Posted: 09/27/2011

Corpse Princess: The Complete Series

(2011)

by Amber Burnham

Available now on DVD from Funimation Entertainment

Corpse Princess: Shikabane Hime is a beautiful, action packed, zombie killing, character driven fore into anime entertainment. The elements of several different genres, such as horror, drama, and fighter, are successfully combined together creating an anime that is refreshing and fun to watch. Corpse Princess was originally produced by Studio Gainax, which also known for such animes as FLCL and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Corpse Princess opens on a young teenager in an orphanage, Ouri Kagami waking in the middle of the night from strange sounds to find a dead girl. He then witnesses events involving a monk that he has always viewed as his big brother, Keisei Tagami. It turns out that the girl Ouri saw is named Makina Hoshimura and she is indeed dead. Makina and her family were killed in a fire, but Makina found that she was unable to die. She has thus become a shikabane hime—corpse princess. Armed with her twin machine guns, her job is to kill shikabane, people who have become undead due to strong desires or regrets they could reconcile when they died. Makina works alongside with Keisei, who is her contracted monk, in order to protect the living by killing the dead.

The art and character design in Corpse Princess is breathtaking and inventive. It looks as if there were no short cuts taken in the production of the anime. The details in all aspects of the art are beautiful, ranging from realistic backgrounds to detailed cuts and wounds on the characters. Although there is a lot of killing and violence, the gore and blood is not overwhelming or unwarranted. The design of the various shikabane is great. Each one has their own unique look and powers. For instance, there are small shikabane who can combine to create a larger one and a bird-like creature with a huge beak that can fight using the power of its voice. By creating this varied world of the undead, this anime keeps you watching and wondering what the next shikabane is going to be like.

Along with the great art, the story line in Corpse Princess is one that will keep you hooked. Although the first few episodes are a little slower than the rest of the series, due to the fact that they are used to set up the world and the characters, it does not take away from the effect of the series as a whole. Once the story line jumps into full gear you will find yourself completely absorbed. The details of the story and intricacies of the world of the shikabane are given at a good pace. You find out small pieces of information in each episode that connect to the larger picture, but only as they are needed for the story. You are not bombarded with details you will be expected to remember long after you learn them. This works to leave parts of the story mysterious, thus pushing the story line along in a way that consistently remains exciting.

Corpse Princess is released in a four disc set, containing twenty-six episodes. You can chose from the original Japanese audio with English subtitles or the English dubbed version starring the voice actors; Luci Christian, Aaron Dismuke, and J. Michael Tatum. Extras included in the series release are episode commentaries, textless title songs, and trailers.

Amber Burnham has a BA in Early Childhood Education from Kendall College. She is also a regular panelist on Kichicast, the all-girl, Chicago-based podcast devoted to anime, manga, and Japanese culture. You can listen to Kichicast at kichigi.com.

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