Okay, first off I want to say some non-kurozuka-related things, so just skip this paragraph and go down if you just want to read the review. There will be no more “Ging’s short…Reviews” anymore because I am lazy and can not keep up with my goals. Instead I am going to just do some reviews biweekly I hope completely randomly. I do, however, plan on doing more reviews recently. Oh well, we will see what happens. On to the Review…. Kurozuka is about a man named Kurou who meets a wonderful woman named Kuromitsu. One day he walks in on Kuromitsu playing with a decapitated head and he falls in love. Minutes later she is revealed as an immortal…thing. He winds up agreeing to also be an immortal thing, and then wakes up one thousand years in a post-apocalyptic future. His goal is to find Kuromitsu and live happily ever after. The problem that is found is that the evil red empire which seemed to be around back in the old ages is now a super power in the world and so Kurou meets up with some nifty new pals to help him get his beloved back.   The story of Kurozuka is actually about a real dude who was Minamoto no Yoshitsune who was said to have committed suicide. Kurozuka is apparently what really happened. The start of the anime shows him running about in the mountains and woodlands. He then meets Kuromitsu and yadda yadda. The execution of plot in the beginning is great, you are immediately pulled in to the story and are curious to see how everything plays out it the somewhat peculiar plot. Later you get the one thousand or so year lapse. New characters are introduced to help Kurou defeat his new enemy: the red empire which is shrouded in mystery, but is related to Kuromitsu somehow. New characters that assist Kurou include a blonde girl named Rai whom collects information, Kurata who is apparently decent at combat and drives the car, and Kuon, a standoff-ish white haired guy who is a great killer. I cared little for the characters but they do their job as anime characters so I was, at least, entertained. The story just progresses from there and builds up more mystery about Kuromitsu and the red empire while also providing the viewer with wonderful scenes of people being slashed to pieces. Unfortunately, the ending is bad in the sense that it is both disappointing and anti-climatic.   Visually, Kurozuka is amazing. Of the shows I have seen in 2008 it is the best animated show. The colors do a fantastic job capturing that monotone feel very well. The fight scenes are also visual bliss. The choreography was great and the over exaggeration of blood flying out was just enough to not be completely excessive. If you are curious as to just how great this animation is, check the opening on youtube. It is damned good. To say the least, I loved the animation   The musical scores used in Kurozuka also make for an astounding piece of work. The music wonderfully sets the tone for every single scene wonderfully. I can not say that the music is original though, it sounds like your normal background music, but this is forgivable because it is done very well. Besides, it is hard to do background music that differs from the norm in terms of style and allow it to work. The general dark atmosphere is definitely supported greatly by the wonderful music scores.   All in all, Kurozuka is a good show that is hindered by a poorly done ending. I would still recommend this show, however. I just wish to advise one to not expect a deep philosophical meaning behind the show or a great ending, which is what, In my opinion was the worst part of the show. It really ruined an experience. I would give it somewhere around 7.5/10 if I had to give it a rating. Good: Amazing animation, wonderful music, good start of story. Bad: Many characters were overly average, and uninteresting, ending sucked.
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