movement so much so that it becomes inherently unrealistic; humans don't move in the way anime illustrates human movement. Shigurui, with its intense restraint, captures the natural stasis of these kind of feudal sword fights. Every step and motion is perfectly considered by its combatant and even the slightest misjudgement could mean the difference between victory and defeat. It's almost unbearably rigid and fantastically absorbing; Shigurui is a treat for the eyes and the nerves.

In terms of plot and characterisation Shigurui demonstrates a similar kind of reservation but still manages to insinuate enough for it to be interesting. It's obvious from this first episode that the show is more concerned with presentation than heavy, verbose character development, but its skill is in how it makes us distinctly aware of character moments when they happen. Whenever a character makes a comment about another, because of its scarcity amongst the overriding aesthetic intensity, it becomes completely loaded with meaning and history. Equally, the plot has a similar subtle maturity and sophistication. It tells the events in a backwards fashion: we open with the seppuku of the eccentric lord responsible (we assume) for most of the woes of the main cast and gradually the plot works back to the first encounter of the protagonists Fujiki and Irako. Each time skip contributes to the broader picture while fleshing out the characters and their motivations. It presents us with a very sophisticated form of writing. Granted, story and character to take a moderate back-seat to Shigurui's spectacular visual flare, but not so much so for them to be weak or shallow.

Overall this first episode impressed me in quite a grand fashion. There's lots of macho posturing and wanky animation techniques (you see the under-the-skin musculature of the fighters as they macho-posture, for instance), but they're all employed legitimately and with a maturity you rarely find in anime. I hope Shigurui maintains this level of detail and polish throughout its run because it contributes so much to its personality and distinctness. It's doable considering the restrained use of over-actuated movement in its animation (even in this first look at us aren't we flashy episode). Time will tell, I guess. I'm definitely sticking around to find out.

Edit: Corrected the two moment/movement confusions. God I hate finding typos like that so long after it's been posted. *slams head against nearest hard thing*

Comments

[graymouser]

I agree. This anime is almost surreal in its detail and pulled me in immediately. The friction and frisson between characters the mature nature of this subject and even the attention and concentration on a bean is paramount. Some art is not pretty nor bright and airy but requires the viewer to take a trip down a road they would avoid. Thats what makes this anime so great.

Like Gunslinger girl an anime I wish they never made yet I loved yet I only watched once. Some things are hard.

[Man-Made Mammon]

I've just started watching this and would say that the closest comparison would be to Okamoto's "Sword of Doom", a comparison easily attributed to the patience that each work exhibits for developing tension through inactivity (as well as other obvious parallels).

This and Ghost Hound are my forerunners for best anime of 2007, although it's admittedly early to make a grand judgement of GH.