7 / 10
score
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The Disc
 
Extra Features
Aside from the usual anime staples of textless openings and closings, there are character biographies a settings gallery and commentaries on two episodes with members of the English cast and crew.  These are a decent listen, though I spent most of the time with the Japanese soundtrack on, only sampling the English dub, but found the found the speakers to be intelligent and eloquent.
 
There are two play modes: the usual play or ‘marathon play’ which cuts out the credits and plays all the episodes on the disc seamlessly, this is definitely the way to watch Shigurui as it removes any distractions and allows you concentrate on the material.  In all, the marathon play option is 33 minutes shorter across the two discs. 
 

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The Picture
Shigurui is probably the most beautifully animated and presented show I’ve seen.  This may not be saying much due to my lack of exposure to anime series but I can’t believe that there is one out there that looks as good as this.  With the lack of dialogue, the show is very much dependant on the visuals to convey the characters and mood and this, combined with the music, does so in spectacular fashion.  The consistency of the picture quality is slightly puzzling as it jumps from beautifully clear to noisy with no real explanation although the more abstract scenes have the most grain, perhaps to illustrate imperfections in memory.
 
The aesthetic is stark, with almost monochrome settings and characters but bright red blood.  When there is an explosion of violence, the blood comes as quite a shock as the muted palette means that the flashes of colour have more of an impact.  The violence is extremely believable and amazingly well animated, with a real visceral sense of style.
 
*The pictures contained in this review are for illustrative purposes only and do not reflect the image quality of the disc.*
 
The Sound
Sadly the Blu-ray has only upgraded the English dub from the Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD to a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack here.  The Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo stays as is which is a real shame as I prefer to listen to films and shows in their native tongue.  The voice acting in both languages is superb with no-one sounding out of place and narration with suitable gravitas.  The surround option is definitely the way to go as the music and combat scenes have much more resonance with the multiple channels but, if you are a purist, the stereo track is perfectly adequate and the subtitles (not dubtitles) are clear and well written.
 
One of the main features of Shigurui is the mournful and deeply evocative score by Kiyoshi Yoshida who seems to be a fan of Angelo Badalamenti as there are musical cues straight out of his work with David Lynch.  The music complements the visuals and fills in the gaps left by the sparse dialogue to perfectly convey atmosphere and tone.
 
 
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Final Thoughts
Shigurui is a tremendously well thought out show with intriguing character arcs and a fascinating narrative that unfortunately doesn’t resolve itself in a satisfactory fashion.  It’s a show that left me crying out for more, having failed to sate my appetite which was built up beautifully over ten of the twelve episodes.  Saying that, this is a captivating show which is definitely worth a watch for any anime fan who, if they have the required equipment, should go for the Blu-ray as the AV quality can be stunning.

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