OP Sequence:

OP: “SYSTEMATIC PEOPLE (featuring Maximum Ryou (Maximum the Hormone))”
          「SYSTEMATIC PEOPLE (featuringマキシマムザ亮君(マキシマム ザ ホルモン))」 by WAGDUG FUTURISTIC UNITY
Watch the OP!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Show Streaming ▼

ED Sequence:

ED: “Hanarebanare” 「ハナレバナレ」 by Shigi (シギ)
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Show Streaming ▼

「安達原」 (Adachigahara)
“Adachigahara”

First Glance:
A tale told over hundreds of years, KUROZUKA follows Minamoto Yoshitsune (Kurou) as he embarks on a journey to the end of time with a beautiful, mysterious woman after she transforms him into a vampire. Based on 2002 ten-volume manga of the same name, KUROZUKA is full of bloody action, sex, and nudity… or at least it was supposed to be. Based on the first showing, the latter two seem to be nonexistent in this anime adaptation, which I guess is understandable considering that it’s a television series. Having read the first volume of the manga though, I noticed how drastically different the story comes off without all the sex involved, even though the adaptation tries to include those scenes in a different form. Evidently, it doesn’t come off the same way though, since they opted to change those scenes rather than censor them in some way. As such, I actually find that it detracts from the story a bit, because those explicit scenes helped balance out all the graphic ones that are prevalent throughout the story. Without them, we just have a lot of excessively explicit gore, which alone doesn’t really portray how dark this series is supposed to be. However, it does keep the series a lot “cleaner” and they may include some of the controversial material later on, so I’m curious as to how MADHOUSE and director Akari Tetsurou (of Death Note fame) approach this one down the stretch.

Starring as Kurou is Miyano Mamoru, who uses his Setsuna F. Seiei voice here for the most part. Accompanying him as Kuromitsu is Paku Romi, whose portrayal of the beautiful, mysterious vampire is soft-spoken yet eery to the bone (in a good way). With Romi usually cast as boy genius-type characters (Edward Elric in FMA, Hitsugaya Toushirou in Bleach), I was quite surprised by the range she exhibited here, which would’ve made me question if it was really her had I not already known. Support cast is also really good, with names such as Kuwashima Houko (Clare in Claymore), Miki Shinichirou (Lockon Stratos in Gundam 00), and Inoue Kazuhiko (Hatake Kakashi in Naruto). Production-wise, Animax’s broadcast leaves a lot to be desired, but I’m more concerned about the level of quality MADHOUSE will be able to maintain with six shows under their belt this season, all of which air in the middle of the week (Tue-Wed). (Hopefully Casshern Sins doesn’t suffer.) Aside from that, there were already some minor changes to the plot in this first episode, but all the key occurrences were retained as per the manga. Music-wise, this is probably the first series I’ve ever seen that features a song which is literally nothing but ear-damaging NOISE, making me wonder why in the world “SYSTEMATIC PEOPLE” was chosen for the opening theme. If they were hoping to convey a sense of chaos with this song, I think they could’ve done so without making me reach for the mute button almost immediately. Luckily the ending theme “Hanarebanare” (Scattered) is a lot better, but I can’t say I’m a huge fan of it either after a few listens.

Not being a huge fan of extremely gory anime, I can’t say I’m inclined to continue following this one. However, this series is only slated for a short, twelve episode run, so I might be able to stomach that if I choose to do so. For everyone else, if lots of bloody action devoid of much else is your kind of thing, KUROZUKA might be a show worth keeping your eye on this season.

 

Notable Cast:
– Gen Kurou (Minamoto Yoshitsune) (源 九朗 (源 義経)) : Miyano Mamoru (宮野 真守)
– Kuromitsu (黒蜜) : Paku Romi (朴 璐美)
– Yamato Bou (Musashibou Benkei) (大和 坊 (武蔵坊 弁慶)) : Nakata Jouji (中田 譲治)
– Rai (ライ) : Kuwashima Houko (桑島 法子)
– Karuta (歌留多) : Fujiwara Keiji (藤原 啓治)
– Arashiyama (嵐山) : Miki Shinichirou (三木 眞一郎)
– Kyuuen (久遠) : Irino Miyu (入野 自由)
– Izana (居座魚) : Inoue Kazuhiko (井上 和彦)
– Hasegawa (長谷川) : Ookawa Tooru (大川 透)
– Kurumasou (車僧) : Ginga Banjou (銀河 万丈)
– Saniwa (沙仁輪) : Fujita Toshiko (藤田 淑子)
– Kagetsu (花月) : Yamagata Kaori (山像 かおり)
– Tonba (トンバ) : Uo Ken (魚 建)
– Man in Black (黒づくめの男) : Takiguchi Junpei (滝口 順平)

28 Comments

  1. ooo a dark anime. im not a highly fan of such either, so i usually wait for a couple of episodes to watch them in bulk, so i dont have to suffer from any crazy cliffhangers. its kinda like Blade of Immortal, but different story, and not too much about sword fighting.

    Chimasternmay
  2. lol i just read this.

    “However, this series is only slated for a short, twelve episode run, so I might be able to *stomach* that if I choose to do so”.

    and yea i was thinking the same thing.

    Chimasternmay
  3. I’m actually thinking of watching this, but since you said they somewhat altered it from the manga, I wonder if it has to do with continuity…I had trouble following the storyline from the first volume X_X

    Kazuhide Aeiji
  4. whoa whoa… Maximum the Hormone? xD

    haven’t heard those guys since Death Note…

    thanks as always Divine. ^^ it’s so much easier to know which animes to watch after seeing these snapshots. xD

    AznCoffee
  5. personally I thought the substitution of sex scenes actually made the love story make more sense. I remember reading the manga and wondering why the two leads liked each other since it seemed like they were just in it for the sex. I think it was a lot more intimate in the anime. So far the atmosphere is great, and I’m actually pretty pleased with the character designs. Hope the producers don’t just focus on action and actually give some character development.

    heddeic
  6. Wow, i just had to pause it after the opening.
    Not only MtH which I havent seen since Death Note (a tragedy IMO since they`re such a great band and I think more animes should have deathmetal/hard rock openings and endings)
    but wow, the opening really looks like Death Note`s 2nd…
    I mean, watch ‘What`s up, people?’ opening of death note and then watch this opening.
    many of the effects,clips, and timing is incredibly similar.

    Tara
  7. I’m excited about this because Paku Romi is my favorite seiyuu <3. She may be well known for her boy genius roles but she has an amazing range. I can’t name the number of shows I’ve seen just to listen to her voice.

    Hikari
  8. I’ll beat this Omni Fangirl for you Divine *_______*
    (I wish you’re a boy and not a girl as well xD)

    So… Waoh, I’ll make a try with this anime, it looks very good for me. And the OP, I looove that Song 😀

    Thanks for this Snapshot Divine my hero *________*

    Mabo

    Divine FanGirl
  9. I don’t think that’s Maximum the Hormone in the opening song. On another site it’s listed as:

    ‘SYSTEMATIC PEOPLE’ by WAGDUG FUTURISTIC UNITY

    And if you go to that band’s official site they have the song playing.

    Tori
  10. Tori:
    Yup, I have it listed as by “WAGDUG FUTURISTIC UNITY” above (it’s just kind of hard to notice when it’s on two lines). The song features Maximum Ryou from Maximum the Hormone as listed in the title.

    “SYSTEMATIC PEOPLE (featuring Maximum Ryou (Maximum the Hormone))” by WAGDUG FUTURISTIC UNITY.

  11. Worst OP I’ve ever heard. Otherwise I like the new art…more “realistic” and dark compared to the manga. Story so far is uncomprehensive…just as I found out when reading the manga.

    -D

    Dan
  12. iv read the manga of this, was pretty good. dont know how they will compress into 12 episodes, but hoping for the best.
    watched the first episode of this… animation looks really promising, smooth and well choreogrpahed fight scenes.
    maybe a decent martial arts/action anime has come out for once.

    but… why cut out sex and keep peoples arms etc being lopped off!?!? ,__,

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