The Severing Crime Edge: Complete Colletion Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

The Severing Crime Edge: Complete Colletion Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 29, 2014

Even those who have become used to both fictional and factual weirdnesses accumulating around my hometown of Portland may have been thrown for a momentary loop by a news story that got quite a bit of press and broadcast time not just here, but nationally, when an obviously troubled young man started riding Portland’s bus system and engaged in a number of questionable activities which included cutting the hair of women seated in front of him. (Explicit details won’t be posted here, but that was just the beginning of his escapades, which included a certain amount of—how to put this delicately—self-gratification.) Hair cutting might seem like a decidedly odd fetish, even by Portland standards, but one need look no further than The Severing Crime Edge to figure out it’s an activity that evidently fuels the psyches of a certain element of the global populace. This is one of those convoluted anime that seems to be cobbled together out of completely odd and disparate elements, and that turns out to be both a good thing and a bad thing as the series moves through a rather unlikely assortment of plot points. Those who have grown tired of too many anime traipsing over completely rote territory will probably at least give grudging kudos to The Severing Crime Edge for being something a bit different, but that very difference is so peculiar at times that the series’ tone seems to shift arbitrarily, leaving the viewer stranded in a morass of bits and pieces of various genres.

In typical anime fashion, a young boy with an unusual preoccupation turns out to be more than merely a pervert. In this case it's Kai Haimura, a kid with a hair cutting obsession that leads him to Iwai Mushanokouji, a sort of anime Rapunzel who is desperately in need of a haircut. As odd as this setup may sound, it only gets more bizarre once The Severing Crime Edge's context is revealed: this is a story of serial killers and their instruments of torture, and if that isn't weird enough for you, this often gruesome content is clad in the neat school uniforms of a shōnen. The Severing Crime Edge deserves bonus points for oddness, but it's a decidedly acquired taste that veers wildly in tone and even content. Those who don't mind goofball antics one moment and bloody crime scenes the next may be swayed enough by this anime's bizarre qualities to ignore some of its shortcomings.

The Severing Crime Edge: Complete Colletion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Severing Crime Edge features an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Kind of like the actual content of the show, the animation style here is widely varied, going from kind of minimalist, even angular, to some really beautifully detailed backgrounds and character work. Colors are quite varied and nicely saturated here, and line detail and contrast remain strong and consistent. There are some very minor banding issues on display, but generally speaking this is a nice looking presentation that should please the series' fans.

The Severing Crime Edge: Complete Colletion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This is yet another recent anime release with no surround mix, offering only a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix in the original Japanese. This suffices quite well to present dialogue and even the score, but there are some elements here that could have benefited from a more robust low end and surround activity. That said, fidelity here is just fine and there are no problems of any kind to report.

The Severing Crime Edge: Complete Colletion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Clean Opening Animation (1080p; 1:32)


• Clean Closing Animation (1080p; 1:32)

The Severing Crime Edge: Complete Colletion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Severing Crime Edge is certainly one of the more peculiar mishmashes in the anime realm of the past little while, and it takes a bit of getting used to. Personally, I think the series could have worked better had it gone completely for the gusto into a dark and depraved world, but in this formulation, that aspect is blended with everything from traditional shōnen tropes to passing fan service. It's an okay casserole, but it probably has a few too many ingredients. With caveats noted, The Severing Crime Edge comes Recommended.