Samurai Deeper Kyo: Volume 4

Introduction

Combination relief and dread accompany me as I approach this final volume of Samurai Deeper Kyo. It's a series that I have rapidly grown to loathe as I have been subjected to 3 volumes of utter bombastic tedium, and the sheer relief that this fourth volume brings with the knowledge that it is the last, is tempered by the dread with which I'm reminded that I still have to review it. I still have to sit in front of a television and watch six more episodes of this stuff, that's almost two and a half hours that I will never get back. Two and a half hours of inane drivel that I have to put up with. Two and a half hours of… Still, it is the last one, right? That has to count for something, right? Oh, who am I kidding!

The year was 1600, and the Battle of Sekigahara was coming to a climax when warriors Kyoshiro Mibu and Demon Eyes Kyo faced each other across a carnage-strewn battlefield. Except their battle was rudely interrupted by a whopping great meteorite, and the two vanished in the explosion. Four years later, Kyoshiro is working as a medicine seller, when a bounty hunter named Yuya captures him. She doesn't have him in custody for long, as a Kenyou demon attacks, intent on slaughtering Kyoshiro. The demon isn't expecting Demon Eyes Kyo to wake up and tear him apart. Somehow, the soul of Demon Eyes Kyo has become resident in Kyoshiro's body, and now that he's finally awake, he wants his original body back.


21. The Demonic Mibu Castle
Yukimura has betrayal on his mind, when he states that the Mibu Clan can cement his position over the Sanada Clan. This infuriates Sasuke no end. Meanwhile Muramasa is fading away like Yoda, and just like Yoda he has some final messages. The first is to go to Sekigahara, where the Mibu have their castle, and the second is a message for Yuya, a message she isn't ready to hear yet. At Sekigahara, they divide into two groups before making for the castle. Yuya joins Benitora and Migeira, but they have a couple of ninja nurses lying in wait for them.

22. The Machine Made Dolls
The Mibu Clan have a demonic resurrection of their own in mind, before they take over the world. Their newest recruit Yukimura arrives at the castle, although he isn't too pleased to have been followed by his loyal vassal. The fight also goes badly for Yuya and her friends, as the ninja nurses produce a harem of warriors to attack them. And as so often during the heat of battle, egregious exposition occurs. Both Yuya and Yukimura aren't expecting to hear this little factoid about Demon Eyes Kyo.


23. Scorching Ecstasy
His former ally Hotaru, who now fights for the Mibu, confronts Kyo, who is making his way up the steps of the castle. Hotaru wants to see the Kyo of old, to face him in battle. Meanwhile, in the castle Sakuya sneaks into to see Kyo's body, but the Mibu won't let their plans be disrupted. Also, Yukimura finds the last Muramasa weapon hanging inside the castle, a weapon that no one has been able to master.

24. Last Muramasa Awakening
The battle continues between Hotaru and Kyo, while inside the castle, the Mibu begin the resurrection of the Dark Lord. But the fight between Hotaru and Kyo is just a prelude, for Yukimura now has the Muramasa Tenguko, and he wants to face down Kyo once and for all.


25. The One That Surpasses Tach
Finally, the good guys have all five Muramasa weapons, but it may be too late, as Oda Nobunaga has been resurrected, and has taken Kyo's body for his own. He's also not into gratitude when it comes to the Mibu, and is instead putting forward his own plan to turn the whole world into a demon realm. Only one man can stop him, but in the heat of battle, the unexpected happens.

26. The Ballad of the Samurai
It's the end, and Yuya has a choice to make.

Picture

The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer is unproblematic. It's an NTSC-PAL standards conversion quite naturally, but other than a slight softness and the odd uneven pan, it's all pretty much par for the course for anime. The colours are bright and consistent, the image is clear and well defined, and there's no problem with artefacts or compression, even with the bumper six episodes on the disc. The animation itself is cheap and unimpressive, simple character designs out of place with the setting of the show, and an egregious amount of freeze frame used instead of actual animation. Anime usually gets away with a lower frame count than its western counterparts, but there were times that this felt like a slideshow.

Sound

You have a choice between DD 2.0 Stereo English and Japanese, along with optional translated subtitles and a signs only track. I opted for the original language track, and the dialogue is clear throughout, the action is adequate, and the forgettable pop-rock opening theme is on a level with the equally dull closer.

Extras

There are 90 seconds of messages to the fans from the creators. There are 19 minutes of English dub outtakes, and not one of those minutes is funny. Finally there are trailers for Desert Punk and The Slayers.

Conclusion

How deep is your Kyo, Mr Samurai? It's a question that I've been asking ever since I started watching this series; only in my head, it's actually Barry Manilow singing it. And that is the most fun I have ever had with this series. The actual process of watching it has been about as enjoyable as that screeching sound some evil teachers can make with blackboards. This final volume of Samurai Deeper Kyo, with its six episodes of 'excitement and action' (you'll have to imagine the sarcastic air quotes) is much the same as the other three volumes and the earlier 20 episodes. It's about as exciting and action packed as a packet of marshmallows, after the marshmallows have been consumed.


What we have here are six episodes full of one-on-one battles, with the full visual intensity of Samurai Deeper Kyo's usual non-animation, a.k.a. drawing a still image and energetically moving it about in front of the camera a bit, while ponderous music plays in the background, and the voice actors emote to within an inch of their lives. And every thirty seconds or so, the 'action' will stop and excessive exposition will be inserted, as we still don't know what's going on, so they have to tell us. It's their fault for creating an anime with two-dozen characters to keep track of, and no emotional connection to any of them. And when for the tenth time the fight pauses for another flashback/revelation/heterosexual male bonding, I am reminded of Tuco's pronouncement in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, "When you want to shoot, shoot. Don't talk!" This could have been a mercifully shorter show if the characters had just shut up and had at each other with those unfeasibly long swords of theirs.


The ending of the show is just… weird. It's one of those bizarre ideas that come from a work placement guy, and the creators decide to use it, as they can't think of anything themselves. It makes about as much sense as the rest of the show I guess, but I found it to be especially annoying. I won't spoil it for you. You have to see it for yourself to appreciate the sheer genius of it. Just when you think it's safe to turn off the DVD, along comes an epilogue on top of that, which I had a hard time fathoming. All of a sudden, it's 16 years later, although no one has aged, and for no reason given, former friends are now foes, there's a war going on, although I guess it would make more sense to someone versed with Japanese history, as Samurai Deeper Kyo was meant to be a fantasy alternate history, or something.


You may have some emotional investment in seeing what happens to multiple personality disorder maven Kyo/Kyoshiro, and just which one Yuya ends up with. The show even wimps out on that, offering us an ambiguous silhouette that leaves it all inconclusive, and leaves you wondering just why you wasted 10 hours on this detritus.


As you can guess, I'm not best pleased with Samurai Deeper Kyo. In fact, I feel it's probably the worst thing that MVM have released in a long while; it makes Ikki Tousen look sublime in comparison. Of course I may be wrong, and Samurai Deeper Kyo may indeed deserve plaudits, may indeed have a generous fanbase, and may indeed sell like hot cakes. You'll excuse me though if I approach Samurai Deeper Kyo aficionados with a quizzical look of confusion on my face, as I try to fathom a mindset that is functionally alien to my own.