Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Kurokami: The Animation Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

Blink more than once and you may miss something.

Reviewed by Dustin Somner February 4, 2011

Kurokami: The Animation is an anime adaptation of the "Black God" Japanese manga series published by Square Enix. Interestingly enough, the series was written and illustrated by an all-Korean team, reflecting a growing trend in Japanese manga production. The resulting 23-episode anime series was licensed and produced by Sunrise animation studio, and directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi (The Twelve Kingdoms). Initially released throughout Japan and North American during the first half of 2009, the series has been chosen by Bandai as their first anime television production to be released on the Blu-ray format within North America. This third release contains episodes nine through twelve, with subsequent volumes expected every two months or so.

The mark of a Tera Guardian.

After heading to Okinawa in search of an explanation for the photo containing what appeared to be Keita’s mother (or at least her root), Kuro begins martial arts training with Keita’s grandfather. Meanwhile, Steiner and Excel pay a visit to the Kaionji Group’s main headquarters back in Tokyo, in an attempt to learn more about Reishin’s assembly of master roots. Recognizing the Noble One’s are onto his meddlesome activities in the delicate Doppeliner system, Reishin follows his right-hand man Daichi to Okinawa, hoping to discover the location of a Tera Stone. This eventually brings him face to face with Kuro and Keita, but not before the pair engage in a violent encounter with Hiyou and his contractee. With every main player set to converge on the location of a powerful Tera Stone off the shore of Okinawa -- lives will be lost, secrets will be answered, and the motivations of one powerful newcomer will begin to take shape.

Vague as that description may be, it’s difficult to discuss the events of these four episodes without giving away far too much information. At this stage in the game, we’ve been introduced to the logistics of the Doppeliner system, know the secrets behind the Tera Guardians, and feel fairly comfortable with the large collection of characters introduced during the first eight episodes. Unfortunately, I struggled to maintain the same level of fascination with the series during the second set of four episodes (5-8), since there were far too many roles introduced during a short span of time. It wasn’t necessarily a matter of proper character integration in the story, but when a series is released on a volume basis as we find here, it opens the door for certain segments to fall behind others.

Now that we’ve moved beyond the introductory stages, the plotline’s allowed to expand and move at a more rapid pace, delivering new twists and turns in each episode. Gone are the sequences of plodding dialog, confusing motivations, and the uncomfortable romantic tug-of-war over Keita’s attention. In this four episode run we discover the reason Keita’s mother was murdered, the connection between Daichi and Keita (including how Daichi came to work for the Kaionji Group), and Reishin’s motivations in gathering master roots. Along the way, four significant characters meet their demise, ratcheting up the emotional implications of what’s sure to follow.

Summarizing where we stand entering the midpoint of the series, it’s safe to say Kurokami is shaping up as one of the better anime series of the past year. I can’t honestly say I adore every element of the story, and there are certain stretches that grind the pacing to a slow crawl, but considering the depth of the storytelling and the dark tone of the series, I’m anxious to continue the journey as we head down the remaining stretch.

Kurokami: The Animation Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 22Mbps), Kurokami: The Animation looks impressive on Blu-ray despite the inherent budgetary limitations of the production. It's easy to become spoiled by the precision of theatrical anime productions dominating the Bandai release slate, but it's great to see more anime studios turning toward their television catalog for Blu-ray options. When you remove the aspects attributable to the source material, this is a fine transfer with little room for complaint. Hand-drawn lines remain crisp, avoiding stair-stepping, aliasing, or blurring, and background art reveals adequate texture/shading, bringing a nice sense of balance to the environmental designs of the artists. Regarding the color palette of the series, this is fairly standard material, with naturalistic tones emerging from the real-world setting, and hues that never strive for an overly saturated spectrum. Black levels avoid ascensions into dark-gray territory (certainly a good thing), and contrast provides a nice balance between the lighter and darker elements within the image. One area where this volume seems to step up its game a little is in the use of electrical or lighting effects, often involving the use of Tera powers. I've included a number of examples in the available screenshots, but they don't quite do the animation justice. All in all, this is a strong visual presentation that builds on the quality of the opening chapters in the series, demonstrating a level of improvement I'd expect to be maintained throughout the rest of the series.

Kurokami: The Animation Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As noted in my prior reviews of the series, this is the one area that may stand as a deal breaker to some anime fans. If your taste is similar to mine, you prefer the native language track on most anime series. As such, I was notably disappointed to learn Bandai would be releasing Kurokami with nothing more than a dubbed English version available. Given the nature of licensing rights in various international territories and varying pricing structures within "Region 1" countries, I'm left to assume this is one of those situations where Bandai had little choice. However, I still recognize the potential disappointment arising in some of the more hardcore anime fans. For those of you who are still with me at this point, I'll assume you're at least willing to hear an assessment of the English dub, and give it the benefit of the doubt.

First and foremost, Bandai assembled a talented pool of English voice actors to play the various roles in Kurokam, and the result is quite remarkable. Despite preferring the native language, I've listened to plenty of dubs over the years, and Kurokami definitely ranks within the top 10%. Each actor nails the tone of the character they portray, and the timing of the vocal delivery matches up nicely with the facial movements within the animation. Stepping away from the dialogue delivery within the show and moving toward an assessment of the actual audio presentation, I can't say I'm nearly as delighted. As commendable as it is to receive a lossless audio presentation, the fact that the show only encompasses a 2-channel track is somewhat of a let-down. Not all television series are produced with a surround sound focus, but considering Kurokami was released in 2009, I'd have expected more than simply a stereo mix. As such, we end up with an audio experience that's well-balanced and crisp, with solid fundamental framework, but merely adequate in comparison with other productions currently on the market.

Kurokami: The Animation Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with prior volumes, this disc contains clean opening/closing songs, and three trailers for other Bandai releases (Freedom, Gurren Lagann, and Sword of the Stranger).

Kurokami: The Animation Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The third volume of Kurokami embarks on an action-packed phase of the series, where lives are lost, old friends are reunited, and secrets are finally put to rest. Taken as a whole, this is shaping up to be a dense supernatural thriller, full of intriguing twists around every corner. Given the tendency for anime productions to take their sweet time digging into the core story, it's refreshing to find a show that rarely relies on trivial side-plots and moves forward with what appears to be a focused purpose. Time will tell if the same level of intrigue will continue through the conclusion of the 24-episode run, but at this critical point in our analysis of the series, I'm sticking with a "highly recommended" judgment.