Oh, it’s my turn already? Okay…
You may be wondering what am I doing. During Christmas break, ghostlightning, along with other notable anibloggers, agreed on an assignment: Each one of us will randomly pick (from a pool of suggested shows) a 12-episode long anime to watch, and everyone must write a post about their opinion on said show. That being said, it’s my turn for Show and Tell, and the show I’m going to talk about is none other than Kure-Nai.
And this is how I would describe my state of mind after watching its 12 episodes in one sitting.
Personally, I didn’t think a show that’s off my radar would be given so much emphasis, it generates an “Uh… What…?” face, followed by RAEG and HAET, and then “Uh… What…?” again. I don’t know if it masquerades its genre as slice-of-life, underworld Japan, action, or if you stretch it far enough, harem. It didn’t stick to one, as far as I know, and as if being confused is not enough, the show throws in a loli and an adolescent boy who are just millimeters away from falling into a relationship that Shin would die for.
The characters are pretty much spineless despite having physical, monetary, influential, or political power. Hell, even the simple right of free will is there, but it isn’t well stressed for the most part. Protagonist Shinkuro, despite having the power of the Horn of Hozuki, chooses not to use it because he’s adamant to find his true self, which is, in essence, nothing of good worth both to himself and to others, since he depends too much on it as if it was his lifeline. The Kuhoin family chief, Renjo, is similar to a company CEO having problems because he can’t go against the wishes of the Board of Directors. He can’t object against the family’s traditions, nor does he have the balls to literally go against almost EVERYONE to save her daughter. Ginko, Shinkuro’s information broker, is merely a shell of her former self, who died when they were kidnapped by some syndicate as kids, even though she tries her best to somehow make contact with the protagonist in question. Enumerations aside, almost everyone has problems even though they have an ample amount of power to set things straight. All, except Murakami. everyone’s complete opposite. That girl’s defiant to the end. She fights for what she wants, even though she doesn’t have the power and freedom to do so. Childish, yet mature.
Another thing to note is the show’s “weak” dialogue. You see the script getting spoken out, you see the quick interaction by the characters, but you don’t see any emotion or reaction while they speak it out. It’s as if you have two manzai comedians talking in monotone, which spoils everything, from the standard conversation to the punchline. You have emotionally disturbed people trying to dish out slice-of-life by normal conversation, and they don’t look lively enough to convince that the show is making any progress.
Lastly, notice the great emphasis the show gives on practicing old Japanese traditions, which doesn’t pick any society, be it the underground, political, familial, or the religious ones. Most of the people who believe in such are superstitious, and the big families are so power-hungry, they believe inbreeding is the answer to secure and maintain, if not, strengthen, the family’s status. I’ve seen impure shrine maidens given deity status, political clans that still employ the code of Bushido, and girls that are used to give vitality and sanity, so you may say it’s nothing new to me. Of course, that includes seven year old girls getting raped by their “brothers”, who are mostly more than half their age and sizes.
Nevertheless, it’s still good, in a bad sort of way…
All in all, Kure-nai is a mixture of ICK, MEH, PEDO and RAEG. Kure-Nai‘s appeal is limited to those who can understand what the words “mental breakdown” and “power” mean, or feel that there’s something much more worse than what they can think of, in a sexual, physical, mental, and non-violent (almost) way.
Further Reading
The Other Participants:
It does feel like the show succeeding in transferring part of its mood to you. After all, Kure-nai was about one long angst-fest after some weak slice-of-life (since it wasn’t really funny and, as you said, disturbed people doing slice-of-life doesn’t work). Well, since it failed to use seize the audience’s sympathy during its first half, it’s not that surprised that the whole drama felt lacking during the second half. And yeah… the lolicon relationship hurts this show even more…
I think I enjoyed a total of five minutes of this series, near the end when the MC finally grew some balls and raged on instinct against that stupid brother.
Actually, the second/final half of the show is the only time that the show set everything straight. I mean, screw the open-ended ending. You see people being true to themselves, and everything that was built up way back from the first episode goes crashing doooooooooooooooooooooooown like a stack of Uno sticks, and everyone’s fine with the world again. No more confusion, no more harem implications, no more absurdities masquerading as slice-of-life. It’s just a plain, raw and illicit relationship with the seven year old falling hopelessly in love with a spineless protagonist who may be better off dying in a fire.
I mean, seriously, the show’s half-screwed. I can testify with RAEG on that.
I remember dropping this after three episodes and digiboy started ranting and raving just as he’s doing so with Canaan.
I watched anime first, and liked it. But then I read manga, and it was much better. It actually made sense, unlike anime, Main character did not refuse use the horn, and it did not try to be used. The horn actually powered him up rather than being just strange weapon. Kurenai’s brother was not badass fighter, that did no make sense at all in anime. Reason to give Kurenai to Shinkurou was better explained, too. People actually used weapons, instead just fistfighting.
This is the best part of Kure-nai
ghostlightning: You didn’t finish Canaan, too, right? Also, why did you drop it?
anonymous: I liked the manga a lot better than the anime, too. The Hozuki’s powers of assassination were explained in detail (seriously, training yourself in order to relocate your internal organs and bones?), and the chapters usually skip on the important parts since like I said, you can’t make disturbed characters dish out slice-of-life and be done with it like it’s okay. As for the Murasaki-Shinkuro relationship, the buildup was fine and all, but I don’t think I’ll like where it’s going to go (seriously, Murasaki, kidnapping Shinkuro just to have a secret marriage with him?).
Kitsune: Whoa. How’d you know that episode’s my favorite?
Kurenai was a good anime, but the manga is much better. You also should come on IRC more often.
Nice LMFAO reference.
p: A lot has been said about manga >>> anime. Also, IRC? What for? And who are you really to want to invite me, anyway?
2DT: Works every time, unless you’re unsure of it yourself.
Duh how can you not guess who I was? Last time you went online I couldn’t even reply to you to show you the new flash games…
I guess there really was a mismatch somewhere in between the atmosphere of the story and the characters, but I liked how the series presented the underground world and tradition & culture issues — I hated the school setting though because I think it was just forced to be there in between. The Hozuki horn thing is also out of place IMO.
The pedo vibe of the show didn’t really get to me.
pew: Fine, fine, dammit. I’ll go on IRC. And stick to just one name.
foomafoo: Kudos to you if you didn’t get the pedo vibe. As for the setting you pointed out, there ARE a lot of things concerning culture and tradition in Japan, clan matters aside. A good bulk of the hentai genre has that thing going for quite some time now, so it’s nothing new for me.
I haven’t changed this nick in a while. Also I wanted to show you some of the newest flash of syntax since it interested you :3
Strangely, I’m part of digiboy’s group that adores this little show. I fully recognize its shortcomings, but it was a fun experience. I came into it with no expectations and left very fulfilled. It turns awesome if you don’t allow yourself to fall into the lolicon trap.
The voice acting is Red Garden-style, in which the characters’ dialogue is animated after the work of the voice cast, synchronizing the animation with the voice actors’ voices. (lol wiki copypasta)
Oh, and Ginko is adorable.
Schneider: Well, the cast ain’t as good as I think it is, or maybe I’m already mistaken on that. Other crappy shows have top-class casts (hint: Akikan) and they were accepted pretty well despite the shortcomings. Maybe this applies for that category, too?
“Of course, that includes seven year old girls getting raped by their “brothers”, who are mostly more than half their age and sizes.”
Well, that’s all the information I need to start watching this.
J/K… This series sounds terrible.
It isn’t. It’s just that the mixture of all the emotions you’ll feel at the same time during every critical scene would leave you hanging on your jaws.
And yes, the loli implications. It never fails to attract or disgust people into watching it.