Kurozuka
 

Plot Summary from ANN: Kuro, a 12th-century man, flees into the mountains after losing to his brother, where he meets a strange, beautiful woman named Kuromitsu. Kuro falls in love with Kuromitsu but realizes she conceals a dark secret. She is unable to die and continues to live for thousands of years as Japan evolves into a future society.

Based on a manga written by Baku Yumemakura and drawn by Takashi Noguchi.

Episodes: 12

Staff

Director: Tetsuro Araki
Series Composition: Tetsuro Araki
Original creator: Baku Yumemakura
Character Design: Masanori Shino
Chief Animation Director: Masanori Shino

Vocal Cast

Mamoru Miyano as Kuro
Romi Paku as Kuromitsu
Jouji Nakata as Yamato Bo
Houko Kuwashima as Rai
Keiji Fujiwara as Karata
Shinichirou Miki as Ranzan


I was surprised no thread for this was made so I decided to quickly make one up, I watched the first episode raw and the action scenes were rather impressive though I hope they don't overuse the special effects for the,. The VA cast is to die for and while I'm not happy with the manga to anime character design changes I can live with it... though I have to say the OP is just flat out horrible.

Tried reading the manga once before but couldn't get past the 3rd volume 'cos the continuously sudden forward and backward timeskips made my eyes go all spirally. I just couldn't put the events that happen within into perspective and when it came to the third volume and I was still plagued by the inability, I decided it was time to give it up. While the plot's got me interested enough, the mangaka's storytelling style definitely isn't something that's up my alley.

Gonna youtube the anime to see if it's isn't easier for my head to stomach.

p/s: From the picture you posted, Kuro...doesn't look very much like Kuro, does he? He looks like Spike Spiegel and Jubei's love child or something.

I watched the first episode, then I remembered Blade of the Immortal. This thought alone made my blood boil with an overwhelming rage, "OH WHY WAS IT BEE TRAIN??". From the first episode alone, Kurozuka, imo, shows what BoTI could have been in other hands. I liked it, and I hope the quality keep up all along the series. I guess I must trust the director? After all, he made Death Note, that delivered imo.

I just found amusing that the character design of the anime sort of mirror the designs of works by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, one of my favorite directors.

I loved the manga version of this, though it was a bit confusing at times with the time slips.

12 episodes dosent really seem enough to do the series justice though IMO. I hope they're only doing half of the manga, with a potential season two to finish it off. Otherwise i can see more people getting confused rather than enjoying it.

Oh, and here's the manga covers :)



Has any group announced this as a fansub?

As long they fix the crappy ass ending the manga had. It just ends... think Halo 2 type of ending. Sort of leaves you hanging saying to yourself "that it!?" :twitch:

Hmm...I can hardly see a trace of the original mangaka's style. Can't say the anime art doesn't have its own appeal, though...

...and Paku-san's voice is teh smex. =)~~ Her combo is with Mamo-san is smokin'~~~not that the story isn't engaging, but even if it wasn't, I'd watch it for their voices alone. And the action sequences, too. They're very stylishly executed.

Thanks for the thread, Westlo. I was just watching this show out of wanting to see all the first episodes. Imagine my surprise when I realized I thought it was one of the best of the season.

The story works for me, so far. The relationship developed quickly, but was powerful nevertheless. The action scenes were great. The voice acting was sublime. Especially Paku-san, but Mamo-chan was terrific, too. Add Nakata Jouji and you've got a great sound.

I loved the look, but then again I have not read the manga, so there's nothing I have to compare it with.

I actually thought the OP was the best of the season so far. It's not a style of music that's to everyone's taste, but it was done well. And the initial noh-style music is to hardly anyone's taste, but I loved it.

We'll see where the story goes from here. I generally don't like these artsy violent shows, but this one really reached me.

The manga works better if you just ignore all the time skips until the cyberpunk, then take out the sex and keep it as a simple action series.

Another unexpectedly good series from this season :)

ep1

Haven't seen it yet... but really want to. I hope there is a lot of action, cause the last few seasons haven't had a lot of that.

I can say Kaoru isn't crazy in any way. It has indeed been an exceptional first episode from these array of new shows.

The mood, the atmosphere, the drawing, the coloring, the background, the music, the animated motion, and the voice acting (Mamoru Miyano and Romi Paku are the two note-worthy mention)... everything simply comes together. If I had to rate the first episode, I would rate it 9/10 without any reservation, and I hardly ever rate a first episode more than an 8. Okay.. I know I'm full of it, but it's true. :heh:

What I get from the synopsis is that the story is actually a love-story that spans a thousand years. No wonder some of the posts from the thread suggest the event in the manga is all over the place in terms of chronological continuity. When a time-scale spans such incredible distance, the continuity for chronological perception becomes unimportant. The only thing a story such as this can focus on are those special highlights that will reinforce the theme of the show. It can mean a jump from 50 years to 500 years, then to 100 years.. and etc.

I'm so very impressed with the first episode. :) Btw, did I ever mention that my very first anime in Japanese language was Ninja Scroll? This show is nostalgic. Some screens:

http://d.imagehost.org/t/0288/thumbs20081009133003.jpg

Finally! A show that isn't all about mechs, harems, wimpy boys, strong girls, and all the other crap that has been coming out the past couple years. I love these old japanese era setting animes too. The show does remind me of Ninja Scroll, even the main character, which is so damn cool. I can't wait to watch the rest, too bad it's only 12 episodes....i hope that's season one.

oh the anime is different from the manga, in a good way i think.

looks interesting

I finished the manga recently. And I will probably not watch Kurozuka. But I will atleast check the ending because anythign could do better than what the manga had to offer.
I mean it kind of cuts off. Maybe something was been accomplished at the end, but there were a couple threads left hanging.

It got subbed. Hooray!

About fcking time.

Wow, this turned out a lot better than I expected. Minus points for gratuitous use of 3D and speed lines/blurs, but otherwise it's very well done. They did change the character designs, which was a bit jarring, but I suppose the world-weary Kuromitsu voice doesn't match the wide-eyed design in the manga. (I'm imagining a yandere C.C. Do not want.)

I found the manga fairly gripping for the most part (genre: stylized violence), but the denouement was lacking. The narrative kinda petered out. By keeping the anime to 12 eps they may be able to tighten the narrative and keep it compelling to the end.

I also wasn't aware that it takes elements from a Noh play. Makes sense in retrospect. The use of masks in this episode is quite effective.

Well, this is one of the series that keeps me watching the first episode of every new show. Had I not done so, this jewel would have slipped past me.

Great screenplay, great action sequences, the atmosphere is excellent - which can also be credited to the voice acting! Not knowing the manga, I must say that from the covers shown above, I find the anime art much more appealing. However, not to start any argument here: to each his own!

Looking forward to this, and may check back here frequently if questions concerning the storyline should arise (there seem to be quite a few manga readers about).

I just watched the subbed first episode. Wow. I hope the quality stays this high.

Same here. Past Madhouse titles with this amount of good animation kept the quality pretty much until the end, so i don't see why this show can't do the same.

Very impressive first episode. The highlight for me was Paku's beautiful voice for the mysterious Kuromitsu. I'm liking her character a lot, and can not wait to see more from her.

Such a beautiful setting though. The colors bring it all to life.

Something else that has me quite interested was the city in ruins that we see at the start of the episode. If both Kuromitsu and Kurou are going to live as immortals, then i wonder if we'll see the two in a more present setting.

What I get from the synopsis:



Be warned the synopsis reveals quite a lot about the plot points.

As for if Madhouse can keep up with the quality, I think they should be able to maintain the quality to this level consistently considering the show is slated for 12 episodes. I've come to appreciate one-cur series for the very same reason. The second episode raw should come out any minute. :)