First Impression: Kurozuka

I was quite excited about Kurozuka, albeit my enthusiasm came a bit late in the game. I admit, I wasn't too sold on the idea at first but once I figured that Paku Romi (Nana, Fullmetal Alchemist, Bleach) was gonna be on it, I thought I'd at least give it a try. I also admit that it helps that it's Madhouse doing the animation. That said, Madhouse has quite a number of series going this season, doesn't it?
Kurozuka 01: The Plane of Adachi-ga-hara
OP: SYSTEMATIC PEOPLE (WAGDUG FUTURISTIC UNITY featuring MAXIMUM THE RYO-KUN) [4shared]
ED: Hanarebanare (Shigi) [4shared]
The time is 12th century Japan during the Kamakura period. Kuro is a swordsman of noble family who is on the run from his enemies, including his own brother. With him is his faithful servant, Benkei, who seems ready to lay down his own life to save that of his master. While hiding on a mountain, they stumble upon a house owned by a mysterious woman named Kuromitsu. When Kuro and Kuromitsu meet, the attraction is instant, but there is more to this woman than meets the eye.
The OP theme, WAGDUG FUTURISTIC UNITY by SYSTEMATIC PEOPLE is an angry, scratchy punk-rock number that reflects the violent setting and the dark undertones this series is set up for. And Kurozuka is dark, make no mistake about that, if the title and the names of the characters are any indication -- kuro means "black." In contrast, the ED theme, Hanarebanare by Shigi, is a passionate number, riddled with blood-red emotions.

I must say, both songs are fantastic choices for this anime. On one hand, we've got this song that speaks of the violence and the gore that Kurozuka has to offer. On the other, we've got the love story part, because Kurozuka is a love story.
Kurozuka is the title of a noh play. Its theme is about finding love and losing it all too soon and then spending eternity looking for it. In Buddhism, it's called "en" -- the threads of time. This Kurozuka will take that idea...literally. With some interesting modifications, of course, courtesy of modern fiction plot devices. To be more precise, vampires.
Before watching this series, I read the manga. Why, yes, this anime is indeed based on a manga of the same name by Baku Yumemakura. However, by the second volume, I had to drop it, because the gore and the gratuitous sex scenes turned me off. Not that I have anything serious against those (heh ~) but it was all just too quick and too sudden for me to process. One minute, the characters are talking and then the next they're naked and doing the nasty together, leaving me totally, "HUH?"

That and because I wasn't too impressed by the art. I didn't like the characters' faces, although everything else was great. But you see, I'm a "face" person and the faces of Kuromitsu and Kuro and all the other characters for that matter didn't appeal to me. In fact, the only reason I got as far as Volume 2 is that I kept hoping the art would grow on me, the way Claymore did, but sadly, it did not.
But that is not to say that I dislike the art of the anime version. Whoever designed the characters of Kurozuka improved the original idea of Baku Yumemakura. The characters look better, IMHO. However, the transition from manga to anime is not without a price. It's not that surprising. The same thing actually happened with Blade of the Immortal.

But while BeeTrain compensated for Blade of the Immortal by using a lot of earthy tones and shadow and light play, Kurozuka doesn't have that to its advantage. Instead, it lapses into neon colors that look like it's some throwback of some long forgotten disco era. If you've read the manga, you will definitely notice the downgrade in the anatomical details of the dead random guy that Kuromitsu feeds on. Also, the anime seems afraid of portraying Kuromitsu as other than beautiful. The manga does not have the same inhibitions -- she is inhuman, after all, so there we see her in all her beautiful, terrible glory.
I do like that the love story between Kuromitsu and Kuro is as straightforward as can be without necessarily slapping it in your face by shocking you in the next scene with the two copulating in the most uncomfortable place imaginable. I mean, sex is fine, really. But while I was reading the manga, I really felt like it was unnecessary. It made their supposedly ethereal love seem pedestrian by contrast.

So in Kurozuka, they improved on that by reducing the manifestation of their physical attraction to just a kiss (and maybe some frantic groping). Albeit it still felt random, if you ask me.
I love the action scenes. And the violence. And the pretty, pretty blood. And the random flying severed limbs. Ahhh ~

The first scene actually shows a dystopic landscape with Kuro leaping over collapsing buildings. When he lands, he's in the middle of a forest and it's a different timeline. He's on the run from pursuers, gets cornered in the next bend, and what follows next is fantastic action sequence that will leave you breathless. Imagine something from Blade of the Immortal without the wailing cat drowning in its own piss in the background. Of course, there are some physics-defying movements (you can't not expect that sort of thing in an anime) but my eyes were pleased.
Kurozuka has a lot of possibility, which is why even though I dropped the manga, I still looked forward to the anime version. The first episode did not disappoint. The voice acting alone would have gotten me. Superb work by the seiyuu, especially Romi Paku, who made Kuromitsu sound inhuman in a kind of sexy, scary way. The charaters speak in near whispers a lot of times. That's already unusual in a genre where everybody seems to sound nasal and high-toned. Add to that the eventual shift in timeline. If all goes well for this series, it's going to be one hell of a ride.

MORE INFO:

Animax OFFICIAL Site (JPN)
BS11 OFFICIAL Site
Madhouse OFFICIAL Site (JPN)
Series Info (Anime News Network)
WATCH OP Clip