Kurozuka

[vspirit]

Spoiler for episode 10:

Is Kuon's body supposed to be eternal? If it is, Kuro should just slice his head clean off and park his own on the now empty spot and that'll get rid his need for centennial migration and solve his subsequent memory wipe problem once and for all. In one fell swoop, no less. Literally *chuckle*.

Great voicework by Irino-kun in this episode. I couldn't even tell it was the same person. He never sounded like that before. Not in any of the roles I've heard him in anyway. There's always a quality in his voice that allows you to tell it's him in all his roles so far but this is the first that it's absent. I actually thought original!Kuon was voiced by someone else until the credits proved me wrong. Impressive.

Was Kuon also in the manga originally? Never got far enough to find out.

[Deathkillz]

ep 11

Spoiler:

Oh my god, Rai...

Why did she have to die in such a way...and not only being stabbed so many times by that monster then getting stomped on, she ends up dying being shot in the head by Kuon?

That is too cruel for someone as cute as Rai ;____;

If only she was born in a different time period...

But Kuon has lost it, damn Kuromitsu where the heck is she. I bet she has some sadist nature where she enjoys seeing bloodshed because of her >.>

Not good...

[blewin]

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

ep 11

Spoiler:

Oh my god, Rai...

Why did she have to die in such a way...and not only being stabbed so many times by that monster then getting stomped on, she ends up dying being shot in the head by Kuon?

That is too cruel for someone as cute as Rai ;____;

If only she was born in a different time period...

But Kuon has lost it, damn Kuromitsu where the heck is she. I bet she has some sadist nature where she enjoys seeing bloodshed because of her >.>

Not good...

Spoiler for ep 11:

absolutely. What a horrible way to die, even worse than Karuta's. And Kuro was trying to save her too.

but Kuromitsu is still nowhere to be seen. I bet when she appears, she's gonna smile mysteriously and attempts to win Kuro over.

[Tyrone Biggums]

I liked the manga better...

[jayhellnice]

I liked the manga better

me to

Spoiler for manga:

beter love story if in the anime Kuromitsu is the bad guy then the anime sucks becuse in the manga she will do anything for Kuro

[Tyrone Biggums]

Spoiler for Manga:

Also Rai doesn't die...PERSAY...

[jayhellnice]

Spoiler for for manga:

rai is just a head i hope benki is the red e in the anime and not Kuromitsu but i have bad feeling she is in the anime lets hope i am rong becuse if she is they destoryed the love story

[Maciste]

I got the manga here, but didn't read it (yet).
I want to finish the anime first.
Is the show so far off the manga?

[Vexx]

@jayhellnice: If that change turns out to be the case it would be *extremely* disappointing to me. I suppose we'll see soon enough.

[Shiroth]

Spoiler for Episode 11:

I'll admit right now, i was very surprised by Rai's death. I didn't think she was going to be killed during the first fight, though how she died after that was just so sudden, i mean i totally forgot about Kuon at that point because i was totally focused on Kuro and his thoughts at the time. It was hurting me to watch her being stabbed during the first fight, though the headshot just added to that.

Still, the action was on top form this episode, especially Kuro vs Kuon. This show has truly been great eye candy right from the start.

Last episode looks like it'll be Kuromistu's time to shine, along with questions to be answered. At first they were such an amazing couple to see interact, the kind of love you just can't help but admire. I truly hope that doesn't end up being one big lie.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Did anyone else think "Bag End" when we first saw the doorway in Kagura Village?

You're not alone. Also, the "reception" inside the village was totally reminiscent of what awaited Frodo and company inside Khazad-dûm.

I'm late to the party, but the good news is that I get to finish eight episodes in a single day, with the final four to come soon. Kurozuka is definitely a keeper — it's bizarre, gory and action-packed. I like the aesthetic style, and I especially enjoy the horror influences.

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

As for Kurozuka, the kanji 黒塚 mean "black tomb." "Kurozuka" refers to the grave of the demoness who is the subject of the original old story, but it apparently came to refer to the woman herself, at least from the time of the Noh play about her. Here is some info about the play. Here is the Japanese Wikipedia page about the story and the play.

Thanks for the Noh reference. It explains a lot about the recurring prologue and the horror themes running through the show.

It seems to me that the series draws from a number of Western influences as well. We have the vague homages to Lord of the Rings (Bag End, Khazad-dûm, and the Red Castle = Mordor to me). We have the Anne Rice / Masquerade-type of vampires, where one bloodsucker sires the another through blood transfusion. There are the obvious Matrix references, and Kuro's "Matrix-rage" is extremely similar to F.E.A.R.'s "reflex-time" (the game itself draws heavily from Matrix, Ringu and Dark Water, so quite interestingly, many ideas have come full circle in Kurozuka).

EDIT:
Hmm, the animation quality dropped noticeably from Ep9 onwards. I found Hasegawa's monstrous transformation in Ep10 very cheesy, almost a direct copy of the poisoning effect of consuming (yet another kind of) immortal flesh in Mermaid Forest.

And oh, I couldn't help it, but the duel in Ep11 reminded me instantly of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Heck, silver-haired Kuon even longs for "reunion" with Kuromitsu the same way silver-haired Kadaj longed for reunion of another kind with Jenova.

Still, Kurozuka remains a blast. I'm glad I found something good to cap a largely forgettable 2008.

[Mei19]

I watched the first episode and didn't continue to the second because I thought the first episode followed the manga very well. Did the anime stray off the manga?

[jayhellnice]

I watched the first episode and didn't continue to the second because I thought the first episode followed the manga very well. Did the anime stray off the manga?

yes it did two different stories

[Bathory Area]

Spoiler for EP 11:

This is going to be a short entry, since it was a minor episode anyway: it just meant to set the stage right for the finale of the show. Thankfully, most of the episode was spent on the fight with Kuon, and the “evil overlord” went down pretty quickly. His fight was fun and didn’t drag, thankfully. And yeah, everyone dies apart from Kuro and Kuromitsu. What I also liked was that the kabuki-players at the beginning seem to have an actual role in the series. They’re like, the real evil overlords it seems, but what I especially loved was the way Kuon met his end. Such a befitting death for him.

*There is "only one"episode to go.

[u43368]

Spoiler for episode 11:

That fight/slideshow was kinda lame, but the episode was interesting. It was kinda creepy, and am I the only person who thinks the castle looks the the Nuero Tower from Baroque? Hoping they'll have another good fight in the last episode.

[jayhellnice]

just saw 12 raw i did not like the ending hope subs make a diffens but i still love the manga

[Mgz]

I don't quite get the eps 12, wait for sub T_T

this anime is crazy with so many cool elements from real movie, bullet time, Jason Bourne "amnesia" but still know how to effective use a sword/ride a bike, gore blood bath of kill bill, etc

[Tyrone Biggums]

I'm guessing by your two posts that the ending is NOTHING like the manga...or even remotely like it?

AHHHHHHHHH! THey should of just followed the manga...would of madea nice 26 ep series.

[Westlo]

Of course the ending is nothing like the manga, that should've been obvious once it diverged.. though it's not like the manga ending was good in the first place... it would've been great it this followed the manga and than redid the ending so we got a decent one.

[ZODDGUTS]

Pretty much, as much I liked the manga I hated the sudden ending felt as if the manga-ka was suddenly told that he's manga wouldn't continue anymore while he was drawing the chapter that would eventually turn out to be the final chapter.