"About Shigurui"
This anime is definitely NOT for kids. Expect blood, nudity, and violence.
Shigurui is produced by studio Madhouse. It is based on manga drawn by Takayuki Yamaguchi and novel "Suruga-jou Gozen Jiai" by Norio Nanjo.
Spoiler Warning!! [+/-] Show/Hide Synopsis...
The story begins in 1629 Japan, during the period of Tadanaga Tokugawa's rule in Edo era. Tadanaga Tokugawa's rule was marked with many acts of barbarity on his part.
Tadanaga Tokugawa eventually died by what appeared to be ritualized seppuku but was actually an execution. He was placed in typical seppuku position, however instead of a sword laid in front of him a paper fan was placed instead. The beheader then decapitated him as normal.
Tadanaga Tokugawa slaughtered over one-thousand chimps on a mountain on which hunting was expressly forbidden and, a one point, disemboweled a pregnant woman alive.
The only corroborated act of brutality of Tadanaga Tokugawa were found in his private diary. This act was the staging of a tournament amongst samurai -- not an unheard of display at the time -- but, rather than using bokken, as was customary in such a performance, the samurai competed with real daishō. Such an event was considered in extremely poor taste, as samurai were reared to always obey their commander, and that dying under a master's order was the most honorable thing possible in life.
Because of their unquestioning loyalty, many leaders thought to waste their lives needlessly in a tournament solely for one man's sadism was unforgivably cruel. The only way to directly outcry to the shogun, however, meant to commit seppuku in protest, which two leaders did. Tokugawa, however, continued the tournament regardless.
The story at large is based around the first match of said tournament, between Fujiki Gennosuke and his opponent, Irako Seigen.
Fujiki, at the start of the tournament, is already one-armed. During a physical examination, the medical consultant discovers that Fujiki has abnormally developed back muscles, which should, theoretically, compensate for his lack of a left arm. Irako makes his entrance with the aid of Iku, a female companion, as Irako is not only blinded from a slash to the eyes years ago, but also his foot is cloven in half almost to the ball of his heel, resulting in his walking with a limp. At the start of the match, Irako adopts a most peculiar stance, planting his sword between his primary and secondary toes of his left foot, gripping it between his toes like a vice-grip, and bending his upper body to the side. The said stance is dubbed "Mumyō Sakanagare," which Iku notes as being Irako's "stance of certain victory."
The story then backtracks seven years, with Fujiki at the Kogan Ryuu kenjutsu dojo as assistant master along with Ushimata Gonzaemon. Irako makes his bold entrance in the dojo, wishing to seek a match with the headmaster. Such an act (Dojo Yaburi) was typically seen as something only ne'er-do-wells practiced, thus Irako is met with some aggression on the student's parts. However, Gonzaemon silences the uproar and informs Irako that to face the head of dojo, Irako must first face the two senior disciples (Gonzaemon himself and Fujiki). Irako accepts and quickly disables Fujiki, using an esoteric martial art focusing on pressure points in the body, which severely injures Fujiki's right index and middle fingers. Gonzaemon next challenges Irako, and uses a bulky wooden sword. Gonzaemon succeeds in cutting various bits of clothing and hair, and manages to cut deeply into Irako's ear, but Irako leaps tremendous heights up into the wooden rafters of the dojo's ceiling.
