(L) Shura no Toki

[Spaceghost]

erm....James Bond? I don't really have anything to say about that apart from WTF!?

[dreamless]

Originally Posted by Spaceghost

erm....James Bond? I don't really have anything to say about that apart from WTF!?

err... when I say James Bond I actually mean sickening womanizer

[boneyjellyfish]

Yeah, I was rather annoyed when Mutsu started saying all of those things to er... what's her name again? Kitsumaru or something like htat?

I thought the CG was pretty lame, but I'll give it a few more episodes before I judge it completely.

[bobofet]

wow. thats my first impression. wow.

I just saw the 1st ep of this, it's got great potential as a fighting series. Although the action in the 1st ep wasn't spectacular blow-your-breath-away, i have a feeling it'll pick up soon. I highly recommend ppl who like fighting, martial arts, samurai, kenshin, etc type to watch this. It's got potential that PMK failed to live up. My intuition tells me that because it's on tv tokyo, it's gotta begood ^_^


but ^_^ really needs to start subbing the next episode previews....those should not be skipped..

[a_nevels666]

Originally Posted by dreamless

err... when I say James Bond I actually mean sickening womanizer

I didn't get the impression he's a womanizer at all. I think he supposed to be more of a carefree speak-his-mind type of guy.

[Dagger]

Originally Posted by bobofet

It's got potential that PMK failed to live up. My intuition tells me that because it's on tv tokyo, it's gotta begood ^_^


but ^_^ really needs to start subbing the next episode previews....those should not be skipped..

So.... as a huge PMK fan, should I try to avoid this series? :/

But in any case, I agree with you about the previews. I don't need karaoke, but those are pretty much essential.

[tamago-desu]

if you liked pmk, you probably want to get this series... as for me.. any samurai series catches my interest... gotta love swords <3..!

[a_nevels666]

Originally Posted by tamago-desu

gotta love swords <3..!

That's kind of ironic, because the main character uses unarmed combat.

[SwiftStar]

Originally Posted by a_nevels666

I didn't get the impression he's a womanizer at all. I think he supposed to be more of a carefree speak-his-mind type of guy.

I didnt get the sickening womanizer vibe either. He may be completely devoid of tact but I dont think he means ill. I think that he, like the old bodyguard, may feel that her masquerading isnt good for her. In his own thick way, he is probably trying to help. I could be wrong. I am interested in seeing more. Any show with Musashi and a member of the Yagyu clan in the first ep gets the thumbs up in my book.

[Jn183]

This series caught my interest so I will be looking forward for it, hopefully, weekly. Also, it's one of the new series that fit my taste. A lil of comedy, action, and somewhat fantasy/oldie setting. BTW, I was glad that Ka*something*maru was a girl. Thought at first he was going to be like okita from PMK.

[Danodare]

Could anyone explain the title to me ? I am a student of japanese and I am at a loss

修羅の刻

first two kanjis, "shura": some kind of fighting demon in the buddhist lore ? Purely phonetic compound ? Or does it actually relate to the meaning of the kanjis ? Something like learning, sifting through a fine silk gauze ?

陸奥

"mutsu": no idea what that is. Deep in the country ?

圓明

"enmei": no idea what that is. Round clarity ? Historical period ?

外伝

"gaiden": I thought it meant foreign legend, but since the anime takes place in Japan...

Any help is welcome . If it's not the right place to ask, please tell me where to post this kind of question,
Danodare

[MrBrown]

Originally Posted by Danodare

修羅の刻

first two kanjis, "shura": some kind of fighting demon in the buddhist lore ? Purely phonetic compound ? Or does it actually relate to the meaning of the kanjis ? Something like learning, sifting through a fine silk gauze ?

修羅 【しゅら】 (n) fighting; scene of carnage;

I'm sure there's a fancy reason why these two kanjis mean this together, but don't ask me.

Originally Posted by Danodare

陸奥

"mutsu": no idea what that is. Deep in the country ?

Just the guys name, I think.

Originally Posted by Danodare

圓明

"enmei": no idea what that is. Round clarity ? Historical period ?

Also a name, maybe?

Originally Posted by Danodare

外伝

"gaiden": I thought it meant foreign legend, but since the anime takes place in Japan...

I think gaiden means side story. Never heard of it meaning foreign stories, but could be.


I don't have the manga at hand so not 100% sure on anything.

[Zyan]

Originally Posted by Danodare

Could anyone explain the title to me ? I am a student of japanese and I am at a loss

修羅の刻

first two kanjis, "shura": some kind of fighting demon in the buddhist lore ? Purely phonetic compound ? Or does it actually relate to the meaning of the kanjis ? Something like learning, sifting through a fine silk gauze ?

修羅 is the abbreviated form of 阿修羅, which means Asura (or Ashura). It is some kind of demon in Indian mythology. Buddhism borrowed the term.

[dreamless]

修羅 Shura, sura, asura, one of the eight Buddhist guardian gods who was a blood-thirsty fighting demon before being converted to Buddhism. Also the name of one of the six realms in the Buddhist world view, a blood-drenched world of constant war and struggle.

圓明 round and clear, I guess it's just a fancy name which sounds good for a martial arts school, as both "round" and "clear" are important concepts for martial arts. round movements are said to be the perfect movements in martial arts, and kai flows in round circles inside humans. And those who practice martial arts shall strive for clear mind and clear heart. So the "round and clear school" sounds nice to be a name of martial arts school... not that it has much real meaning anyway...

外伝 side story, sometimes a collection of non-official stories, so it implies that these stories are just some folklore-like unofficial stories not recorded in the official history of the "mutsu enmei school".

[Danodare]

Thanks a lot

I do actually have the 漢検漢字辞典. (japanese-japanese kanji dictionary)

But I dont understand some of the definitions. In particular, the shura/ashura definition was murky at best to me.

I was thinking about Kenshin where 飛天御剣流 actually means something.

陸奥圓明流 doesnt seem to be as straightforward.

What confused me in particular was that there is actually a definition in my dictionary for 陸奥. Even though I don't understand it yet!

Some day I'll understand it all
-Danodare

[^_^]

The word Shura is most commonly used as "carnage, chaos, war, battle"

[chamelean75]

I saw this anime. It looks really good.

[whatever123]

i enjoyed this episode thanx ^_^ for the nice work but i would appreciate it even more if you subbed the preview

nice action i liked the main character but what i like even more is the presence of musashi i hope they keep true to his legend in that he won't lose to anyone

[Yebyosh]

Originally Posted by Danodare

Thanks a lot

I do actually have the 漢検漢字辞典. (japanese-japanese kanji dictionary)

But I dont understand some of the definitions. In particular, the shura/ashura definition was murky at best to me.

I was thinking about Kenshin where 飛天御剣流 actually means something.

陸奥圓明流 doesnt seem to be as straightforward.

What confused me in particular was that there is actually a definition in my dictionary for 陸奥. Even though I don't understand it yet!

Some day I'll understand it all
-Danodare

It doesn't have to be a descriptive title. A style of martial arts can also be named after its founder. In this case, the 陸奥圓明流 is simply Mutsu Enmei's Style of fighting.

^_^ tried some liberal translation by calling it 'chaotic' instead, which is wrong.

And 修羅の刻 can be translated here as "Time of the Shuras" where Shura is the manifestation of above-mentioned fighting 'buddhas'. This sub-title is used for this anime because Miyamoto Musashi is entitled as a "Shura" here by his peers for his prowess. They are making this anime seem to be a supreme fight between the "Shuras"

Personally after watching the first episode, I am not too impressed with this series. Partly because I am not too pleased with how Musashi is depicted in it. The story & plot is cliched and the fights were not so interesting as to distinguish it from most other anime series I have seen.

And yes it is based off a manga series.

[dreamless]

Originally Posted by Yebyosh

It doesn't have to be a descriptive title. A style of martial arts can also be named after its founder. In this case, the 陸奥圓明流 is simply Mutsu Enmei's Style of fighting.

^_^ tried some liberal translation by calling it 'chaotic' instead, which is wrong.

And 修羅の刻 can be translated here as "Time of the Shuras" where Shura is the manifestation of above-mentioned fighting 'buddhas'. This sub-title is used for this anime because Miyamoto Musashi is entitled as a "Shura" here by his peers for his prowess. They are making this anime seem to be a supreme fight between the "Shuras"

Personally after watching the first episode, I am not too impressed with this series. Partly because I am not too pleased with how Musashi is depicted in it. The story & plot is cliched and the fights were not so interesting as to distinguish it from most other anime series I have seen.

And yes it is based off a manga series.

actually, Mutsu Enmei is not someone's name in this case, Mutsu 陸奥 is a place name I think (which consists of the four prefectures, Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori today) and Enmei 圓明 is just something that sounds cool.

So I think 陸奥圓明流 is a martial arts style that originated from the Mutsu region as hinted in the first episode (it's also the main protagonist's family name... well, it's common that people's family name is the same name of the place they live in). It's somewhat like 柳生新陰流 Yagyu Shinkage ryu, where Yagyu 柳生 in this case is a family name, while Shinkage 新陰 is something that sounds cool. And there are other Enmei styles and Shinkage styles that are not Mutsu Enmei or Yagyu Shinkage styles.

This series so far (2 episodes) is strictly average for me...

Also I don't think the "Shura" in "Shura no Toki" means Musashi here, rather it means the Mutsu Enmei style, the rumored most ruthless and bloody and deadly fighting skill in the world, that it only concerns itself with the efficiency to kill people, and doesn't mind of playing dirty or unfair, that its only purpose is to defeat and kill opponents. However this is not really that apparent in the first two episodes...