Samurai Deeper Kyo

3 reviews - 12.0 total score (Explanation of the rating system)
avg. score: (4.0)

3. Marshal of Manga

“There are three reasons why you can’t defeat me. One: Your sword is too light. Two: There’s nothing I can't cut. Three: I'm more handsome than you.” – Kyo

So we have a perceptive, confident, and self-conscious main character. The title doesn't seem to make sense but it couldn't be more suitable: the show is about a ‘Samurai’ named ‘Kyo’ whose persona is ‘Deeper’ than his initial attitude would suggest.

Demon-Eyed Kyo set himself a reputation of having killed a thousand men at the Battle of Sekigahara. When he faces the last man standing, a man by the name of Mibu Kyoshiro – an asteroid hits the battlefield, sealing Kyo’s soul in Kyoshiro’s body…

Four years later, Kyoshiro has settled down as a medicine-seller who tours the country, hoping that the bloodthirsty Kyo will remain dormant inside him forever. Unfortunately, Kyo awakens one day, and while locked inside his arch-rival’s body, embarks on a quest to find and reclaim his own body, so he can resume the fight with Kyoshiro and claim to be the world’s strongest man.

Others are looking for Kyo’s body too however, and their intentions are more sinister than Kyo’s desire to fulfil his egotism… We follow Kyo as he fights his way to his body and finally, to the confrontation with Kyoshiro – who will win, what does it matter, and what’s the purpose of Kyo’s existence? What of the women – one who loves Kyoshiro, one who loves Kyo, and one who loves both?

The character designs are excellent and the action scenes are beautifully animated but you can’t help notice the repetitive story devices – brothers and old acquaintances pop up in their handfuls, torn clothes repair themselves overnight, Kyo uses the same technique over and over, opponents spend countless seconds procrastinating before making the kill which by then is too late…

Nevertheless, Samurai Deeper Kyo makes for excellent viewing, with a fine blend of action, mythology, and character interaction.

The opening and ending themes struck me with their rugged elegance. The music within the anime itself consists of melodies that are well aligned with the natural environments we encounter on Kyo’s travels.

2. Tevesh

This anime series' concept blinded me with awe until episode 13 or 14, in which I realised that it was average.  Its quality in characters kept dropping from exceptional, to average so quickly that I did not care why they were fighting, who they were fighting, or what predicament they were in this time.

It begins when a Samurai sacrifices himself during a battle to defeat an Oni.  Demon Eyed Kyo, was his name, an Oni which had killed over a thousand men.  His opponent was Kyoshiro, who took the Oni's soul into himself and forever sealed the Oni's body away.  After defeating his nemesis, Kyoshiro retired and refused to touch the blade again.  But as with epics, finality is rare, especially at the beginning of the series.

Kyoshiro is attacked while in lust with a voluptuous bounty hunter, who just happens to want Kyoshiro as a cheap bounty to help pay the bills.  Unfortunately, they are attacked by an Oni who wanted revenge from how Kyo treated him, but the reluctant Kyoshiro refuses to draw a sword and his fear for the bounty hunter is so overwhelming that Kyo manages to break out and destroy the Oni.  It seems Kyoshiro is destroyed, and Kyo wants his body back.  She follows, awaiting a weakness with Kyo to emerge and collect an enormous bounty.

With the similar names, and many not so interesting characters running about, it becomes a chore to watch Samurai Deeper Kyo.  I had large expectations, but they dwindled and died.  The first episode made it seem to be a semi-serious anime, with comedic elements as one sees with Get Backers or Rurouni Kenshin, but the comedy is lost.  Leaving character development to Dragon Ball Z style, which there is talking and then the newly introduced Oni of the week is destroyed.

1. 3rdEyeVision

I must admit , this series had me pretty hooked from the opening theme, in fact the music is great and fits well throughout each episode and the length of the series. The music , along with pretty much everything else, is above average and really well done. From the start of the first episode you can tell that you are in for a treat, provided you like these types of shows. I do , in fact this show reminded me about the things I liked about one of my first encounters with anime, a movie called Ninja Scroll.

Now before you go making too big of a connection between the two , let me just say that Samurai Deeper Kyo only reminds me of the good aspects of Ninja Scroll, and none of the things I didn't care for. Maybe this will sum it up better : It takes all the things I like in a good action show ( top-notch animation , interesting heroes and original villains, great fight scenes and action sequences) and adds all the things that are often lacking in an action based show or movie.

SDK has all the stuff you'd expect to see , AND all the stuff you'd hope for in a series like this. It starts off setting up some mystery, but unlike some other shows in the world of anime, it does a great job of living up to the hype it creates at the start. It explains things well enough all the way through 26 episodes, yet still retains some of it's mystery and charm all the way to the end. The story takes some turns along the way, but always keeps it's eye on the main goal it sets up from the start. The characters all develop nicely through the first half of the show and by the time the story takes some turns, it doesn't matter, you'd follow these characters down any twist in the plot , even a bad one. Thankfully this show never really comes to any stale points or bad gaps in the storyline. Speaking of the story...

I don't want to give away too much since I think everyone should go out and watch this as soon as possible, but I should give at least the same info you'd see on the back of the box or DVD case. Demon Eyes Kyo was the strongest warrior around back in the days of Tokugowa era Japan, and was the killer of 1000 men at the battle of Sekigahara. It was at that time that the battlefield was rocked by a violent explosion ripping apart the man known as "Onime no Kyo" . However, the killer lived on inside the body of the mild mannered traveling medicine man Mibu Kyoshiro. When Demon Eyes Kyo starts to wake up from within Kyoshiro, an unknown part of history begins to unfold.

The one thing I can tell you that remains constant throughout the show is that Demon Eyes Kyo is trying to get his own body back and learn why this happened. There are a ton of great characters , both good and evil. One of my favorites is the white haired, huge gun toting , crazy-eyed guy from the future. I guess he kind of plays the same role as Cable from the X-Men. But again, if he's not your type, there are sure to be at least 3 or 4 other characters you do like. Even with the plot twists and loads of characters to keep up with, the show never lost me or made me feel as if I didn't know what was going on. It makes contestant progress toward a goal and reaches it to my satisfaction. I guess I'm a sucker for a show that can wrap everything up in a neat little package by the time it's done. It's something far too rare in the world of anime, where most shows like to leave the story wide open by the end or make you wonder what really happened. I'd suggest this show to anyone that likes anime and wants an outstanding series, worth watching all 26 episodes of.