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Be prepared, Shigurui: Death Frenzy is not for everyone. It's gruesomely violent, has very few redeemable or likeable characters, it's rapey, shockingly gory and has pretty much zero moments of humour.
I also kind of loved it.

The story takes place in the 1600's and follows a sensei who is training samurai in order to choose his eventual successor and the backstabbing, murder and betrayals going on in the background. That's the basic gist of it, i don't want to spoil anything.

Pretty much every character is a psychopath especially the sensei, the fight scenes are so stylish and brutal and the tone and atmosphere so thick with ... dread and tension that i do not blink when i watch this show.
The violence really is extreme with dismemberment, eyeballs being slashed with swords (and eaten), jaws being detached from faces and characters having teeth stuck in their fists after delivering particularly hard blows to their opponents.
It really isn't for sensitive viewers but if that sounds cool to you then....well it is pretty cool.

I enjoyed the soundtrack too which is mostly traditional Japanese instruments and dark ambient drones which make it feel really intense. It's like watching a horror movie.

I can definitely see some people hating it due to it's slow pace, relentlessly downbeat tone and extreme content (including sexual violence) but i think this is an underrated gem.

The first in a trilogy of movies which follow the Golden age arc which is probably the most famous and well loved Berserk story. It's the origin of Guts, a hard as nails swordsman who joins a group of mercenaries called The band of the hawk and his relationship with it's charismatic leader Griffith. It all takes place in a semi-realistic medieval setting but it progresses to include supernatural and full on horror elements.

The movie isn't very long at 77 minutes so if you've seen the 1997 anime series which is based on the same arc then it might be a bit jarring at how ... quickly the story plays out and how it skips over important moments.

Just think of it as a streamlined version of the arc. The characters aren't as deep as they are in the series but it works fine for a what it is and the plot is easy to follow for non fans. Voice actors from 97 also return to play Guts, Griffith and Casca.

The animation is impressive with some beautiful backgrounds and the characters look crisp and vibrant, it blends 2D and 3D animation pretty much seamlessly. The large combat scenes are fast, fluid and more violent than the series with dismemberment, beheadings and eyeballs popping out. It's not for the faint of heart but if you like this style then it's pretty awesome. The animation in the original series is fine but hasn't aged all that well so it was a real treat to see such high quality work here.

I would say watch the 1997 series first because you will have a greater understanding of the lore and characters but this is still top notch action anime set in a dark fantasy world.

Ninja Resurrection was originally marketed as a kind of sequel to the excellent Ninja Scroll and aside from featuring a character named Jubei it has no relation.

The animation is decent although not as impressive as Ninja Scroll with some really cool looking fight scenes, it's brutally violent and the voice acting is pretty good but the story is almost non existent (but somehow still a bit confusing, how does that happen?) and it all feels pretty pointless. I was looking forward to seeing this but i will likely never watch it again.

It's bad.

Skip this and watch Ninja Scroll again, it's still awesome.

Vampire Wars is under an hour long but tries to squeeze two hours of plot in to it's run time which means it's completely baffling, a bit confusing and absolutely crazy which also means it's hilarious fun.

This is a mature anime from the early 90's and anyone who's a fan of this era of anime will know exactly what to expect: Violence, gore, naked chicks and a very funny and over the top English dubbing job. The animation is slick and professional although it's clearly on the lower budget side of things and i was laughing so hard at some of the dialogue and the ... general crazyness of everything.

I won't spoil anything but it's definitely recommend for anime fans of a certain age who enjoy adult oriented anime from this era, it's a laugh riot and i wish it was longer.

M.D Geist is a post apocalyptic 1980's anime about a super soldier named Geist who is an unstoppable killing machine who wages a war against evil robots. That's pretty much the gist of it. There's more going on but the plot is mostly incoherent and the English dubbing is some of the worst i've heard in a while.

So the plot and voice acting are pretty bad but the action scenes and the designs of the robots and mech suits are really awesome especially the one Geist uses. He looks like a cross between a Gundam and an American football player and i just think it ... looks super cool. The chaotic action really well done by old school anime standards and the soundtrack is great with some blistering guitar solo's as you watch the gory action. This is pretty harsh stuff with heads being ripped off and crushed and people being eaten alive by evil creatures and i loved that aspect of the anime. There's a grim, nihilistic tone during the whole movie and i find this appealing, some people likely won't. Worth a look if you're a fan of old school violent anime like Fist of the north star but don't expect animation of the same quality of something like Wicked City or Akira. This is a B movie through and through.

One of the best anime movies ever made. Beautiful hand drawn animation, great action scenes which would look great if they were live action, memorable and weird characters, an anti-hero main character who is a stone cold badass and cool music too. If you have any interest in anime then you need to pick this movie up, it's absolutely brilliant and for me it ranks up there with Akira and the original Ghost in the shell as one of the best anime movies of all time. It's definitely aimed at adults though so i wouldn't go buying this for your 10 year old who likes ... Naruto because there's copious gore, nudity and swearing. Actually do buy it for your 10 year old, they will likely think it's awesome too.

Absolute classic!