Skull Man

Otomo City: where freedom and justice have atrophied to the bone; where conspiracy rules the day and death stalks the night... Death in the form of the Skull Man, a literal Grim Reaper whose skeletal grin presages grisly mayhem and murder, even to the monstrous mutants that haunt the city's underworlds!

To investigate a bizarre slaying, journalist Minagami Hayato and photographer Kiriko Mamiya must stalk this ultimate predator, through a festering cadaver of a city where the corruption flows in rivers as deep and foul as the sins of the reigning elite, and unearth a secret so shocking that an entire city has been turned into a tomb to contain! In a nightmarish necropolis where nothing is as it seems, vengeance comes in the form of a living Death's-Head!

(Source: Sentai Filmworks)

Skull Man Main

Tsuchida, Hiroshi Japanese

Mikogami, Hayato Main

Yasumura, Makoto Japanese

Mamiya, Kiriko Main

Kawasumi, Ayako Japanese

Kanzaki, Yoshio Supporting

Katou, Masayuki Japanese

Tachigi, Kyouichirou Supporting

Hori, Katsunosuke Japanese

Shingyouji, Reina Supporting

Neya, Michiko Japanese

Kisaragi, Nami Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Vogt, Van Supporting

Ishizuka, Unshou Japanese

Kuroshio, Maya Supporting

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Akira, Usami Supporting

Yoshino, Hiroyuki Japanese

Yamamoto, Kouji Producer

Mori, Yuuki Producer

Mori, Takeshi Director

Tsuruoka, Youta Sound Director

Reviews

Nov 8, 2007

Venneh

Recommended

Title: The Skull Man

Manga, Anime: The Skull Man was originally a 100-page one-shot story done by Shotaro Ishinomori (famous for Cyborg 008 and Kamen Rider), released in Shonen Magazine's 1970 issue, and is cited as one of manga's first anti-heroes. Ishinomori did a rework of it just before he started work on the live-action show Kamen Rider (translated as Masked Rider) in 1971, as Toei wanted to use it for the basis of the show, and it was just a bit too dark and gory for a kid's show. And then in 1997, just before his death, he contacted Kazuhiko Shinamoto with plot ... points for a remake that would have a continuing storyline and have more complex artwork than the original. This version was released by Media Factory, and ran from April 7th, 1998 to May of 2001. The latest version is the one that Tokyopop picked up Stateside; the seventh and final volume was released August 12th, 2003.

The anime itself was done by Studio Bones (famous for Fullmetal Alchemist and Ouran High School Host Club) and directed by Takeshi Mori (famous for the Gunsmith Cats and Otaku no Video OVAs, both of which you've probably never heard of) . It ran on Japanese TV from April 28th, 2007 to July 22nd, 2007, and has yet to be licensed at this point time.

Story: Mkay, so the episode kicks off with this guy on TV lecturing about how medicine and the military are becoming too closely entwined, even after the war, then cuts to woman being chased by these demon-dog-looking things, and a guy in a leather trench coat, a cravat, and a skull mask.

Turns out that she ends up murdered, and there's been other reports of incidents like this involving the dogs and the skull mask man in Ootomo City, and a newspaper reporter (Hayato) wants to go and investigate it. He ends up picking up a bit of an annoying brat named Kiriko, getting put under surveillance, and going back to his old hometown, which is just outside of Ootomo. After he gets kicked out of his house in the evening by Kiriko for accidentally seeing her naked, he sees a guy get attacked by the skull mask man and the demon dogs.

From there, the rest of the series is spent trying to find out who the Skull Man is, and what it is that he wants, which leads into all sorts of interesting things.

I was worried here, for a bit. Most of the series is spent building and building up the mysteries around the Skull Man and the involvement of various organizations within the town and conspiracy upon conspiracy upon conspiracy that I was afraid it was not going to touch on any of them, like Rozen Maiden, or would end up falling victim to poor pacing and try to use a deux ex machina to take care of things or be handled sloppily, like in Nishi no Yoki Majo: Astraea Testament. Luckily, I was wrong; things start coming together in the tenth episode, and are fully explained in the eleventh and expounded on further in the twelfth episode, which set everything up for the final episode, which wrapped things up perfectly.

You'll see a lot of elements of V for Vendetta and the Count of Monte Cristo in the story, and mentions of Nietzsche, Wagner, and Shakespeare. It's these elements, along with the way pacing was handled, that makes this such a good show.

It's not without its rough spots, though. It's hard to remember all the characters' names, and I usually ended up referring to them either by their job, or by their relation to the main characters if I couldn't remember their given names. They bring up some elements, toss them aside for a few episodes, and then bring them up again just as you forget about them, which annoyed me a bit. And it seemed all nice and resolved in the last episode, up until I watched the bit after the ED, which practically screams for a second season, or at least an OVA for explanation.

Art: The art for this is overwhelmingly dark in its tones. The designs for the monsters are very well done, too, even when they end up showing en masse later in the series. However, when CG is used, it stands out quite a bit, and ends up looking a bit unattractive.

Music: The OP is this awesome little rock piece, and seems more like something you'd hear in an older show, which is a nice touch, and very singable. The background music itself is very noir-ish, and in the case of some pieces, very dramatic at times, but not overly so. The ED is kind of... eh, as it's your typical wistful female JPop ballad.

Seiyuu: Fumiko Orisaka (who also did the voice work for Firiel in Nishi no Yoki Majo: Astraea Testament and Chise in Saikano) plays one of the main females names who I can actually remember, Maya, and Ayako Kawasumi (also known for her work as Saber in Fate/Stay Night) did the voice work for Kiriko, the other main female whose name I can remember. Also, Toshiyuki Morikawa (who was Sephiroth's seiyuu) did work for one of the main characters I can't remember for the life of me. Also, Hiroshi Tsuchida did the voice work for the Skull Man, which was absolutely outstanding, along the lines of Joji Nakata's work. So, overall, outstanding seiyuu here.

Length: Perfect. Any longer, and it probably would've had to resort to filler, which just wouldn't have fit, and any shorter, and it wouldn't have been able to play things out the way it did. I would like that sequel/OVA to explain that bit after the ED in the thirteenth episode, though.

Overall: An excellent story with elements of V for Vendetta, perfect pacing, excellent music and seiyuu, even if it's hard to keep track of all the characters. Let's hope they expand on that bit after the thirteenth episode's ED, though.

Story: 8/10
Art: 7/10
Music: 8/10
Seiyuu: 9/10
Length: 8/10

Overall: 40/50; 80% (B )

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Oct 12, 2008

jmoriarty84

Recommended

This is based on an old manga by the legendary Ishinomori Shotaro, which would later pave way for Kamen Rider. Despite that, it is very much different from that series. The Skull man is a background character shrouded in mystery as well as why people turn into monsters. The anime is very slow if you don’t give it much attention, it isn’t really action oriented and emphasizes more on cracking the case, and yet defining what true evil is and covers a lot of philosophical and social issues on a local to international level such as corruption in relation to martial law and organized religion. ... It takes awhile to really develop the characters but the wait is worth it. Because some of the main characters are adults at a certain age, the only thing they have left to develop is a defining moment in their life that will define their respective careers or something like that. But if you give it your full attention, it will be fast and you will be fascinated at the plot twists and resolutions it delivers, and how it loosely connects to another creation of Ishinomori-sensei. Due to the nature of this anime being mystery and suspense, I really don’t want to give away much because I believe this is one of those things you really have to watch.

What kind of disappointed me about this anime is that very little of the character design is faithful to the style of Ishinomori-sensei like how the recent Cyborg 009 was, but there are some that obviously are faithful at specific times. He had this distinct way of drawing that further helped define what anime and manga is today, and I felt a large portion of that was absent and that a majority of the design didn’t really come across as distinguishing. Maybe it’s a modern day interpretation to his art style, I don’t know, but I felt that Ishinomori-sensei should have been owed that much. However, some of the design of later characters are also very unique and faithful to his art style, but once again, that’d be a spoiler and I don’t want to get into that too much since it relates to that other creation he did.

On the other hand, I loved the monster design and the design of the Skull man himself. You can easily tell that not only just story wise, but in an artistic sense, how this paved way for Kamen Rider such as his fondness of motorcycles, the scarf, and the martial arts action that is present in certain times. The action is exciting and intense and it picks up in the 2nd half of the series. It’s high octane but not excessively over the top or ridiculous, cliché, or cheesy like in tokusatsu. However, it is quite bloody, but not necessarily gory like in the recent Rambo film.

What I also found very unique is that even though some of the vehicles and the architecture are very modern, they still use some old fashioned items such as audio tapes and records to represent some feeling of the old school influence and to probably give the viewer a possible sense in time it could take place in. I also liked when they showed vehicles, it was in the cel-shading style that the recent Initial D seasons and Wangan Midnight uses and it blends very excellently.

One of the best traits this anime has is its soundtrack. I love the opening theme sung by the band Tokio. It is really intense as well as the scenery in the song. But I felt that because it is nearly 40 years old, I felt that some of the soundtrack could have been a little old school with the use of the instruments. But the music for the most part is very dark and eerie and gives a noir and horror like feel to the show. The ending theme I felt was kind of out place with this anime though it is a nice song. I felt it belonged more in a shoujo anime that a graphic and cerebral one like this. In the same way, I guess you can say it felt out of place like the ending theme in Elfen Lied though they are still good songs.

Hayato, the main character is played by Yasumura Makoto. I really don’t know much about him. But I thought he did a great job as a tabloid reporter who knows how to get his scoop. He can be funny, and he can be serious. And Kiriko is played by Kawasumi Ayako, who plays Natsuki in Initial D. Her voice in this role in comparison to Natsuki is more childish and higher pitched. In addition to these two, the cast has some pretty big names. Like Tomokazu Seki, who played a lot of roles such as Miyata from Hajime no Ippo and Kenichi from History’s Strongest Disicple Kenichi plays the detective assigned to follow Hayato. In comparison to his other roles, he sounds a whole lot more gruffy which I felt was awkward for his high pitched voice, but later got accustomed to it and further expands his talents. And further elaborating who is in this anime and who plays who is another spoiler which I don’t want to get into and feel you should watch it.

Even though this paved way for Kamen Rider, don’t expect Kamen Rider. In comparison, this series is much darker, gruesome, and more though provoking, but doesn’t really try to mess with your head. I really want to explain the nature of Skull man’s character, but it’s very difficult for me to say in this review because this is truly an anime I want you to see for yourself, and I hope you watch this with high expectations that this is truly something unique and distinctive. It is very engagingly philosophical with very effective unpredictability, and exciting action. It has many themes that everybody can relate to or reflect upon.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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May 7, 2020

Mugetsu-

Not Recommended

“Edgy Kamen Rider”? You wouldn’t be wrong, in fact, we’d be quite congruous. The concepts of Ishinomori Shotaro are what pushed what would become Kamen Rider forward and into the public eye. I can’t help but poke around and find this show very similar in many respects to the latest foot into the Samurai Jack franchise, both creators penned an idea that was censored and had its vision change to a different audience, and both made series afterwards that were more true to their original creation - Ishinomori has gone down and said this is the closest to the original spirit of his design. What ... does it do to separate itself from its nescient precursor? Quite a lot, and that’s not always a good thing.

The show itself, produced by studio Bones, is cold and roughly drawn in a dark, almost 90’s comic book-esque way, dim lightning, trench coats everywhere, minimalist animation and filled with so-so characters. Our main protagonist, Hayato Mikogami and Kiriko Mamiya are in a, what the show believes to be, thrilling cat and mouse game hunting a mysterious vigilante figure in this bordering dystopian town known as the: “Skull Man”, who fights those shadows prowling in the night, whether they be man, monster, and even other things entirely?

I say what the show “believes” to be a cat and mouse game because due to some odd pacing issues, it devolves into less of that and more of a slow and monotonous formula each episode until the last-fourth. While I admittedly came into this show with a conceived notion of seeing a fair bit of action, I love having expectations killed and hung dry in the place of an enjoyable subversion, but it’s less of this and more so of our forgettable cast interviewing and stalking around the city to get information about this mysterious figure. Which brings me to the big guy himself: Skull Man. . . he’s really boring. Don’t get me wrong, he’s amazing to watch on screen but it’s less of spectacularly-animated-action and badass character design that makes him enjoyable, but the fact that you don’t have to watch the bland cast anymore and can watch Bones tear something to hell, which to be fair is, once again, done spectacularly. There’s no reason to truly care about him other than getting a sigh of relief when he shows up because you ironically feel saved yourself when he gores something to shreds.

Granted, there are some cool elements to the world this show is set in and how the lore of the city itself is interlinked with this Skull figure, a great deal of time is spent setting him up, like a good puppet master or chess player the show is dedicated to meticulously hiding him in the shadows and making not just our protagonist but the viewer get dripples and rations of whatever information you can about him from other characters and scenes. This is by far the best aspect of the show. Furthermore, the show does have some fairly so-so tap dancing around its thematic throughlines, such as political corruption and religious zealotry but in my opinion; it’s less of a throughline and more of a poorly tackled aesthetic that much like the show itself accomplishes little to nothing by the end of it. I oddly find a strange connection with Kyouda, Tomoki who was the episode director who I have referred to as this: “Chess player” writing the show, this is because we have a very similar flaw when playing - we can both get ourselves into the perfect position to win the game - but don’t have the knowledge to execute it a lot of the time and end up a bust.

Indeed, the show does toy around with some interesting concepts and presents them in a reliable and fashionable manner, but what’s the point when your guides in this world are so cookie-cutter? There is no reason to get attached to these characters in the slightest, they feel like less of people who are obsessed with the Skull Man and more a cast riding his coattails, barely hanging onto his excuse to allow them to be in the show; that is to have them hunting him. Also, this show has an obsession with quoting and referencing philosophy and religion but once again, it’s poorly tacked on and is, in many cases, a non sequitur - no the Skull Man is not Lucifer or something cast down from heaven and attempting to cleanse the world of - please. Please spare me.

What if our main character was solo, and had a traumatizing memory of this figure as a child? What if they were truly, intrinsically linked together and bound to confront each other eventually? What if this memory drives him to become a detective and do some questionable things for information, all while slowly and surely making him become a target for the creature that he has been chasing after all along due to his moral code becoming corrupted? Doesn’t that sound a lot more fun to you?! Don’t mean to brag, but it sure as hell does to me. This really drives home the main problem with the show. We have the ONLY interesting element dancing in shadows and appearing for 5 minutes each time, and you know what? Even during the times he appears, is weak too. All the mystery about him begins to fade away and that badass image of him you saw on the cover of the show seems less cool and more of an artistic leniency with what is the true character - a generic superhero.

He’s not a gritty “Grim Knight” Batman and more and more like a cartoon character who can make the hilariously cliche and exaggerated monster of the week bleed and die.I’m super intimidated. The Skull Man overall is trapped in confusing juxtaposition and feels as if it cannot commit to any side of anything it is putting out to the viewer. Is it a methodical and well paced game of hunting a knight of the darkness? Nah, not really. Is it a corny monster of the week brawler with a nocturne paint job? No, because that’s only the last five minutes of every episode before the last three. Some okay voice acting, a dregging OST that doesn’t say or speak much to the tone of the show. Eh?

Why was this show made? What did it try to tell me about its cast, Kamen Ri- I mean Skull Man, or about politics, religion, etc? Quite honestly, I’d be far more satisfied watching a super sentai series that, while cheese-beyond-belief, does have a consistent throughline in its ideas that it longs to present to the viewer, like Jetman or some other variation. With this in mind, Skull Man fails at what it even set out to do - explore the more censored topics its precursor explored lightly, but didn’t fail at doing entirely like this show did. I cannot with good consciousness recommend it to those who are not prepared to endure a slogging battle of attrition to try and understand and grasp the “deeper” meanings this show plays around with. Hate to break it to you; but it’s not there. Many thanks for reading.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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