I have seen quite a few MANGA animations and yes they do have violent and twisted storylines but there are also some which are aimed at a younger audience...still scary in a way but toned down to almost Disney-esque quality. This however is unrelenting and shocking (in NO WAY for kids), shocking in a very realistic way. Having researched the Samurai/Shogun history before hand, I did know that it was an age of brutality and ignorance but even that did not prepare me for this episodic artistic anime. Director Hiroshi Hamazaki wanted to bring to the screen the first 32 chapters (the initial six and a half volumes of the novel) but abandoned the project entirely bringing the series to an abrupt end. So why watch an incomplete series you might ask?? Answer is a mixed bag actually: if you do enjoy good storytelling and have an abundance of patience then you owe it to yourself to see this but if you are looking for a quick Samurai action fix then you're better off looking elsewhere. Just the first episode (out of twelve) had me hooked and gave me the realization that this was not going to be the usual Samurai yarn. True enough, this was an almost painfully slow and yet completely unrelenting and realistic portrayal of the Samurai way of life and after almost two weeks of watching (one episode a day) the abrupt end left me wanting more. Never before has a series left me wanting to complete it so much.This is where it gets complicated folks as the original novel has not been translated outside of Japanese and the Manga (comic) of said novel costs a small fortune to buy. Who can say though, maybe in the future it might be translated. All I can say is that anyone who has seen and enjoyed "Shigurui" tweet Hiroshi Hamazaki (@hamasakina) and hopefully he will decide to complete a very interesting and intriguing story. This is an essential watch.
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