Gugure! Kokkuri-san: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Gugure! Kokkuri-san: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Gugure! Kokkuri-san is a comedy anime created by Midori Endō. Broadcast on TV Tokyo, the series features animation produced by TMS Entertainment (Hamtaro, Fruits Basket). Produced by Kazuhiro Asou (Blade of the Immortal, One Week Friends), Manami Watanabe (Nobunaga The Fool, Ace of Diamond), Masatoshi Ishizuka (Gourmet Girl Graffiti, Non Non Biyori), Yurie Arai, Sachi Kawamoto (House of Five Leaves, I'm Quitting Heroing), Satoshi Kojima (Saint Tail, KenIchi the Mightiest Disciple), and Yoshikazu Beniya (Fairy Tail, Yo-kai Watch), Gugure! Kokkuri-san is a frequently silly and sweet series with plenty of offer comedy fans.

Kokkuri-san (Daisuke Ono) doesn’t look or act like an ordinary girl. Instead, Kokkuri-san is a living doll girl who lives out her life with an expressionless face devoid of showing any emotions and she is constantly eating nothing more than some ramen noodles. Though tiny and strange, the girl finds more than she bargained for when she plays an old game.

The old game unleashes spirits and a series of events follows that Kokkuri-san never expected. After the game, the fox spirit Kohina Ichimatsu (Ryou Hirohashi) appears before her. Though Kokkuri-san expects to be bothered and annoyed by the fox spirit, the spirit decides to be her guardian and to help her out when in need instead.

Much to the surprise of Kokkuri-san, other spirits visit her as well: the dog spirit Inugami (Takahiro Sakurai) and an old fart spirit with alcoholic tendencies, Shigaraki (Jouji Nakata). Can Kokkuri-san manage her simple doll life with a bunch of spirits taking over her home? Only time will tell.

Gugure! Kokkuri-san has a charming cast of characters. The production is certainly enhanced by the creative bunch. Kokkuri-san is certainly a strange and off-the-wall character: think of Kokkuri-san as Wednesday from the Addams Family in a Cartoon Network Adult Swim programming block manner. Quirky and odd and with an edge. Kohina Ichimatsu is compelling as the fox spirit and the offbeat Shigaraki provides some wild and offbeat comedy.

The character designs by Miwa Oshima (Ao-chan Can't Study!, Nyanko Days) are unique and have a nice blend of art styles. Oshima provides some fantastic character designs and the results provide the series with more personality and spunk. These are characters that can’t simply be pigeonholed in to one expectation for the genre.

The chief animation direction by Miwa Oshima (Ao-chan Can't Study!) contributes to the strong sensibilities of the animation. Though this is a Japanese anime, it takes considerable influence from Western art styles and animation from other forms. The series doesn’t simply fit a cookie cutter box of what one might expect to find. The results are all the better for it. Chief art director Hiroki Matsumoto (Girly Air Force, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear) also helps to provide a sleek aesthetic and one that works well for the production.

The cinematography by Tomoyuki Shiokawa (Mikagura School Suite, Momokuri) is enormously pleasing and one of the most lush and satisfactory aspects of the series. The cinematography is bright and vivid during the production and it manages to capably showcase the color animation and the artistry of the animators. A solid effort from Shiokawa, who understands the cinematographic needs of the series.

The score composed by Hajime Hyakkoku (K-ON!, Boogiepop and Others) is delightful and fun. The music is certainly enjoyable and one of the greatest highlights of the series. The score certainly adds a sense of charm to the entire production. There are plenty of elements to appreciate here in regards to the score and how it enhances the series. Composer Hyakkoku is a talented composer and someone with a firm understanding of comedy anime series and how to provide a light and airy atmosphere for the story. Exceptional work by the composer.

Written and Directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike (Kaleido Star, Wagnaria!!), Gugure! Kokkuri-san is a fun and charming anime series and it finds the right balance between comedy and character-based storytelling. The series is mostly silly and full of laughs and this is what will draw audiences to it. The production is enhanced by solid directing by Hiraike.

Fans of quirky and off the wall anime series – the kind of series that don’t fit squarely in to a neat and tidy box – will be pleased with the sense of creativity and originality on display with the series. Gugure! Kokkuri-san is a series that doesn’t mind having some fun and that is refreshing and it makes the series more charming and noteworthy as a result.

Gugure! Kokkuri-san: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, Gugure! Kokkuri-san is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The presentation is excellent and certainly worthwhile looking on the whole. The picture quality looks stunning: vibrant, colorful, and engaging. The encoding is solid as well and looks crisp and clean. Everything has a nice degree of sharp clarity and the line art looks well defined on the release. Background animation is nice looking as well and benefits from being in native high definition.

Certainly an improvement over simple standard-definition upscales on the Blu-ray format (which are a far cry in quality compared to the type of presentation available on this release). The Blu-ray release also has a nice and healthy bit-rate and it is nice to remind potential buyers that the format offers generally superior presentations in comparison to streaming options (which tend to have a much lower bit-rate with more compression). A solid encode from Sentai Filmworks.

Gugure! Kokkuri-san: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a lossless audio presentation: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The lossless audio quality on the release is superb and sounds remarkably crisp and clear. Dialogue reproduction is excellent. The track sounds engaging and pleasing on the ears. The audio soundtrack is well reproduced (with the score blending well with the stereo sound design). This is certainly a worthwhile lossless audio presentation and it is superior to streaming options available (which are so often limited to sub-par offerings).

The only potential drawback to the audio on the Gugure! Kokkuri-san collection is the lack of an English dub option. Nonetheless, series purists will be pleased with the original language track and will not mind the lack of an English dub. Though this might deter some potential purchasers, the release still sounds crisp and engaging and is worthwhile with the lossless audio sound quality.

Gugure! Kokkuri-san: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Clean Opening Animation (HD, 1:32)

Clean Closing Animation (HD, 1:51)

Short Episodes:

Kokkuri-san and the Bell of Friendship (HD, 3:26)

His Tail Came Off?! (HD, 2:55)

Kokkuri-san's Technophobia (HD, 2:58)

Kohina's Secrets (HD, 4:06)

The Morning Inugami-san Transferred In! (HD, 2:03)

Kokkuri-san on Valentine's! (HD, 3:19)

Kokkuri-san in Wonderland?! (HD, 3:52)

A Mafia with No Moral Code?! (HD, 3:08)

Excitement at the Ichimatsu House? (HD, 3:18)

Who are Momotaro's Companions? (HD, 3:47)

A Day Without Kokkuri-san? (HD, 7:41)

The release also includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases available from distributor Sentai Filmworks: Girls und Panzer das FINALE – Part 3 (HD, 00:34), Magical Warfare (HD, 1:32), Mother of the Goddess' Dormitory (HD, 00:46), and Seitokai Yakuindomo The Movie 2 (HD, 00:32).

Gugure! Kokkuri-san: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gugure! Kokkuri-san is a charming and entertaining comedy. The series has a blend of supernatural and slice-of-life elements. The story focuses on the young doll-like girl Kokkuri-san (Daisuke Ono) and her encounters with a fox spirit, Kohina Ichimatsu (Ryou Hirohashi), spirit dog Inugami (Takahiro Sakurai) and the raunchy elder spirit, Shigaraki (Jouji Nakata). The misadventures of these quirky bunch make the series charming and worthwhile.

The Blu-ray release features an excellent video and audio presentation. The release includes a strong high definition presentation. The release is not sourced from standard definition material and is not simply an upscale (as if found on too many anime Blu-ray releases). The lossless audio sounds crisp, engaging, and satisfying. The release is only available with the Japanese language audio (with English subtitles) and does not provide an English dub option. The collection includes an assortment of bonus features. Fans of the series will consider the release well worth picking up as long as they can overlook the lack of an English dub option. Recommended.