Shigurui

Shigurui (シグルイ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takayuki Yamaguchi. It was first serialized in Akita Shoten's seinen manga magazine Champion Red from 2003 to 2006, and later in Champion Red Ichigo from 2007 to 2010; its chapters were collected in fifteen tankōbon volumes. It is based on the first chapter of the novel Suruga-jō Gozen Jiai by Norio Nanjō. An anime television adaptation, aired on Wowow from July to October 2007. The series was directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki, written by Seishi Minakami, and produced by Madhouse.

The anime was licensed in North America by Funimation under the fully translated title Shigurui: Death Frenzy. The licensing was announced in May 2008 and the full series was released in March 2009, on Blu-ray and DVD. The manga and anime are both known for their graphic violence and sexual content.

Plot

The story begins in 1629 Shizuoka during Tokugawa Tadanaga's rule. The daimyō staged a tournament where the participants fought with real steel Japanese swords

Characters

Gennosuke Fujiki (藤木源之助)

The stoic star pupil of the Kogan dojo. In the present time in his duel with Seigen he has only one arm but it is noted that his back muscles could theoretically make up for lost strength. Fujiki is very loyal to Kogan (his master), and is said to be most likely to succeed as the school's master.

Seigen Irako (伊良子清玄)

An ambitious man who seeks to raise his status; unlike Gennosuke, who has genuine devotion to the school and its fortunes, Seigen cares little for it besides the wealth that will come his way if he can rise through the ranks. In the present time, he is blind and has a deep cut in one of his feet. Years before, he joined the Kogan-Ryuu school afterwards and was eventually picked to become the successor over Gennosuke Fujiki, but he and Kogan had a falling out which resulted in his present-day blindness.

Gonzaemon Ushimata (牛股権左衛門)

A master of the Kogan-Ryuu school and Gennosuke's senior. A hulk of a man, Ushimata uses an immensely large wooden sword (Seigen comments that it appears to be a suburitō) which he wields with ease.

Kogan Iwamoto (岩本虎眼)

The cruel Grandmaster of the Kogan-Ryuu school.[1] In a state of dementia most of the time, he regains his faculties most often in the period between fall and winter. Kogan cares nothing for his daughter, Mie, seeing her only as a tool to continue his bloodline. He has a small deformity, a sixth finger on one of his hands. His technique "Nagare Boshi" (Shooting Star) is known and feared by many Samurai.

Mie Iwamoto (岩本三重)

The daughter of Kogan Iwamoto. Betrothed to Seigen Irako, she instead wants to be with Gennosuke Fujiki; however, she seemingly has little to no value to her father—who greatly resents that he had a daughter instead of a son—except as breeding stock.

Lady Iku (いく)

The long-suffering concubine of Kogan who initially appears resigned to life under his control.[2] She faces public stigma outside the school due to past incidents of men mysteriously dying while in her company.

type	tv series
title	Shigurui: Death Frenzy
director	Hiroshi Hamasaki Assistant director: Mitsuyuki Masuhara
producer	Hiroyuki Kitaura Yasuyuki Ueda Yoshihiro Koyama Yukiko Ninokata
writer	Seishi Minakami
music	Kiyoshi Yoshida
studio	Madhouse
network	Wowow
first	July 19, 2007
last	October 12, 2007
episodes	12
episode list	List of Shigurui episodes

Plot

Characters

Media

Manga

Anime

Reception

External links

References