A ronin (samurai turned bandit) murders a group of samurai and takes away their money. A couple happens to come by, forcing the ronin to kill them as well. The ensuing commotion brings out the Shinsegumi to investigate the matter. To avoid detection, the ronin runs towards the woods where he eventually finds himself in Kuromitsu's hut.
murder and mayhem...my cup of tea
After introducing himself as Izo, the ronin demands food and shelter from Kuromitsu. The woman unflinchingly does as he asks, a fact which unnerves Izo somewhat. Kuromitsu gives her standard warning about her room. But even before she can finish, Izo falls down unconscious. He wakes up hours later to a strange sound.
Izo is horrified to see Kuromitsu in her room, sharpening a sword and talking to a decapitated head. What's worse is that the head resembles the man that he has slain earlier. The head appears to be fully conscious. Just then, Kuromitsu turns towards the door and looks straight at Izo.
and the psychobabble begins
The next moment, Izo finds himself in a strange place. A masked man is questioning him, asking for his name. Izo realizes that he is not Izo but Benkei. However, the masked man corrects him, saying that he is Kuro. Benkei refuses to believe this at first until the masked man forces him to look at his own reflection: his face is Kuro's.
The masked man then asks him about Kuromitsu. Kuro admits to lusting after her almost on first sight. Next, the masked man asks about Benkei. Kuro seems to believe that Benkei has run away with Kuromitsu. Finally, the masked man asks him for his name. Kuro immediately answers that he is Kuro, but to his surprise, the masked man again corrects him, saying that he is Benkei. When Benkei next wakes up, he finds himself in yet another strange place where three masked men welcome him as their leader.
the turning
Back in the forest, Kuromitsu drinks Kuro's blood. Kuro is thinking that he feels no pain from having his blood sucked. As a matter of fact, he feels the opposite of pain. Afterwards, Kuromitsu makes him drink her blood as well, saying that this is how she herself became immortal.
After the deed is done, Kuro lays Kuromitsu down on the ground. He notices that she is crying. When asked why, she answers that even though she wants Kuro to be her companion, she fears that she might have cursed him for life.
blood for blood
Kuro assures her that she has nothing to fear. However, as soon as he says this, he suddenly feels something awful happening to his body. Kuromitsu tells him that his body is starting to change and that the pain will soon go away. While Kuro writhes in agony, their pursuers from the night before finally spots them. Kuro gets slashed right across one shoulder while Kuromitsu gets pinned on a tree with a sword in her stomach. The masked man then steps forward, revealing that he knows about Kuromitsu's immortality.
It turns out the masked man wants to know the secret to Kuromitsu's immortality. While he tortures her for the answers, the samurai with him do not notice Kuro starting to recover from his wounds.
new-born vampire
Kuro, at first, seems out of it. However, when he sees Kuromitsu, he recognizes her and his memories return. He turns on the samurai with extreme rage, literally ripping them apart with his bare hands.
After he makes short work of all the warriors, Kuro goes to help Kuromitsu, who just warns him not to move. She says that he is not yet "complete," their blood not having completely mixed yet. Hearing this, Kuro realizes that his newfound powers are from his blood commingled with her immortal blood. However, unknown to both of them, the masked man overhears this vital piece of information. He tries to attack Kuromitsu, intending to drink her blood. But before he can get to her, someone cuts off his head and sends it flying.
betrayal
The rescuer is none other Benkei. Seeing his trusted servant, Kuro is much relieved. It turns out Benkei only recently discovered what happened and set out at once to look for the two of them in the forest. He suggests that they should leave the forest at once. Kuromitsu knows a secret way out of the woods but before she can show it to them, she notices the strange mark on the back of Benkei's hand. She tries to warn Kuro about it, but she is too late as Benkei swings his sword down, decapitating Kuro.
The next moment, Kuro wakes up in the middle of the forest. As he slowly makes his way out of the woods, he remembers Kuromitsu. He then finds himself on a cliff, overlooking a vast city in ruins.
COMMENTS:
I love this pic of Kuromitsu. So cool.
Ok, so the timelines are beginning to change. If you got confused just from that, get ready to get even more confused. Anyhoo, it helps if you know a little Japanese history. Obviously, the first scene with Izo in it is during the Bakumatsu, judging from the appearance of the Shinsengumi. That sets Episode 01 probably centuries earlier, likely during the Sekigahara period as it talks about warring clans.
Izo is probably Benkei's reincarnation, which makes him a villain in the story. Funny, I don't remember Benkei being this important in the manga. And I don't remember that conversation between Benkei and the masked man.
The masked man is not an immortal but he is a recurring character throughout the different timelines in the story. So again...probably a reincarnation. He is driven by his lust for immortality, which makes him chase after Kuromitsu again and again and in so doing, force her and Kuro apart again and again.
The stick bodies of Kuro and Kuromitsu are hilarious. The artists should try to flesh them out a little.
But the action scenes are pretty good. They're short but solid. Surprisingly, the neon effects aren't as bad as I thought they were. They actually make Kuro look cooler.
It seems Shinsen-Subs is the only group doing this series. Although they are one of the best groups out there, IMHO, they are also one of the slowest. I'm hoping some other group will decide to pick it up to move the pace along. I do like this series even though it's not likely going to be very popular.
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