Shikabane Hime: Kuro

A direct continuation of Shikabane Hime: Aka, taking place six months after Tagami Keisei's death at the hands of the Akasha and Shichisei (Seven Stars), a group of elite Shikabane who act on more than just regrets. As per Keisei's dying wish, Kagami Oori formed a temporary contract with Makina to save her from degenerating into a mere Shikabane. Since then, Oori has been training to become a proper monk so that he can remain contracted to Makina and help her fight against the Shichisei, the ones who originally killed Makina, the entire Hoshimura family, and now Keisei. However, the traitorous monk Shishidou Akasha has sided with the Shichisei in an attempt to destroy all Shikabane Himes and the entire monk organization that uses them, the Kougon Sect. Source: AnimeNewsNetwork.com


The Kuro series is different from Aka in the sense that Aka took its time to develop the characters and had Shikabane Himes fight other random Shikabanes not related to the main plot. But in Kuro, it pretty much starts off knocking down members of Shichisei one by one. This made the battles felt more personal and that definitely makes it more interesting. However, even with the strong plot, battles felt uninspired as it was done with rather mediocre animation which, I’m glad to say, did improve later on in the series. Thankfully, the story gets interesting as the focus is now on the battle between Shichisei and everyone else.
There were actually a lot of parts where I got really irritated by Makina, which was later revealed that it was all part of a certain plot or plan which is actually very well scripted. I should have known better before hitting the hate button.
Akasha just plays a very interesting villain. His hate is well justified and his character is well explored. Definitely the most interesting character since a while now. Even his past was more interesting than Oori’s.

During the first few episodes, Makina’s negativity really tested Oori for his resilience to remain as her Contracted Priest as she still couldn’t let go of Keisei. And Makina running amok didn’t help things between Oori and Kougonshuu either.
Episode 8 and everything about Oori’s past starts unveiling itself. And finally the cat revealed its true nature. Kudos on finally making use of the cat and giving it a well thought-out role to play. Well, it had to be a role of certain significance after all that tagging along.
For what felt like an exciting plot already, I didn’t expect the ending to be able to get every more exciting. And finally upon reaching episode 12, Congrats! You are now left hanging! It ended in the middle of a battle. Just like that! -_-“ PppfFFfffTTttt… However, I remember reading somewhere about episode 13 coming out in August. So be patient and cross your fingers hoping it will be worth the wait.
And now, the issue which always ticks off a nerve or two in me. Some of the characters proportions are getting crazier by the episodes. You would expect Kougonshuu to be wiped out by now seeing how they seem to only contract Shikabanes with insanely huge stuffs (think Itsuki, Fresh, Minai) instead of more “combat friendly” figured Shikabanes (think Saki). Hmm… I just thought of this, but the most “decent” sized figure belongs to Saki and her contracted priest is the only female in Kougonshuu. Coincidence? I think not. Now what does that tell you about Kougonshuu and how farked up their priests are? “Enlightment” my arse.


Initially Shikabane Hime: Aka started off with a bang. But halfway along the series, the tempo was lost and I couldn’t feel the enthusiasm. Then Shikabane Hime: Kuro came. Sure it starts off with the main battles right away, but still it didn’t feel motivated. Halfway through the Kuro series and things really starts to pick up a notch. I really enjoyed the plot and script from the second half of the series on, things were unpredictable and kept me on the edge of my seat. Now if only the rumored 13th episode comes out sooner before I lose the flame.


Shikabane Hime: Kuro
Rating: 5-Stars
Torrents: Tomodachi

Shikabane Hime: Aka

Oori is an orphan who was raised by Keisei, a man he considers to be his older brother. One night, Oori finds a strange wounded girl in the temple of the orphanage. Cold and covered in scars, Oori 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 heals the girl without explanation, Oori 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 Oori continually meet this girl as she hunts monsters? What does Keisei have to do with it all and what exactly is her mission? Source: Anime-planet.com



First episode and already I was confident that this series would be oozing with action. All I could hope for was that it will have a solid plot to go with it. And I was glad it did, though it wasn’t apparent for the first 5 episodes. Character introduction was a little abrupt with characters appearing non-stop out of nowhere so I had to be a little creative with my imagination and assigned them roles which I thought they would play. Only during later episodes will things be better explained.


The down-toned and pale choice of colors didn’t really sit well with me. I would have sat by it but it was used too much to feint ignorance. The dark range of palette did, however, successfully bring out a sense of spiritual mystery throughout the series. The soft outlines made it feel a little old skool. Seeing it was “just” a 13 episode series, it was safe to assume that the animation would be on par throughout the episodes except the sudden change in style and only in episode 5. For a moment I went “Huh?”


Episode 1 and 2 showed the typical “kill a monster an episode” format which didn’t give me much confidence at the beginning. I also couldn’t help but speculate that the cat haunting Oori is another “Yoruichi” (from Bleach) in the making. The cat and how it’s linked with Oori was really what kept me going through the first few episodes in the series. It is not the main plot but it is definitely something that this anime couldn’t do without.
Episode 3 was another episode to episode killing. Episode 4 too, with the addition of a script where Shikei confessed to Oori about his mysterious injuries and Makina, his Shikabane Hime.
The sudden change of animation style in episode 5 was a little abrupt, especially obvious during the action scene which really surprised me. Unfortunately, that doesn’t feel like an improvement to me. I enjoyed the animation in the episodes before that way more. Luckily the later episodes reverted back to the previous drawing style.
As usual, it always takes me a while to feel attached to a title and in this case, episode 6 did it. The action scenes brought satisfaction and the plot thickens! Revealing more bits of background check on everyone and more importantly, Akasha. Got to give him a reason to be a hater… Right?
Episode 7 and the anime got all weird on me. What was going on between Isaki and Minai? And all of a sudden, comedy attempts? There was minimal comedy in the previous episodes but did they just decide to crank it up a notch from now on? Cause the increase in comedy attempts was really noticeable. I called it “attempts” because I didn’t find it funny.
The best this series had to offer was definitely what episode 8 was about. The action scenes got me all excited. The story touched my heart and felt heavy. This episode gave Shikabane Hime characters a lot more depth showing their capabilities of emotions on a higher level. Was a little heart wrenching though, killing off a character just when I was starting to get attached to her (Think biker chick).
Episode 10 and Bing! I pretty much knew how the last few episodes are going to turn out. That is, until I found out that there is another season following exactly right after this series. And boy… was I wrong, the ending was totally something I didn’t expect, making sure that I knew that there IS gonna be a second season (As of time of this review, second season is already out and until episode 12. Lol!)


Throughout the anime, the plots were quite predictable but I still enjoyed the way the story was told. Initially I had my doubts that, for a 13 episode series, there were way too many characters. I could actually name a few characters that could have been easily scripted around making their appearance rather redundant. But this is only applies before I watch the second season. So for now, hold that thought!


Shikabane Hime: Aka
Rating: 4-Stars
Torrents: UG-TMD-Teki