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Year: 2008-2009
Genre: Action, Horror, Supernatural, Shounen
Episodes: 25
Rating: 3 out of 5
Death will come to us all. We never know when we will go, but death is inevitable. Some live their lives happily, while others live theirs in regret. What if you were brutally murdered? Would you want to come back and get vengeance for a chance to go to Heaven? What if life was just shitty and you died in a way that makes you not want to leave the world and live on as a demon.
Corpse Princess is an anime where death is not the final journey. When a second chance at life comes around, and you must kill 108 demons to go to Heaven. The question is, do you have enough regret to take this deal or not?
Overview:
Makina Hoshimura’s life seemed okay until she, along with her family, was brutally murdered. With regret and thirst for vengeance, Makina turns into a Shikabane Hime- a living corpse used by the Kougon Cult to battle Shikabane. She becomes armed with dual MAC-11 submachine guns and the promise that if she kills 108 other Shikabane, she will gain entry into Heaven.
On her quest, Makina is assisted by Keisei Tagami, a Buddhist monk who becomes a contracted priest and member of the Kōgon Sect. As the two destroy Shikabane, Makina soon learns that the organization behind her family’s death is the Seven Stars-a group that wants to bring pain and destruction to the known world.
Review:
Corpse Princess is an okay anime to watch but falls really, really hard by the second season. I was into the whole concept of a person dying and then coming back to hunt down demons for revenge and gain access to Heaven. It is a pretty standard concept, but one where it seems like many try to achieve after doing something terrible in their life. The only thing with this one is that the main female character seems to not have done anything wrong and just wants revenge after being murdered. She decides to become a Shikabane Hime to exact revenge and destroy Shikabane. I also like the concept that the Shikabana Hime needing a contractor for them to stay alive. That there is a very strong connection between them. If the contractor dies, then the Shikabana Hime will go out of control.
Where the anime loses me is how the freak does Makina’s machine guns destroy a demon. They seem like regular machine guns with no special powers. Homegirl be whipping those machine guns out and blasting away. They also seem to have unlimited bullets. The other Shikabane Hime appears to have powerful weapons like a giant-ass hammer, katana, or something else. Also, it seems like all the Shikabane Hime are female characters, which is fine, but in the second half, they seem to become far bustier and all over the place.
Another area that seems to be blah and confusing is this whole notion that if you kill enough demons, you can ultimately go to Heaven, or that is your ticket to Heaven. God has never said that, and it always seems like a way to trick people into doing what they want. This anime put the number at 108 demons. The only problem is that it’s a lie, and when the Shikabane Hime find out, choices are soon made.
Now what the anime does well is try to keep the story in line with introducing a group named Seven Stars that want to take over the world. Actually, now that I think about it, all evil groups want to take over the world in some shape or form. This group has far more interesting characters like the dude whose body shoots out centipedes or even the evil character with the head of a balloon. Yep, the head of a balloon and can also fly. I do have a question. What was up with the black cat that could talk? The anime never explained the cat and how it could speak or its purpose. It gave off that Madoka feeling with that creature.
The animation is okay. In some areas like the fighting and action scenes, they stand out. It seems fluent, but overall, the animation could be a tad bit better. When people are talking, or the anime is going, it doesn’t look crisp. The dark tones are nice because this is a dark anime, but it could’ve been better.
There are a lot of characters in this anime. Some you get to know and others that are there but also seem to disappear. The main character is Makina Hoshimura. Makina is a living corpse who is tasked with killing 108 corpses to gain entrance to the heavens. She seems like a total bitch and doesn’t ever want to listen to some reason. We get that you are dead and on a vengeance train. Later on, we discover why she was killed and the reason why she is difficult. Overall, she does have a very caring heart for the people she likes.
Ouri Kagami is your standard male protagonist. He is a normal high school boy at Keisei Tagami’s temple. He seems like a regular kid until a mysterious black cat who began to talk to him appears and starts showing him Shikabane. Why is it that the normal kid can see things and makes the situation worse because he has fallen in love with the lead character? Same thing in other anime series. Dude become whipped and becomes a monk to be closer to the girl.
Corpse Princess is an anime that is okay but after watching many anime series seems like many others. The story is pretty good for the first six episodes and then falls off with outrageous characters that are drawn. The concept of the anime is good but still falls off towards the end. Watch this anime after watching all the big anime series.
