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Corpse Princess: Collection One, Episodes 1 - 13
Based on Yoshiichi Akahito�s stunningly
drawn and rather addictive manga, Corpse Princess takes place in
a Japan beset by Shikabane � the animated corpses of those who
died harbouring a particularly strong regret or obsession. Makina
Hoshimura is a Shikabane Hime, or Corpse Princess, who in
addition to seeking vengeance for her murdered family is tasked with
killing 108 Shikabane before being allowed entrance into heaven.
Add to this a mass-murdering vampire with
a harem of undead cuties, a talking cat, profane monks and plenty of
bloodshed and machine gun fire, and you�ve got the makings of a pretty
great series on your hands. With one proviso: Corpse Princess
is, despite the violence and well-staged horror sequence, probably more
suited to anime viewers in their later teens rather than an adult
audience per se. It�s an intelligent and frenetically paced series, to
be sure, but the high school hijinks and intermittent snippets of
Clannad-style exaggerated animation (bulging eyes, bright red faces,
zany sound effects) will probably prove a slight turn-off to those
looking for something more akin to other excellent Madman imports like
Hell Girl.
Still, with a premise like this, and with
five years of top notch source material to draw from, pardon the pun,
the animated version of Corpse Princess couldn�t help but be a winner.
It�s a great looking two-disc set, with a typically handsome slick and
superb artwork courtesy of studios Feel and Gainax (incidentally the
latest series from the latter is an irresistibly-titled comedy called
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt) - all up, another killer import
from Madman. Pardon the pun.
Audio & Video
No problems here. The lush, vibrant
backgrounds contrast nicely with the hand-drawn, old school character
designs, and the anamorphically enhanced 16:9 transfer is pretty... oh
so pretty. An English DD 5.1 is available if you�re into that sort of
thing � we prefer out anime in its native tongue, and though the
Japanese soundtrack is a DD 2.0 (alas) it actually proves robust and
rather impressive, at least as far as two-channel audio goes.
Special Features
The usual textless openings and closings, a
smattering of trailers, and an audio commentary on Episode 12. |
