Corpse Princess: Aka

Alt title: Shikabane Hime: Aka

TV (13 eps)
2008
Fall 2008
3.677 out of 5 from 7,226 votes
Rank #3,410

Ouri is an orphan who was raised by Keisei, a man he considers to be his older brother. One night, Ouri finds a strange wounded girl in the temple of the orphanage. Cold and covered in scars, Ouri initially thinks that she is dead – that is, until a mysterious talking cat tells him that she is a Shikabane – a corpse. After secretly watching Keisei heal the girl without explanation, Ouri decides it's time to leave the nest. However, he has picked a poor time, and he soon realizes that he's tangled in a strange, supernatural web. Why does Ouri continually meet this girl as she hunts monsters? What does Keisei have to do with it all and what exactly is her mission?

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Reviews

Galadriel
9.5

Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess) Plot: "Ouri is an orphan who was raised by Keisei, a man he considers to be his older brother. One night, Ouri finds a strange wounded girl in the temple of the orphanage. Cold and covered in scars, Ouri initially thinks that she is dead – that is, until a mysterious talking cat tells him that she is a Shikabane – a corpse. After secretly watching Keisei heal the girl without explanation, Ouri decides it's time to leave the nest. However, he has picked a poor time, and he soon realizes that he's tangled in a strange, supernatural web. Why does Ouri continually meet this girl as she hunts monsters? What does Keisei have to do with it all and what exactly is her mission?" (site synopsis) Story: It’s been a while since I watched and reviewed a horror show and after coming across Shikabane Hime I had to give it a shot. It proved to be entertaining, the first season being merely a prologue for what’s to come (like at war, before invading you make preparations and stuff like that) but the thing that hooked me up regarding Shikabane Hime is not the horror aspect and its dark ambience but it's interesting plot concept and presentation which in my opinion is one of the few shows that could manage to cover and explain in a proper manner a certain story without leaving too many plot holes and with possibilites of twisting the truth as well. Nevertheless the story begins with a small boy in the center of attention, a boy named Kagami Ouri. Being an orphan he has been taken care off by a man called Keisei Tagami whom Ouri conciders him a father, a brother and his best friend at the same time. Keisei Tagami is not your ordinary puritan who picks children from the street just like that. Later he proves to be a Contracted Priest under the order of the Kougon, an order that has been created to overcome and vanquish the power of corpses. The concept of the corpses is pretty vast and complex and it takes time until the whole concept is explained and clarified. The first half of the first season is pretty much covered in mystery, the Kougon organization more or less had two objectives, not only that they were something like a military organization but you can also call it a religious one as well (which reminds me, this is a reference to the medieval knight orders, the knight orders were organizations that acted in both perspectives, religious and military issues, conquering non-christian lands and then convert the population, well here the theme is a little bit modified since we don’t speak about converting). I can still remember a line that came out of Keisei’s mouth during this season which I found it very interesting even though I am not a Christian (by choice) “The priests are not here to mourn the dead but to support the ones that are still living” making a reference to the Shikabane Hime that they are contracted with, trying to create a reason so that they can explain why a Contracted Priest should not be attracted to a Shikabane Hime. Shikabane Hime’s are former humans that died once but because of a wish or a regret or any other reason why they could not accept death, they were revived as corpses so that they can seek the accomplishment of that issue. In order for them to not lose their own humanity along with their mentally state, they need to make a contract with a priest, It’s the case of Shikabane Hime, Hoshimura Makina, whom lost her family in a mysterious accident caused by an notorious group of corpses called the Shichisei. Hoshimura Makina while she was still alive had a certain attachment to Keisei (also nicknamed Shikei), since he has been raised by her own family and became a family member. In order to make a contract with a priest, both the priest and the corpse need to have an attachment so that the bond cannot be broken that easily. Keisei did not accept her request from his own interest but he rather wished for her to fullfil her desire to find and eliminate the ones that murdered her family. Shikei knew in what he got involved since the Shichisei is not a name that can be taken lightly, but because of the bond he has with Makina, he placed her needs in front of his own. It is not long until Ouri gets caught in these strange events since he gets acquainted with Makina. When he was young he actually witnessed the ceremony when Keisei became Makina’s Contracted Priest and from this event he decided that when he reaches 16 he will live on his own. After a while during some incursions made by Makina in her hunt for corpses, she gets to know Ouri mainly because wherever there is trouble somehow he gets involved unwillingly (its like being at the right time in the wrong place). The first season proved to be a nice experience as the author explained flawlessly the concept of this show, developed the characters and preparing Ouri for the events that will soon take place in the second season. The Kougon, is actually a pretty vast and organized group, that acts in complete anonymity and always covering up the battles that they are withstanding with mundane events. The cruel part of this show is once again the bond between the Contracted Priest and the Shikabane Hime, because if the Shikabane Hime dies in battle there is no harm but if the Priest dies then the bond is severed and the Shikabane Hime becomes a normal corpse which has the be disposed or make another contract with another priest. The pacing of this show is rather episodic and not in a continuous manner. Nevertheless, if there is a reason, why you should watch this show, then the story will really not disappoint because out of all the main aspects this one I think has the least flaws. Animation and Sound: Concidering that we are speaking of a show produced in the late 2008, we speak about nice visuals, nice movements, nice quality, good directing and decent character design nonethless. Since this anime has a rather episodic aspect and the main focus of the show is the battle against corpses I can add a “monster of the week” tag for this show. The design of the corpses in their true form is rather various but not badly executed as well. The sceneries are also pretty beautiful but while watching this show you can only feel it’s dark ambience. Be it the nature of the characters or the way the animation is portrayed or the plot of this show, you breath and see only a dark ambience as if this show is preparing for a big performance. The sound is also very convincing and very well chosen, viewed from the eyes of a horror fan. Both the opening soundtrack and the ending soundtrack, have cool sequences and fits with the dark ambience depicted in this show. The background sounds and as well the voice acting are pretty good as well, the anime show featuring some popular names like Keiji Fujiwara (voicing Keisei), Aoi Yuuki (a recent prodigy, which voiced in mostly new shows 2008-2010 period and having mostly main-secondary roles, voicing Akira Touoka) and Yui Horie. Characters: Character wise, this show was pretty decent as well. While characters with a personality like Ouri are despised by shounen fans, that only know about overpowered characters, I myself understood his nature and as well his role in this show. I mentioned previously that this season is nothing more than an initiation of the main character for what’s about to come. The first season presents him and the ones around him and reveals the secret behind Keisei’s actions and Makina’s true identity and her objectives. Ouri quickly becomes targeted by the Kougon organization since they are not allowing outsiders to be aware of the secret behind the Shikabane Hime and also the existence of the organization. Makina on the other hand lives solely for one purpose, to take revenge on the Shichisei, the ones that slaughtered her family and to do that she partnered with Keisei. The connection they had was not that simple, since Keisei and Makina are more than it meet the eye, they developed special feelings for eachother but because of the relationship that they have, they were forced to cast them aside and prioritize their main objectives above anything else. Most of the Shikabane Himes and their Priests strieve to go to heaven by killing 108 corpses, however Makina does not. Keisei is the comedy element of this show. Despite its serious allurance he is actually the typical perverted-otaku type and loves to make fun of Ouri by placing naked girl figurines, posters or magazines into his apartment. Even though Keisei has such a carefree side, he is a very considerate in issues regarding Makina and Ouri. This show has a pretty big cast for a mere 13 episode anime and a second season but surprisingly, most of them are very well covered up in such a short length show considering that most long term show still leave a lot of plot/character holes. Overall: Shikabane Hime Is something that should not be overlooked. Despite the fact that its not finished (the manga is still ongoing) it is still a show that worths watching dew to its concept and the way the story is presented. I am not going to say that the plot is unique because it is not, but the way it is presented makes it stand as an original work and not another cheap copy of a certain show (clearly, I don’t think that I mentioned any references to other shows in this review). The episodic plot of this show might make several people stay away from it (I do have to admit that this show is pretty hard to marathon) but the twists of this show and the action sequences worths following. Shikabane Hime is one of those shows that becomes interesting near the ending, so I highly recommend that if you started it then you should keep up with it until the end since it does not disappoint. ~Enjoy and Cya Around~

angelsreviews
7

Halloween is coming up (Or already passed depending on when I finally get this review done) and so what better way to get the chills is to watch a show about corpses coming to life and killing people, right? What I didn’t know about this was that there was a whole bunch more to this show that meets the eye. It brought some questions I never thought I would have to ask myself. So when we get into the characters, Kagami is our ‘main character’ of sorts. I call him a main character even though most that I read has had Makina as the main character. Anyway, Kagami has a rather strange personality. At first I found it very hard to believe his reactions to the things happening around him. He wouldn’t freak out at all like a normal person would when faced with the walking dead. He only seemed to react when Tagami, his ‘brother’, teased him. He was out of touch with the real world and had a very drab voice to go with it. As I watched though, I found it easier to understand him slightly, though it did not make him any better at times. Makina is pretty much a tsundara in basic form but then there are parts of her that I would argue that statement. She isn’t a typical tsundara; she has a good reason not to connect herself to those around her. Although she does seem to fall in love, I don’t think she ever really forgets enough of her situation that she falls into the want to leave it all behind. Tagami is… How do I explain him? He has a split personality that makes it hard to actually know what he is going to say. One moment he can be rather smart and wise beyond his years and the next he is acting like a perverted high school boy. I can’t figure out exactly what goes on in his head but I’m pretty sure its messed up. He did break up the tension though with his strange form of humor though which was a nice switch. Can I ask why a Shikabane Hime needs to dress like a high school girl? Because I don’t understand some of the outfit choices of her and of some of the monks. I mean really, Makina wears a school girl outfit, the sword princess has extremely high heals, there is one monk who wears what looks to be a very small bra under a lab coat, there are some really confusing hair designs in a couple of characters. I thought that if you’re going to fight a demon, then you shouldn’t wear those types of clothing. There is also a thing in that these Shikabane are basically dead people, so dressing them up in outfits that make them look ‘sexy’ just makes it really awkward. There is also another question I have to ask, WHY ARE ALL THE SHIKABANE HIME WOMEN? The way they talk about it, shouldn’t men also turn into them as well? I understand they say Hime meaning Princess but I am sure that men could also be made one. Now along with this being a show that has a very high supernatural and horror base to it, there was something I don’t think many notice while watching this. It is the question of ‘what does it mean to be human, to be alive?’ It actually is a basic question that I got throughout the show. They keep going back and forward in the idea of what Shikabane and Shikabane Hime mean. They keep on talking about how Shikabane are just people with regrets, and then how Shikabane Hime is those who are only there to kill Shikabane. The Kougon Sect. (the group that has the Shikabane Hime) seems to be split on weather or not Shikabane should be treated as objects or people. So here I ask you, the reader, a question. What does it mean to be human or to be alive? Does it mean you must have a beating heart and able to breath… or does it mean you should be able to feel, to think, to understand right from wrong?   The artwork is rather dark and full of blacks and purples, much like many of the shows that revolve around the supernatural and hauntings. But it’s not all like that. When they are in the normal world, things seem to take on this misty coloring like it was all a dream. It gives a good balance between the two different worlds and also makes the world of the supernatural look more real then the real world. I know that sounds strange to say that, but the real world in this show seems more like a fantasy or a dream with how bright the supernatural world looks. Sometimes with the action, it doesn’t look all that well. Gainax has this thing where when some action happens, they seem to put a lot less work into it. The opening is pretty nice but with the ending, up to episode 5, they were only using scenes from the episode. At 5, they made an actual ending which had a couple pictures of characters. The English dub isn’t much to talk about. It’s pretty bland, especially our protagonist. Kagami just sounds as though nothing ever fazes him. His voice is low and draws out a bit. I think I get a little of what Aaron Dismuki was trying to do but it didn’t work that well. The only time he actually shows off any sort of emotion is when Tagami is teasing him. Even when he finds out that a girl that he knew came back to life, he just seems to stare blankly at the screen he is watching. I don’t know if its just the characters personality or the way the voice actor brought him out as but I think it’s a little of both. I do believe Aaron does get the emotions down when he does put effort into it. Greg Ayres surprisingly did a very good job as a strange talking black cat to a point that I had no idea he was the one voicing him. It’s the perfect sort of haunting voice you would think a mysterious cat would have. You definitely can’t tell weather the cat if friend or foe which I really think is part of his charm. Luci Christian does a pretty good job of Makina with her very harsh style of talking. She is the perfect Tsundara character for this sort of story and I think part of this was because Luci herself has played a lot of Tsundara characters. One of the saddest things for me to say right now is I don’t think one of my favorite voice actors should have been brought in for the voice of the Buddhist Monk. J. Michael Tatum doesn’t really catch the right air I think Tagami was supposed to have. He was rather good for when Tagami got rather series but something just seems a little off when he is trying to do the funny parts of the character. The music is actually rather good, giving an intense feeling when it’s needed and a softer feeling when a sad point is. Sometimes for the sad or emotional points, you can barely hear it which I actually think works well. It makes to try to listen more intensely so you don’t miss anything. Overall this show was actually rather good and a perfect show to watch for Halloween. It has a lot of gore, violence, and mystery to keep you wanting to watch more, although the ending was a little bit of a cliffhanger. Luckily there is a sequel and though I haven’t seen that yet, I am looking forward to seeing how it goes. Even with all the gore and violence, there is also an interesting philosophical question that I look forward to uncovering just how they will answer it.

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