I know this is long overdue and to say this at this point in time makes it all even weirder. You see, during the height of the pandemic when a certain virus was wreaking havoc that caused many animes of the season to be delayed a couple of years ago, I came up with an ‘emergency plan’ and had a list of some of the animes to watch as replacement. Samurai Deeper Kyo was one of them and you might have guessed that I am only saying and watching this right now is perhaps this series was somewhere at the bottom of that list. You’re right it is. Must be a pretty long list by the time for me to reach here, eh? Or maybe I just forgot about it a little… And now everyone has almost forgotten about the pandemic and returning to their dreaded lives, hence it is pretty weird for me to be watching one of the last few remnants of that list at this moment. But like they say, better late than never, right?
Episode 1
During the battle at Sekigahara, Kyoushirou Mibu is fighting against Demon Eyes Kyo. The fight is interrupted when Yukimura Sanada and his aides, Sasuke Sarutobi and Saizou Kirigakure jump in to help. However a meteor soon hits the place. Unfortunately Kyoushirou did not follow the rest to escape when the meteor hit. 4 years down the road, Kyoushirou has been missing since but his beloved Sakuya gets good news when Sasuke reports he has been spotted. He is now a medicine peddler. True enough, he is one but more of a joker now? If Yuya Shiina isn’t such a smoking hot babe, he might have not helped her. Because he thinks with the wrong head, she captures him. Yuya is actually a bounty hunter. She will turn him in for a reward although he compares his bounty to be just pittance compared to God-level Kyo. Suddenly a strange man approaches them. Yuya thinks he is a rival but he soon turns into his snake form. He wants to eat Kyoushirou. The reason why Kyoushirou is so passionate in protecting Yuya is because he wants those boobs! Snake guy starts beating the crap out of him. But all that beating seems to have awakened something inside him. Oh sh*t. He has a different serious but powerful look now. That is when Yukimura who has been watching the whole time, jumps in to throw Kyoushirou a sword. Does Kyoushirou not remember? Because Kyoushirou is Demon Eyes Kyo!
Episode 2
Snake dude was a samurai fighting at Sekigahara. Kyo caught his eyes but was ultimately defeated. For the first time he tasted fear. Shortly, a meteor hit the place and the next thing he knew, he was in this form. So basically he is out for revenge, huh? But of course as you can see, no matter how much he flexes his might, all Kyo needs is just to strike him once and he’s dead. Yukimura notes that the snake guy is called Kenyou, monsters that appeared after that meteor incident. Now that Kyo has been discovered, they might make their move. To investigate, he will head to Edo. Yuya trying to run away from Kyo. Why, is he trying to rape her?! She learns Kyo is inhabiting Kyoushirou’s body. Despite being scared sh*t, she claims she will not die until she finds the man with a cross shaped wound on his back. He finds her interesting and will continue watching her but that is when Kyoushirou takes back his body. So if he isn’t a scary demonic slayer, he’s a pervert… Yeah, both scary either way. Kyoushirou has no memories of his 4 years after Sekigahara. Yuya’s excuse to follow him around is that she can’t abandon him after hearing his story. The truth is that she wants to wait for Kyo to come out and snag the bounty. That night, they stumble into Okuni who seems to know Kyoushirou and they did some bold things together. Care to jog his memories again with that?! Yuya won’t let anything indecent happen on her watch. Okuni explains her situation that she was forced into hiding after her side lost at Sekigahara. She was cast out because she fell in love with Kyoushirou and betrayed the gods. During her wandering, she stumbled into a village of lost warriors and learnt of its secrets about some large hidden stash of money. Now she’s on the run as they want to kill her. They camp for the night and Okuni isn’t worried about wild dogs because Kyo will certainly protect them. But not tonight so everybody run! They arrive at a paddy village but Okuni is no longer with them. They hang around and Kyoushirou thinks he saw that man watching him. Shirogarasu reports to Genma Kido to confirm about Kyo. He wonders which of his men will kill him first. Oh, Okuni part of this group?
Episode 3
Kyoushirou takes Yuya and run because he knows they’re not safe from this village. However they are met with Kurosasori who is from Sansaishuu, a group of hired mercenaries. Since their bounty is high, you bet Yuya wants to capture him. No chance. He is much powerful than her and blows her gun away. Worse, the villagers led by Mika are working with Sansaishuu to reign them in since this is their territory. However not all the villagers agree with this. Like Mika’s dad. Kyo emerges for a while to tease Kurosasori to get him. Kurosasori then turns into his Kenyou form but Kyo reverts back to Kyoushirou. Is he in sh*t now? Kurosasori is then killed off by fellow Sansaishuu, Benitora. He helps Kyoushirou but gets tied up when he reveals himself as part of Sansaishuu. He explains that he is a newbie who joined the group to take advantage of the previous Benitora’s legacy. Too bad he found it bland and wants to join them instead. They’re much more fun. Mika and the villagers lead Genma and Shirogarasu to surround them. Mika’s father tries to protect Kyoushirou but Shirogarasu will slay all those who stand in his way. Mika realizes she is wrong and tries to protect father. Oh, now Kyoushirou tries to protect them. But he is scared and his hands trembling while unsheathing his sword. That is when Okuni pops up to mention about Sakuya’s name. She is just like Yuya, trying to find that man with the scar whom she hates. Kyoushirou then has some flashback about some massacre spree. He becomes Kyo while Shirogarasu reveals his true form as a Kenyou to fight him in his illusion. As expected, no tricks can best that demon as Shirogarasu is defeated. When Genma gets mad and turns into his Kenyou form too, Okuni finishes him off! Damn, this guy who is stronger than Shirogarasu gets owned without effort? How strong is this vixen?! Okuni is glad to see Kyo again in his form before he was defeated by Kyoushirou. Wait. Kyoushirou was stronger than Kyo?!
Episode 4
Kyo and Okuni fight but she hints that a certain guy is still alive before escaping. Yuya is shocked that Kyoushirou hasn’t reverted yet as Kyo gloats that Kyoushirou is now sleeping inside him. WTF Yuya wants him to give back Kyoushirou?! I thought she wanted to catch Kyo for the reward?! Don’t tell me after a few episodes, she has fallen for that dude! Kyo mentions another shocking revelation that the man he wants to kill the most is Kyoushirou because he betrayed him and then sealed his body somewhere. Elsewhere, the shogun decides to hold a tournament. This is met with mixed reactions from his subjects because there will be some who will plot to assassinate him. Eventually he decides he will personally hand the winner a personal treasure. Yukimura visits Kyo and seems to provoke him just to test if his skills are the real deal. In Edo after Yuya fixes her gun, she stumbles into Yukimura who wants her to bring him to Kyo. He tells him about the tournament in which Kyo isn’t interested. Yukimura hopes he can enter because if he does, he’ll tell him what he wants and that Sakuya is worried about him. This makes Kyo incense and warns him not to mention that name again. That night as Yuya tries to find out Kyo’s connection with Sakuya, Kyo saves her life because a poison spider was on her. He assures her that somebody is after his life and not hers. Later when Yuya returns to thank him, he knows this is not her. The real Yuya won’t do this. True enough, Yuya has turned into a puppet of Mahiro. Kyo knows her. She wants Kyo to surrender. He won’t. She then uses Yuya to shoot him.
Episode 5
Wait. Why did Mahiro miss? Just as warning? I thought she wanted to kill Kyo for killing her sister, Mayumi?! Flashback shows Kyo came looking for the legendary Muramasa to forge him a sword. He waited for days so a concerned Mayumi went to give him food but was killed by him. Mahiro thought Kyo is a scumbag for killing Yuya just to save himself but you guessed it, he didn’t kill her but freed her from her webs. So Mahiro escapes? I thought she wanted revenge so badly? That night, more assassins target Kyo and Yukimura. This is a sign that as long as they don’t enter the tournament, they’ll be continuously targeted. Though they dispatch of them easily, Yuya can’t help see that both are smiling while they slash down their enemies. Kyo then faces off with Mahiro again. But this time a trap almost kills them both. This is the work of Genza who is Mahiro’s boss. He too knows Kyo and just like a typical baddie, reveals the truth that he was the one who killed Mayumi and used Mahiro as a tool to get to Kyo. Flashback reveals after Mayumi gave Kyo some food, Genza took her hostage because he wanted to kill Muramasa. But Mayumi rather die by Kyo’s hands and hopes he could protect Muramasa. Kyo was forced to cut down Mayumi although Genza escaped. Mahiro came late to the scene and misinterpreted this. She joined Genza’s secret assassin group to get revenge. Now that she has known the truth, Genza uses her as hostage and wonders if Kyo can kill this girl. He blames Kyo that had he been successful, his group would’ve been the shogun’s official secret service. Whatever. Kyo cuts Mahiro but saves her. Genza thought of escaping but too bad Kyo already cuts him down. Good riddance. When Mahiro awakens with Benitora beside her, she recognizes him as the next in line to be the shogun, Hidetada Tokugawa. Benitora wants her to stop following Kyo because this would expose his identity. Also a warning not to hurt his girlfriend AKA Yuya or he’ll kill her!
Episode 6
While making their way to Edo, they stumble upon this strange foreigner, Migeira. Not sure what his problem is since it’s like he wants to fight Kyo but then he lacks the strength and will do it again another day. This has them realize he too is taking part in the tournament. Meanwhile, the shogun learns that Yukimura might enter the tournament. Hence they plan to capture all the assassins and make an example of them for treason. This might trigger an outrage from the nobles and will lead to a war. This is what the shogun wants. As the participants congregate at the tournament grounds, Benitora seems to be afraid to show his face in public. Seems he knows one of the judges, Tenzen Mikogami who now goes by the name Jiroemon Tadaaki Ono. Some of the rules include real weapons are forbidden and since losers are not killed, this makes Yukimura suspicious of what they intend to do with them. Participants are put into groups in which the winner advances to the next round. Yeah, we don’t need to see how Kyo beats up everyone ganging up on him without breaking a sweat to get his easy win. Even Benitora easily wins his but we don’t get to see him in action. Later that night, Benitora meets up with Jiroemon as he is the student of the latter. He is being told that in the next round, Benitora will face off with Kyo. Jiroemon wants to give him some lessons but Benitora insists he will find his own way to fight Kyo. Next day, we see some of the matchups for this round. Yuya doesn’t recognize this babe who comes to talk to her. Actually, it’s Yukimura in disguise! Of course the most anticipated match of this round: Kyo vs Benitora.
Episode 7
We breeze through the other matches because we all know Jukamen, Migeira and Kohaku AKA female Yukimura will beat their lesser opponents. The highlight is of course Kyo vs Benitora. The latter using his clone technique but Kyo uses his mirage against him to let him see some visions from his father and master who are trying to put him down. In the end, Benitora manages to break through it via his spear but he is disqualified since he uses a real weapon. Later Yukimura tries to talk to one of the losing participants who was drugged off and led somewhere. He thinks Hattori Hanzou knows the answer but since this ninja guy looks puzzled, Yukimura realizes he isn’t in the loop and there is something more than meets the eye to this tournament. Kyo sees Migeira and wants to see his right arm. Instead, Migeira tells him the truth about Muramasa. There are 5 real ones in the world and gathering them all will change the world. Later as Kyo talks to Yukimura, he learns that if Ieyasu is killed and a war breaks out, Yukimura’s chances of being the shogun would increase. Hence Kyo is just a stepping stone for that. Kyo won’t kill him now and let their fate be decided in the tournament. Next day, the first semi-finals sees Jukamen against Yukimura. When Yukimura cuts off his mask, his identity is revealed to be his older brother, Nobuyuki. During the battle at Sekigahara, both brothers were tacticians for different warring sides. Yukimura thinks he wants to destroy the Sanada clan but Nobuyuki claims his honour lies in serving Hidetada. During the battle, a trap was laid for Hidetada and to kill him if he rushed into a castle. But instead he managed to escape the castle and never made it to the Sekigahara battle. Nobuyuki tried to commit seppuku but Hidetada stopped him. This made Nobuyuki realized he is a far greater man despite his father betrayed him.
Episode 8
Both brothers arguing about their ideals. Nobuyuki seemingly having the upper hand and could’ve finished off Yukimura had not the latter realize that if he loses, he won’t get to fight Kyo. That is a no-no and so he makes his final move to defeat Nobuyuki. Just when Nobuyuki accepts his fate and leaves the rest to his brother, the shogun isn’t pleased and calls all his soldiers to kill everyone. The rest soon realize there was going to be no winner to this tournament. However all the soldiers suddenly die in their true Kenyou form. This is because Kyo and Migeira have been going around to lay the groundwork to defeat those monsters. Like, HOW?! When Hanzou mentions to the shogun about losers of the tournament being turned into Kenyou, he is brainwashed by a girl by the shogun’s side, Santera. Migeira is at a cave where the shogun keeps his treasure. He blasts open it to reveal a spear, Hokuraku Shimon. It seems this is all part of Santera’s ploy to brainwash the shogun under her control so she can get the spear. Unfortunately for her, the spear chooses its owner so anybody it doesn’t like gets zapped when touched. Of course this weapon is also a cursed one as it sucked the life out of the Tokugawa clan, the reason why it was kept here. With Santera merging with the shogun to become a Kenyou, she is going to turn the rest into one too as she unleashes her spores. The only way to break this curse as Migeira puts it is for Benitora to take it since he has the Tokugawa blood. However he is reluctant for fear he would be embracing that name. But after realizing his father has been long dead, he grabs the spear and feels all the power welling up. He easily defeats the Kenyou combo. He is sad to finish off his father but is also glad that he somewhat acknowledged him.
Episode 9
The shogun is dead but Santera lives and escapes. However the cave now floods but Migeira blasts a hole to save everyone. On the beach, Kyo and Yukimura start fighting each other to settle the score. If Kyo wins, Yukimura will tell him everything he wants to know. The fight is interrupted by Migeira who finds this appalling. I guess swords are now match for a machine gun, huh? He mentions his goal to find all the true Muramasa swords so as to turn the world back to its original state. From what I understand, the timeline has been altered because the shogun should not have been killed by his son’s hands. He also mentions The Lord is trying to be revived to cause the return of the warring era. He is also the one causing the Kenyou to spread throughout the country. Kyo doesn’t care for that. All he wants is to find his real body and then kill Kyoushirou to regain his title as the strongest. Migeira finds this unacceptable as he is driven by his desires. He thinks his Muramasa has chosen the wrong owner. Then he goes away. What’s his problem?! Benitora now takes over the shogun’s place. But I guess he still wants to go adventuring so he leaves it to Hanzou to play the shogun role. Before Yukimura parts ways, Yuya asks about Sakuya. All Yukimura says is that she is worried that Kyo and Kyoushirou will start fighting. Subsequently, Yuya bumps into a blind man named Akira. Okuni talks to Kyo about where his body lies. Flashback shows Yukimura told Kyo it lies frozen in the Sea of Trees. Okuni points out that The Lord is also aiming for this and to do that, he is enlisting the help of Junishinsho. Also part of this group is a man known Ajira. Who? He was known as Akira and Kyo’s pupil. As Yuya talks to Akira and telling him about the person she is looking for, she slowly starts to fall under his frozen trance until Benitora barges in to free her. Seems Akira has plans to kill her but Benitora won’t allow that. However whatever tricks he throws at Akira, he can mimic it to defeat him. With Kyo here, Akira thinks he is become weaker by surrounding himself with weak people. Akira then rejoins his Junishinsho and will be waiting for them at the Sea of Trees. He might know about the man Yuya is looking for but he points out that Kyo knows more about him.
Episode 10
Yuya continues to follow Kyo since she still hasn’t got her answer. She will find that man who that cross scar who killed her brother. While stopping at an inn, suddenly Kyo and Benitora start fighting. However Kyo can tell this is just a doll imitating Benitora. Indeed. This is the work of a puppet master, Kubira who is part of Junishinsho and he has orders to take Kyo’s head. Kubira unleashes all his dolls at Kyo. As he cuts them down, a doll slashes his back, revealing a cross shaped wound. This has Yuya pointing her gun at him and demanding if he killed her brother. If that’s the case, what is she going to do? Yes, she’ll still kill him at the cost of her life. To her shock, he didn’t dodge her shot. He also dares her to kill her because if he said he didn’t, would she have believed him? After all, he killed a thousand men. Poor Yuya so confused but Kubira can’t wait for this drama to finish so he continues his attack. This time making clones of Kyo. Which is the real Kyo? The one that protects Yuya, right? When Kyo cuts down all his clones, now he is faced with 2 Yuyas. Which the real one? Heck, he cuts both of them down! The real one is in Kubira’s hands. How he knows? Actually he doesn’t and was just too much hassle! Kyo finishes off Kubira with his special move. Yuya continues to follow Kyo because she believes in him. Kubira is still alive as he is approached by Ajira. He now knows the connection between Kyo and Kyoushirou and that is why The Lord is looking for Kyo’s body so frantically. However Ajira kills him off because nobody else but himself will only know Kyo’s secret as he will be the only one who will defeat Kyo.
Episode 11
Because Benitora was MIA in the previous episode, it’s his turn to get some screen time. He visits the grave of his old master when he is attacked by his brother, Gihyo. However he is now part of Junishinsho and goes by the name Mekira. The brothers fight as Benitora holds a grudge against him for killing their master. Flashback shows both brothers wanted to be pupils of this master to learn some Shinkage technique. But Gihyo soon got tired of waiting and killed him because he refused to teach the final secret of Shinkage. Because Benitora cannot use his Shinkage moves via Hokuraku Shimon, he has to use his old spear but Gihyo breaks it. Gihyo then turns into his Kenyou form for more power. Benitora notes how he relies on others instead of his own strength. Cue for Benitora to make his comeback using Hokuraku Shimon and some new technique to defeat Gihyo. Hence he tells his dying brother about the final technique which one must learn oneself and that is to trust your own abilities. It comes from your own heart. Yeah. It was that simple. Kyo’s group stumbles into Sasuke who fights and kills a Kenyou. Okuni recognizes his sword as a Muramasa.
Episode 12
Must strong guys always fight each other when they meet? Yeah, Sasuke wants to fight Kyo and see who possesses the real Muramasa. In the end, although Sasuke manages to land a scratch on Kyo, he admits defeat since his sword got damaged so this proves Kyo has the stronger one. Also, Sasuke is here to guide them to the Sea of Trees as requested by Yukimura. He is raised from there so he knows the place. Of course, we are told how people come from there are discriminated because they are viewed as not humans. The group is then attacked by Sanposhi and Makora from Junishinsho. Sanposhi already getting into his Kenyou form? Kyo and Sasuke combo prove formidable as they manage to stand their ground. However when Makora hints himself to Sasuke as someone he knows, this makes the ninja boy hesitate, throwing everyone off and be frozen by his shadow technique. Sanposhi then tortures them especially Kyo and won’t grant him an easy death. Sasuke feeling guilty he caused this? Somehow Kyo manages to break through and defeat Sanposhi. To Sanposhi’s horror, Makora abandons him. Sanposhi will sacrifice his life to take them out. Sasuke makes a valiant comeback but it is no use as his sword shatters. Lucky for him, Yukimura deals the finishing blow. I guess he came to check on them. While they’re resting and as Yuya asks if Sasuke knows Makora, suddenly he attacks her? Don’t be fooled. Just trying to get Makora doing a sneak attack from behind.
Episode 13
Makora calls Sasuke a traitor and runs. Sasuke of course goes off to chase him. Kyo has no time to go assist their petty quarrel so he and the rest make their way to the Sea of Trees. When Yukimura comes to Sasuke’s aid in the cave, Makora reveals his true intention not to fight them but to find Kyo’s body. He blows up the entrance and leaves them trapped. Sure you don’t want to kill them? Because Okuni has been missing and Yuya is worried, Benitora volunteers to go back to look for her. But he stumbles into this cute loli, Antera. She turns out to be part of the Junishinsho and owns him. Similarly, Kyo meets Bikora who is also a member of Junishinsho. They fight and this is not their first time. They have fought many years ago but Bikora feigned defeat so he won’t be killed as he wanted to watch The Lord’s resurrection. As the fight continues, looks like Yuya won’t be a bystander today. She has to fight Antera who can catch her bullets. Oh my. Is she going to just run away? When Antera is about to finish her off, suddenly she starts to wither. Bikora abandons his match to go to her. Truth on Antera is revealed as she was an experiment to create a perfect body for The Lord. She isn’t supposed to strain herself in battle. Antera wanted to prove herself but Bikora believes she has always been part of the gang. Touching. In order to save her, Bikora fuses themselves to become a Kenyou. But you know play time is over when Kyo uses his ultimate move on them. Bye. Sasuke and Yukimura manage to get out and also pull out Benitora out from the wreckage. How convenient, there Okuni is. When they reunite with Kyo, Yuya is missing. Ajira has kidnapped her. He warns if they keep disrupting them, something bad will happen to Yuya. Oh Benitora, you mean to scream like that as though Yuya is your girlfriend?
Episode 14
Benitora goes off himself to find Yuya while Kyo wants to rest despite nearing the Sea of Trees. Meanwhile Migeira is seen hunting down Ajira and his comrades in his bid not only to save Yuya but he also wants to know The Lord’s true identity. All Ajira says that The Lord wants to fill this world with Kenyou and only he will control them all. Santera holds Migeira back to let the rest escape but Migeira uses some reckless move to break himself free. Benitora realizes too late about Kyo’s circumstances. Certainly Okuni has noticed long before that Kyo is injured from his previous fight and is taking all his might to stay conscious. But she is curious if he is very concerned for Yuya. Is it because she looks like Sakuya? Kyo warns never to say the name of the woman who betrayed and tried to kill him. Okuni also deduces that there are some parts of his memories he is missing. All Kyo cares is just to kill Kyoushirou. Meanwhile The Lord takes on a temporary form as he can sense Kyo nearby. He wants to go meet him personally. Well, if Kyo isn’t getting lost in this Sea of Trees maze. Then he gets attacked by a couple of Junishinsho members as their warm welcome. Meanwhile Migeira stumbles into a village of strange hooded people. They are protecting Santera. Yukimura and Sasuke stop him and explain that they aren’t actually as threatening as the rumours say they are. Santera is also an inhabitant of this forest but during Sekigahara, she was given new powers and is now a Kenyou. Yukimura claims he knows The Lord’s true identity. Assuming his theory is correct. Yukimura was at Sekigahara and his mission was to retrieve Kyoushirou but failed due that meteor that also decimated their army. When he asked Sakuya about it, she told him it was no comet but a gateway to the demon world. 18 years ago, a Demon King appeared in this world. He was actually invited and the body prepared for his resurrection was no other than Kyo. His name is Nobunaga Kazusanosuke Oda. Now Kyo has come face to face with The Lord.
Episode 15
Yuya dreams as she meets Kyoushirou. She confirms with him that he is the one who defeated Kyo but now he wants to become a medicine man to help others because today you can’t prove your strength by cutting down your enemies. Then Yuya sees her brother being cut down by the man with the cross on his back who turns out to be Kyoushirou. Yuya wakes up as Ajira explains this bed of flowers within the Sea of Trees that brings out one’s deepest and most painful memories. It is also the same reason why it is the best place to hide Kyo’s body. Migeira is not pleased that Yukimura knows about Nobunaga’s plan to revive himself using Kyo’s body and did not take action. So he doesn’t want the country to plunge into chaos, huh? What difference does it make? Migeira deduces that if war happens again, the Sanada clan will have the chance to take over the country. Kyo fights Nobunaga but he is weakened thanks to Basara’s poison arrow attacks. Also, Okuni is part of Junishinsho and her name is actually Indara. However she seems reluctant in totally betraying Kyo as she truly has feelings for him. Due to Nobunaga’s temporary body reaching its limit, he is forced to retreat. Nobunaga then chastises Basara for such lowly tactics that sullen the sanctity of their fight. Migeira treats Kyo’s injuries as Benitora learns what happens. He decides to fight Nobunaga himself after realizing that Yuya isn’t waiting for him but Kyo. He should go to her. Basara takes out his frustration by destroying Santera’s village. Luckily Sasuke saves them all. Yukimura fights that despicable guy in his Kenyou form. Benitora gets ready to fight Nobunaga. Not sure what they’re talking about Benitora’s lineage but he denies all that and claims he is just Benitora. It might seem Benitora destroyed only Nobunaga’s steed. But this is just to give Kyo a small chance even if this means getting a fatal injury. With Benitora bowing out, looks like Kyo has recovered for his rematch.
Episode 16
Yukimura doesn’t view his subordinates as tools but comrades who share his dreams. And that is why he is able to defeat and kill Basara who is in his Kenyou form. Okuni betrays Nobunaga to save Benitora and retreat. Migeira can’t trust this traitor but Kyo claims nobody knows the truth and the truth is what he’ll decide. Okuni tries to regain her honour by sacrificing herself to stop Nobunaga’s attack. Of course Kyo won’t let that happen so it’s round 2 of Kyo vs Nobunaga. Nobunaga has healing properties in this temporary body so Kyo is at a disadvantage. Migeira wants to help but Yukimura will not allow their fight to be interrupted. You know Kyo hates it when others interfere, right? Nobunaga’s body is at its limit but he claims the entire Sea of Trees is his body since its power is what is holding it. He has Shatora to enhance it as he becomes a giant tree man. Meanwhile Ajira has found Kyo’s body. He betrays his comrades and freezes them including Yuya. Kyo is about to be killed by Nobunaga but in that moment, Kyoushirou swaps with him because nobody else is allowed to kill him. With Kyoushirou back, Nobunaga is not pleased with this turn of events because it is the Mibu clan who made that comet fall to revive him with demonic powers at Sekigahara. While Kyoushirou admits that as he has just got all his memories back, he claims he has no interest in his clan and is just a simple medicine man. But if it comes a time has to pick up a sword and fight, he will. He shows his Mizuchi technique that is supposed to be used together rather than how Kyo used separately. Nobunaga crumbling in defeat!
Episode 17
With Nobunaga actually defeated, Kyoushirou now threatens Shatora as he wants answers why the Mibu clan is doing all this. Unfortunately, the rest of the episode is recap!!! As Yuya freezes, she reflects on why she is chasing the man with the cross scar on his back. At the same time, telling us the main characters like Kyo, Migeira, Yukimura and Benitora. Sakuya takes over from the second half because obviously Yuya doesn’t know about Nobunaga. Hence another recap from that comet and Nobunaga’s revival as well as all the members of Junishinsho. A few additional info we learn include Okuni is the other follower of Kyo aside Akira. Then there is Shatora’s ability to transfer souls from one body to another. That is why she is pivotal to transfer Nobunaga to Kyo’s body. That’s all the recap for today because obviously we can’t go deep into the spoilers for the Mibu clan. Sakuya frees Yuya because she believes she is the one who must return to Kyo while she herself as an unworthy sinner must return to the Mibu clan. Kyoushirou’s interrogation is interrupted with Akira popping up to announce he has both Yuya and Kyo’s body.
Episode 18
Akira says he killed Yuya just to make Kyo made. This means against Kyoushirou’s wishes, Kyo pops back up. Akira further blames Yuya as the source of Kyo becoming weak. He is not supposed to be so. How else are they going to take over the country? He wants Kyo to join in but Kyo says he is not interested in that anymore. This makes Akira displeased since it was Kyo who took him in and vowed to make him the second strongest man in the country. Was it all a lie? Akira would’ve given his body back if he comes back but looks like he’ll keep it. Then Yuya pops up and surprises everyone. Tim for Akira to retreat. Next time. With great balls of fire raining down on the Sea of Trees, they have to escape. Flashback shows when Yuya was unfrozen, she tried to help free Makora and Shindara. Can her rock do the trick? Nope. It was Santera who used her last ounce of life to burn them free. The duo then reunite with Shatora who claims she can still revive Nobunaga as long as she has this whatever. While the gang is resting up, Yukimura notices Kyo getting up and leave. Going after Akira? In this state where he is still wounded? Or is he afraid that if Kyoushirou takes over, he won’t come back again? Whatever the case, he won’t go alone because yeah, the whole gang wants to come with him. But for now, let’s party! Kyo joining his servants, eh? Probably the best chance to give Yuya back her gun. Migeira and Okuni decide to do some investigations on the Mibu clan. When a servant reports to Yukimura that Sakuya has gone missing and no clues of her whereabouts, this has Yuya remember the dream. Muramasa’s village their next destination. They reach there and Sakuya is there too. She claims she has gone to the Mibu side on her own will. She is then taken away by a couple of hot nurses from the Mibu side, Saiko and Saisei. Uhm, did they come from the wrong era and anime?! And how kind of Makora to let Sasuke and Saizou know that he has aligned himself with the Mibu clan.
Episode 19
Sasuke goes after Makora while Kyo talks to Muramasa himself. However they are attacked by assassins sent by the Mibu clan. Easily despatched so they call out the one behind this, Shinrei. He is giving Muramasa one last chance to come back to them or he will have to kill him for treason. Since he won’t, that’s that. Kyo will not be ignored and wants to fight Shinrei. But Shinrei views him incomplete and a toy. Kyo might be angered but he lost to Shinrei! Woah! Dragon pierced through his body! Meanwhile Benitora is being attacked by demonic assassins who are tasked to kill those involved with Muramasa and Kyoushirou. He is assisted by Mahiro and Sasuke but they’re too powerful for them. Shinrei explains that now is the time for the Mibu clan to directly rule over Japan. For millennia, despite the changes in leadership of the country, they are just puppet for the Mibu clan who has been ruling from the shadows. All that change when Nobunaga who was created by them was to be made the next ruler. It was then the clan decided they didn’t want to be shadow rulers anymore. Also, they have been developing secret weapons but in the process there were defects. Those defects are thrown into the Sea of Trees and hence those are the origins of those inhabitants. Nobunaga was defeated back then but the Mibu clan saw it as a minor setback. They attempted to resurrect him at Sekigahara but miscalculated and didn’t expect the summoning of Kyo. Meanwhile Sasuke finds a sword calling him in some rundown shed. Yeah, you bet this is going to be one of those true swords from Muramasa. Long story short, it accepts him as its new master and as proof, Sasuke can summon lightning to strike and destroy his enemy. So easy. Since Shinrei will not retreat, Muramasa will deal with him personally. Also this will be Kyo’s lesson to learn the true Mumyo Jinpuu style.
Episode 20
Wow. Just turn the sword into some lightsabre and voila! Shinrei’s attacks are defeated. This also affects Muramasa’s body because now he too collapses. Meanwhile Migeira and Okuni are investigating Kyoto that has been burnt down. It could be the same culprit who burnt down the Sea of Trees. Migeira explains about certain children who were born with special gifts of seeing the future, were expected to devote themselves to protect history. Migeira hints he is one of them. Because the other alternate history has this arts known as kabuki and no wars. That’s why he is going to collect all the true Muramasa swords so that history will return to its true path. When Okuni finds Kyo’s body, she thought Akira is going to attack her. He is actually protecting her from the flames of Hotaru who is a member of the Mibu clan. Yes, he is the one who burnt down the Sea of Trees. Guess what? Hotaru is the other follower of Kyo and harbours desires to kill Kyo himself. He claims Akira has gotten weak despite using this bait of Kyo’s body to lure him here. Akira fights Hotaru and gets owned so as to let the duo escape and report all this to Kyo. Shinrei recovers as he disposes off Benitora and Sasuke. Can Yuya do the job? She misses. But luckily Kyo broke out from his spell to protect her. Power of love? Shinrei then withdraws out of respect for Muramasa. Muramasa then proceeds to teach Kyo the true Mumyo Jinpuu. Failure to do so would mean death. The other one who mastered it is Kyoushirou and his clash with Kyo will be inevitable. Mahiro wonders why Benitora won’t return to Edo. I thought he left it all to Hanzou? Obviously it’s for Yuya, right? What do you mean Kyo will show you the answer of living and fighting, the reason you’re following him?! Migeira and Okuni return in time to tell that Kyo’s body has fallen into the hands of the Mibu clan. But soon after, Okuni takes off herself as she will be going to the Mibu clan. Yukimura thinks she should be a spy and wants to follow. His goal is to borrow their power so his Sanada clan’s dream of ruling this nation will come true.
Episode 21
Sasuke takes this is Yukimura’s betrayal because he is going to side with the Mibu clan. Saizou tries to reason with both of them that Yukimura has his own reasons but looks like Sasuke is not listening. They got distracted when Kyo seemingly has mastered the moves. Yeah, can’t miss that big fire phoenix rising up. Just like that, Yukimura and Okuni are gone. As Yuya nurses Muramasa, the latter talking how Kyo needs her since she is the one who can only draw out his true strength. Let me guess. Power of love? Anyway, Muramasa’s time is up so he starts disintegrating. He tells them to go to Sekigahara as that is where the Mibu clan’s castle is. Also, please take care of Kyo. RIP, Muramasa. And so Kyo’s entourage make their journey there. One night they stop to rest, WTF Yuya tries to steal a kiss from Kyo. Is this what taking of Kyo means?! Yeah, he almost sliced her! Don’t come up close to me again, woman! Arriving at Sekigahara, Migeira suggests splitting up to split up the enemy. WTF does it even make a difference?! Since Yuya is still sore about last night, she decides to go with Migeira. Where Yuya goes, Benitora goes. So today Kyo will be a shotacon with Sasuke… Migeira’s side encounters those sexy nurses. Not sure about their wood power they explain in which they can create anything. I bet they can make men have morning wood! HAHAHAHA!! Anyway, they create hot female clones to play with them. Of course our heroes won’t take the bait. Migeira is perhaps gay and Benitora only has eyes on Yuya. WTF Yuya gets bullied before fighting back?! WTF YOU DOING, GIRL???!!! Playtime’s over. Nurses gonna get serious.
Episode 22
Migeira and Benitora continue to get their ass handed to them. They can’t even hurt them since they regenerate. Realize too late that this is all just a ploy to wear them down? To make it more fun, they plant a mark on Yuya’s chest. Basically it’s a countdown and if it disappears, Yuya go boom! You boys better hurry up and defeat those nurses. Meanwhile Yukimura and Okuni meet Sakuya. However Shinrei doesn’t trust them. Good timing for Yukimura because as Saizou is here to rescue him, Yukimura disposes of him and claims he has joined the Mibu claim. That enough credit points for you? Back to the fight with the nurses, Saisei shows her body is made up of infinite spaces. She is just a toy created by their creator. Then they reveal the shocking truth that it is the same for Kyo. The Mibu clan created him. Similarly, Yukimura witnesses as Shinrei explains how Shatora will begin some ritual to resurrect Nobunaga inside Kyo’s body. Yukimura wonders if Kyo will be trapped inside Kyoushirou’s body forever. That shock on Yukimura’s face like as though he didn’t see this coming as he is told Kyo never actually existed. Time’s up and Yuya gonna explode. She tries to take out Saisei with her but she gets absorbed to be part of her body instead. However that didn’t go well because Yuya finds her real heart and shoots it to pieces, destroying her for good. Stupid! She let her into her body and exposed her weakness???!!! Saiko is being cocky about dolls being dolls. Then the next second she dies because somehow Migeira and Benitora learnt the trick from Yuya (WHAT TRICK?!) and kill her off. Yeah, time’s running out, might as well kill her off. That sure escalated quickly. Now we see Kyo preparing to face off Hotaru.
Episode 23
We see Sakuya’s true intentions to go to the Mibu side. I bet nobody in the clan saw this intention of hers to unfreeze Kyo’s body just to destroy it. Too bad she fails and gets slapped by Shatora for trying to undo her masterpiece. She is thrown into the same prison cell as Okuni. Oh good. Now the exes can bond. Hotaru feels disappointed fighting Kyo as he thinks he has grown weaker by accumulating friends. He reveals the real truth about Kyo and Kyoushirou (similarly this is explained by Sakuya to Okuni). Long story short, the Mibu clan chose Kyoushirou to become the strongest king of their clan known as Red King who will rule over everything. Hence Kyoushirou had to throw away everything including his emotions and friendship to surpass it all and become the strongest since he realized it was a fate he cannot escape from. Hence he became Kyo as Kyo was created to succeed the Red King. But after Kyoushirou became Kyo, he took flight and abandoned the Mibu clan and causing the clan to panic all over. It was then Hotaru became attracted to Kyo’s ways as they travelled the country and slay all enemies who came their way. Hotaru felt those were the fun days but it is now a distant memory. Hotaru’s only question is how Kyo escaped Kyoushirou’s body but Kyo insists he is himself and Kyoushirou has nothing to do with it. As Okuni laments a man who chooses the top will never choose love, Sakuya disagrees as Kyoushirou tried to grant her wish. That is, not to wound or kill anybody. Hence Kyoushirou chose love. So uhm, let me get this straight, Kyoushirou claims he didn’t divide himself or remove his love or kindness but rather it split into 2? And thus Sakuya’s love for him also split into 2. HUH?! Meanwhile Yukimura has gotten his hands on Tenguko, the final true Muramasa sword. Wow. Not even any Mibu clan members can hold it but he can?! BECAUSE HE ISN’T A TRUE MIBU CLAN MEMBER, SILLY!!! HAHA! Yukimura believes with this, he can kill Kyo. Kyo is going to let Hotaru have a taste of his true Mumyo Jinpuu style.
Episode 24
Oh wow. A flaming phoenix, huh? But damn, Hotaru just absorbs it into his black aura and Kyo’s done for?! Of course we should know better to count our chickens because just like the phoenix legend, it rises back up and defeats Hotaru. When Kyo won’t kill him, he thinks he has changed. Too bad, it’s that comrade thingy that goes a long way back and so Hotaru remembers those fun days together and admits his defeat. Yeah. Really. Now Kyo has to fight Yukimura who is hell bent on taking him down. But first, Sasuke is disappointed of Yukimura’s betrayal. However he has to face off with Makora. Because Sasuke doesn’t want to fight his old friend, you bet that’s the reason he can’t win. We hear Makora’s tragic past that doesn’t really matter nor do we care. But it makes Sasuke realize that comrade thingy again because that’s the reason why people like them have to fight as it cannot be avoided! Yeah. Really. Because of that, Sasuke fights better and Makora is baffled he keeps thinking of the past whenever he fights him. So when Makora cannot finish him off, Shindara is going to kill Sasuke himself. WTF Sasuke asking for Yukimura’s help. Did he not say he doesn’t care?! With Yukimura’s fight getting too serious, suddenly Tenguko transforms into its true form, a bow. Quickly, Yukimura then fires through and kills Shindara. Shindara has just shindara! HAHAHA!! And yes, you’ve guessed it that it was all just a ruse. In order to awaken Tenguko’s true form, Yukimura has to put his life on the line. So joining Mibu was just a deception. Hey, to deceive your enemies, deceive your allies first! Yeah, so convincing that Sasuke really thought he betrayed him. Looks like he didn’t believe in his Yukimura 100%! So don’t worry, Saizou is still alive. Now that this is solve, time for the final epic battle as Nobunaga is revived in Kyo’s body. Another meteor hurtling down?
Episode 25
WTF Okuni trying to warn Yuya about trying to continue her love for Kyo or Kyoushirou because she might end up like Sakuya?! I don’t know what’s going on but does it even matter?! You bet Yuya doesn’t give a f*ck and will go with Kyo. Nobunaga disposes of those Mibu dudes. It is very clear and obvious that he doesn’t give a f*ck about the clan. He wants to turn this world into a world filled with Kenyou and endless wars. For the meteor to open such a big gate to bring in all that, hence Sakuya’s powers. Too late for Shinrei to not foresee this as Nobunaga finishes him off and steals his technique. Now the gang is here. But first some cheesy trolling romance as Sakuya doesn’t want Kyo to return to his body as she fears the fight with Kyoushirou will last forever until one of them dies. Pep talk from Yuya about how it’s not their right to dictate that because Kyo is Kyo and Kyoushirou is Kyoushirou. Look who’s the love expert now! Done talking about this? Because now it’s time for the final boss fight. Our true Muramasa wielders attack but get easily subdued by the big man. He attacks Kyo directly who didn’t even budge and takes a direct hit. Nothing happens as Kyo mocks his copied attacks are so inferior. Kyo unleashes the phoenix. Nobunaga also does the same. BOOM! Migeira realizes the only way is to combine all their true Muramasa. He absorbs those from Benitora, Yukimura and Sasuke and fires it against Shatora, killing her. Not sure what real history she saw during that great fire in Edo. What’s this about she’s supposed to be Nobunaga’s sister? Whatever. She does not approve of this true history and dies. WTF. All that is left is to absorb Kyo’s Muramasa. But Kyo is saying goodbye? He allows Migeira to fire at him knowing that doing this, history will be corrected since this deviation started when he split into 2. As a result both will disappear and history will return to its proper course. Yeah, Yuya won’t accept this sh*t because how the f*ck do you know that history is the right one! Yup, the guys she loves disappearing is never going to be the right thing!
Episode 26
Nobunaga still can’t be defeated so does this mean he isn’t the core of the distortion? It’s Kyo or Kyoushirou, right? Akira returns to freeze Nobunaga and give our gang some breathing space. I guess Hotaru didn’t finish him off. How sweet. Migeira can’t shoulder the burden of erasing Kyo and Kyoushirou. Wuss. Kyo doesn’t give a sh*t and will live his life the way he wants. Nobunaga breaks out as Kyo absorbs all the true Muramasa swords. This opens a portal to modern day Japan. Kyo and Nobunaga take their fight to the next world! Holy sh*t! Kyo using Tokyo Tower to pierce through Nobunaga! OH F*CK! THE WHOLE TOKYO GOT DESTROYED TOO?! Ah shucks. We don’t care about that future, right?! Oh damn, this is going to cause both eras to collide. So how? Shindara who isn’t dead yet, explains how the real power that opens the demon gate is them. The samurais’ feelings of not wanting the war to end. What use will samurais be without wars, right? Sakuya’s power was no more than just a catalyst. Shindara claims he is like Migeira and can see the future. He thought of changing history by resurrecting Nobunaga but looks like he realizes his punishment is unavoidable after his betrayal. In short, he is sacrificing himself to close the gate. Bye. For real. With that, this era returns to normal and we have both Kyo and Kyoushirou. Kyo in his original body as Nobunaga has been buried in the other world. Yeah, like we care about that world, right?! In the aftermath, Akira and Hotaru travel to become stronger to defeat Kyo. Still harbouring that dream? Sakuya and Shinrei will gather all the scattered Mibu members to live somewhere quietly and promise to stay in the shadows. Hopefully. She reveals that Yuya’s brother is one of those scattered descendants of Mibu and the night before the battle at Sekigahara, several men including him were despatched to prevent Kyoushirou from going there. She is saying this now to seek her forgiveness. You will, right? WTF Yuya trying to rush to Kyo and Kyoushirou’s fight. Migeira trying to stop her so as to warn she will never love the winner. Jokes on him because she claims she will continue to live with that sorrow. Masochist! With Okuni saying goodbye, does this mean she is settling for Migeira? During a summer battle at Edo, Benitora and Yukimura’s side clash. Yuya is now seen peddling medicine and living a quiet life with Kyo/Kyoushirou.
Samurai Derper: My Body Lies Over The Sea (Of Trees)
Oh God. Goodness gracious. The ending felt like crap but I shouldn’t be complaining. The way it was going and how much everything sucked, I couldn’t be happier that the series finally ended. Even if this happy feel good ending was a really crappy one. Sorry folks, I don’t know my Japanese history much so I am not sure if these guys are living the true path as supposedly dictated in history. My guess it is not because many of these characters especially who aren’t based on the historical figures don’t even exist and are only so in fiction. More specifically, this anime. So yeah, Yuya and Kyo/Kyoushirou living together? Yup. Believable. In the context that it is a fairytale that never happened in OUR history.
Very early on in the series, I was beginning to have this sinking feeling that this series is going to suck because of the way things were going. And that worst nightmare came true because as the more episodes I watched, the more the series began to really suck. I wonder why. Then a little Google search somewhat got me enlightened. I found out that the anime series was very loosely based on the manga series of the same name. Uh oh. You know what that means. The anime took a lot of liberties in the story and characters. And that itself means it is bad and the whole thing is going to turn into sh*t. I have not read the manga itself but I read one of the obvious differences pointed out was the Kenyou, which was non-existent in the manga. Those Kenyou characters were actually humans with superhuman abilities, that’s all. And now this anime has turned them into monsters so as to be killed off. No wonder this anime sucked! The other big difference is the role of Yuya. She has been relegated to a side character with no significant role to play. How the f*ck can you turn a hot chick who is supposed to be one of the main characters into some useless character?! NO WONDER THIS ANIME SUCKED! Definitely suck balls hard!!! So can I blame something in history altered that had the producers come up with this crap?!
The whole story feels very iffy and one long side quest. Although the series is divided into small mini arcs, it feels like completing one will lead Kyo and the gang to the next mini arc and finally the big final one. Sometimes it feels a bit disjointed and unrelated. For instance, the beginning we have the introduction followed by some weird and unsatisfying tournament in which then turned into a quest into the Sea of Trees before finally heading to the Mibu clan’s HQ for the big final showdown. Sure, the whole series is probably about Kyo trying to get back his body but in the meantime, lots of other side distractions especially evil organizations who want to have a bone to pick with Kyo. Who’d knew just trying to get back his body would take this long! Makes you wonder if Kyo is really interested in getting his body back or he just enjoys the company of his fellow ‘slaves’. Because like they say, it is the journey and not the destination. Yeah. Such fun times. No wonder this anime is sh*t with plots like that. It even makes me wonder why its title is called Samurai Deeper. What’s so deep?! The whole story feels so shallow! Oh right, the sucking gets deeper!
That means the characters are miserable and painful to watch too. Firstly, Kyo being the main character himself is supposed to be badass and powerful but in many ways he looks like some brooding guy who acts tough. I don’t know if it’s a joke or not that sometimes Kyo ‘loses’ because the plot and the script says it is time for him to do that. Sure, the loss is temporary to cook up some character drama and waste more time with whatever side distractions. Because it makes you wonder if Kyo is that Demon Eyes Kyo we thought he is supposed to be. Yeah, he shows more kindness than your typical baddie by not killing off his opponents and letting his ‘lackey’s do as they please. This Kyo has more mercy than his rumours. And yeah, plot twist! Kyo and Kyoushirou are the same! Created by the Mibu clan as the next puppet! Why am I not feeling that surprise I supposed to feel even though I didn’t see this coming? Oh right. Maybe it’s because this anime sucks!
As mentioned, Yuya has been relegated to a less significant side character and the way I see it, she is more like a damsel in distress as she gets herself into trouble and needs to be rescued in several occasions. Basically, a useless character. The only reason they keep her around is to troll us of the possible romance and the feelings she has for this guy. Uhm, did we forget she was looking for the guy with a cross shaped scar on his back to avenge her dead brother? That’s you, Kyo. Or Kyoushirou. Whoever. And what’s this? She’s following him now like a disciple in hoping to find some sort of answer? What answer?! It’s right before you! Your brother’s killer?! This proves she doesn’t want to kill him because she has fallen head over heels over this badass wannabe. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is. In the end, when they decided to go with Yuya ending up with him, it just felt she was like the trophy wife. Yeah…
The same can be said for Okuni and it’s like they need to have some love rivalry since she is more physically endowed than Yuya (yeah, I figure making her wear a mini skirt yukata is some subtle fanservice or something) and it’s the only reason why she didn’t get killed off despite being a member of Junishinsho. Otherwise, she doesn’t do anything much outside her spy role. Then it’s goodbye Kyo/Kyoushirou for her and it’s justified because she didn’t do any jack sh*t either. And this Sakuya, I don’t understand her. So she’s in love with both men, so what? Maybe it is taboo for women to love more than 1 man. Yeah, she looks and sounds so distressed about something and it could be just a mountain out of a molehill. Love is sure complicated for women, don’t you think? So it’s like she wants to atone herself, the Mibu clan’s misdeeds and for Yuya’s brother’s death by surrendering Kyo/Kyoushirou to Yuya. I know it’s not but it feels like that. Kyo/Kyoushirou the trophy husband. Yeah…
Somebody needs to be the light-hearted and casual fellow AKA comical relief. That’s you Benitora. Ah yes, with Kyo being so stubborn, prideful and possibly gay, that’s why you need this joker to sometimes act like a playboy and make wisecracks to liven up the boring situation. Basically Benitora is your ‘the other guy’ in that typical groupie. Then there is Migeira who also feels pretty underutilized. Sometimes an overlapping character with Kyo because of his brooding character. Only, he wears a mask so I can’t see his entire face. So being the foreigner means he wields a gun and gives some sort of variety in the battles. And what’s this he is supposed to be overseer of the actual history? Like, how does it even matter?! What’s so bad about having this timeline as the history? You mean the corrected history is better?! Are you telling me that if history is not corrected to its proper path, then anime and manga would not have existed in Japan???!!! Because if kabuki is said to not exist, what are the chances of the anime and manga?! YIKES! Oh sh*t! Can’t have that! Even if it means this sh*tty anime won’t exist! Okay then. Please go ahead and protect the real history.
Completing the merry group is Yukimura and his aides. Yeah, this Yukimura dude feels even more a slacker than Benitora since he has this air of mystery over him and does what he wants. He seems to be at his own pace although his actions have deeper meaning. If Benitora is more brash and bold as a playboy, perhaps Yukimura is the opposite as he is gentler and more suave in his words. But sorry girls, no yaoi awakening between these guys here. Shotacon lovers would love Sasuke while Saizou feels like another overlapping character with Benitora in terms of comic relief character. Too bad he is a lesser character so he doesn’t get much of the spotlight and is mostly forgettable. Same case for Mahiro because she joined the gang late just to protect Hidetada (Benitora’s real name for those who have already forgotten) but does not leave any impressionable impact. I don’t know, it feels like they want to troll us that she might have feelings for her lord.
The bad guys are pathetic and they exist only to get killed off. I mean, you realize the pattern in every mini arc, right? We are introduced to a small group who are out after Kyo. Unless they become part of Kyo’s groupie, they get killed off quick or when their time is up as the arc approaches to a close. I mean, do you people even remember the first mini antagonist group, Sansaishuu? Here I was a fool to think that they might be the series’ main antagonist but I should’ve seen it coming that they appeared way too early. And when they all got killed off, I just realized it was just part of the plot to add Benitora to the team. And worse for all these baddies, they are Kenyou and because they are monsters, no love lost when they die a horrible death. After all, you just killed a monster, not a human. Phew. That sure would be easy on our conscience! That saves us from any character development unless they’re related to any of Kyo’s groupie (like Makora), then yeah, a bit of flashback and the likes but nothing really impressive either.
One of the worst aspects of this anime is the animation quality. It is very paltry and while it might not be the worst animation ever if you are to rank those with bad animation quality, it is still bad. The biggest culprit is during the fight scenes as you can obviously see the drop in the quality like as though they want to do a quick job and get the scene over. Like as though they felt this anime was going to suck anyway so they decided not to give a f*ck and simply do up what was necessary so as to have the bare minimum of what an anime should look like. The characters themselves don’t look detailed sometimes, like as though they skimp on them in some scenes in hopes viewers won’t notice. Oh heck, even in normal scenes they just look pretty below average. And there are some scenes that aren’t animated and it’s just like a moving picture slide. Not sure if this is for dramatic effect but I have this feeling in my guts that they’re skipping out on the animation to save time and cost. In short, it sucks! And to think that veteran Studio Deen who made Fate/Stay Night, KonoSuba, Rurouni Kenshin, the original Fruits Basket, Vampire Knight, Jigoku Shoujo and Nanatsu No Taizai among others, could produce such a crap quality! Thank goodness this series also doesn’t use much CGI. Most notable, the meteor. Those f*cking CGI fire trail is hideous! I believe that is what sealed the demon world!
Thanks to that substandard animation quality, I would also like to say the action and battle scenes are a pain to watch. Correction. Laughable! Oh wait. That would also mean it sucks and unsatisfying that it is no laughing matter! Sad. To think you have samurai with swords would at least provide us some decent action if the story and characters themselves couldn’t live up to standard. A very big unfortunate thing that watching them feels like they want you to notice all the flaws in the animation because it makes the fights look weird as hell as well. Good thing most fights don’t last very long and the baddies of the day get killed off as soon as the battle wears out. You know it’s cue and time for them to die for example when Kyo says his trademark line. I think it’s something like, do you hear the wind or something. Swoosh! Blam! They’re dead. Easy. Not sure if my ears heard a joke and that’s why I was hesitant to laugh at this cringe. And that’s why I pointed out these baddies were made as Kenyou so there won’t be love lost to these characters who are a dime a dozen. Good riddance. Do you even know how many members there are in Junishinsho?! Oh right, silly me. It’s in the name itself. No wonder, truly a dime a dozen.
The voice acting is pretty average. I can’t fault these seiyuus if the story and characters they play are that bad. So it pains my heart to hear cutie Yui Horie as Yuya because it feels like she’s wasting her talents on a useless character. Even though if Nana Mizuki makes a small cameo is Mika, somehow I feel relieved she didn’t have to be featured for the rest of the series. Same case for Takahiro Sakurai as Kubira. WTF did they run out of people to voice because Hotaru and Hanzou are voiced by the same Takehito Koyasu! I’m forming complicated and baseless conspiracies already about them being the same character! Others I recognized include Katsuyuki Konishi as Kyo/Kyoushirou, Megumi Ogata as Yukimura, Akira Ishida as Sasuke, Mikako Takahashi as Mahiro and Sho Hayami as Nobunaga. The other casts are Toshihiko Seki as Benitora (Kibutsuji in Kimetsu No Yaiba), Hikaru Midorikawa as Migeira (Zora in Black Clover), Yumi Kakazu as Okuni (Aya in Ayashi No Ceres), Yukana as Sakuya (C.C. in Code Geass), Takashi Matsuyama as Saizou (Jeeves in Hatena Illusion), Souichiro Hoshi as Akira (Kaoru in Ai Yori Aoshi) and Tomokazu Seki as Shinrei (Gilgamesh in the Fate series).
At least the opening theme, Ao No Requiem by Pipeline Project featuring Yuiko Tsubokura is bearable. Your typical anime rock beat that isn’t all too shabby. It would have fit the series like a glove and a decent opener had the series itself didn’t suck balls! Too bad I can’t say the same for the ending theme, Love Deeper sung by the same group. Because it feels so out of place with its hip hop and funky beat despite being a rock song. I won’t say this song is entirely bad but it certainly gave me this weird feeling as it has some similar vibes to the opening theme of Outlaw Star (Through The Night). Of course the latter is much superior and I still prefer that one. Though, if you want some music that would make you get up and dance to the beat, this ending theme feels like it. As for the BGM, there is a wide range of them ranging from rock to even acoustic. And of course, some are weird.
Overall, this anime is largely disappointing and I can’t stress this enough, IT SUCKS BALLS!!!!!!! Perhaps knowing the fact that it didn’t follow the manga despite I myself did not read the original source, that bias perception of mine unconsciously deducted lots of points that I can no longer see any sort of salvation for this series whatsoever. This series is a great lesson why if you want to adapt something, please do not stray so far from the source material and do your own stuffs. Otherwise I would personally regard this as some sort of legal plagiarism. It is sad that in this timeline we had this nonsense and trash. Because I figure that if should this anime’s ‘false’ timeline stood, this crap would never had existed at all and we would have been saved from this garbage. Oh right. Anime might not exist then. Can’t have that. Okay then. A small price to pay for something that largely brings me joy. I’ll accept this sh*t and move on.
Chua Tek Ming~*Anime Power*~ !LiVe FoR AnImE, aNiMe FoR LiFe! 