Story:
Samurai Deeper Kyo is set in the time period right after the Tokugawa shogunate came to power in 1600. The beginning of the story is the battle of Sekigahara in which the forces of Tokugawa Leyasu overcame the other clans to win the throne. During this battle a samurai name Mibu Kyoshiro and a mass-murderer named "Demon Eyes" Kyo duel, this duel seems certain to end badly for Mibu but he has a lover who is well versed in magic and commands a group of ninjas, Lady Sakuya. Sakuya conjures up a meteor to strike the battlefield, and as it approaches the ninjas Sasuke and Sanada attempt to get Mibu out of range. At the last minute the ninjas run but Mibu does not move....
The Meteor strikes the very spot where they fought, the tide of the battle is turned, and Tokugawa comes out victorious.....Four years later a medicine man named Mibu Kyoshiro wanders the land looking for love and of course cold hard cash, on the road he encounters a beautiful woman named Yuya who appears to be in trouble. Alas for poor Mibu it turns out she's a bounty hunter as well and she's come to turn Mibu in. But then a terrible monster appears, determined to kill Mibu for some reason. The Monster (a Kenyou, the kenyou were people who were present at Sekigahara when the meteor hit that were given monstrous powers) then proceeds to horribly beat Mibu, but eventually Mibu doubles back and catches the monsters stingers, Mibu's eyes have suddenly turned red and his voice is different Sanada and Sasuke appear, they give him the Muramasa, Demon Eyes Kyo's sword.....could it be? could this clumsy, childish medicine man be the mass murderer Demon Eye's Kyo? or is that not the whole story....
Character:
Samurai Deeper Kyo gets the best marks for character Design as all the characters are very cool and well thought out. From Kyo's kick ass armor at the beginning to Yuya's revolving gun, the characters all exude coolness and style. The coolest characters are the inventive enemies. Each Kenyou is both terrifying and incredibly cool, from the snake creature in the first episode to the armored spider guy in episode 5, they're the kind of bad guys that one is almost disappointed they're defeated.
Character List: (in order of appearance)
Mibu KyoshiroSamurai who is Sakuya's lover and appears to be with the Tokugawa clan. Loses memory in 1600 and becomes a traveling medicine man. Very clumsy but retains the inner strength of the man he once was......
Demon Eyes KyoMass murderer rumored to have killed 1000 people. Disappeared in the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. He carries a magic sword called the Muramasa, which is 1.5 meters long. His eyes have a sooty red glow about them which gave him his name.
Sanada YukimuraA ninja/samurai working for Lady Sakuya. Escaped the battle of Sekigahara unscathed, feared by the shogun. Likes Sake.
Sasuke A ninja also working for Lady Sakuya. Accompanies Sanada most of the time.
Saizou Another ninja working for Lady Sakuya. Appears to have some magical powers. Never gets to tell the good part :)
The Lady SakuyaA mysterious woman who appears to have a great command of magic...and a relationship with Mibu. Caused the meteor that ended the battle of Sekigahara. Commands Sasuke, Saizou, and Sanada.
Yuya A beautiful girl who is also a bounter hunter. She carries a handgun with three barrels and is not afraid to use it. Has large, cute breasts :) (watch it and you'll get that) She has dedicated her life to getting revenge on the man with the "cross-shaped" scar on his back.
OkuniA mysterious woman who also seems to have romantic ties to Mibu. But also seems to work with his enemies......
BenitoraA man who only seeks a strong opponent to fight in order to cure his boredom but seems to make friends almost instantly with Mibu. Wields a pike-like weapon with deadly skill... Does he hide a dangerous secret?
Music:Overall the music is good but not excellent....something like the music from Kenshin, not the traditional Japanese sounds but more of the rock, guitar music from Kenshin. Blue Requiem (the opening theme) is an interesting amalgam of English and Japanese words, switching between the two rather randomly. It is however quite a good song nonetheless.
Animation:
The animation doesn't really stand out in any way from what's currently out there. The meteor in the beginning however was excellently animated. The only truly disappointing thing is how the battles are portrayed, oftentimes the battles are still sequences for effect, which makes it seem fairly slow, but other than that it is well animated and makes use of both time-honored techniques and some of the newereffects (like the meteor).
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Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
