Kurokami is a super-power fighting anime set in a warped alternative present. It is centered on a pair of characters, Kuro and Keita, and their quest to uncover the truth behind Doppeliner System and eventually confront Kuro’s very brother. While the first few episodes make Kurokami the potentially best fighting anime in years, the horrible pacing issues which kick in later completely overwhelm the otherwise interesting setting and solid plot. Unless you are starving for an action show and you’ve already seen all the good stuff, you should forget that Kurokami exists.

People call an encounter that cannot be changed by conscious action or effort “luck”. If a world exists where your encounters with happiness and unhapiness are all controlled by luck, will you resign yourself to fate? Will you dash forth to gain better luck? Or will you try to fight against it?

Originally written as manga by Dall-Young Lim and Sung-woo Park and directed by Kobayashi Tsuneo (Twelve Kingdoms, Midori no Hibi) Kurokami is a super-power fighting anime set in a warped alternative present. There exists a Doppeliner System, which, well, makes three copies of otherwise one individual and shares a set value of luck between them unequally; if the copies meet, the one with less luck has his luck absorbed by the one with more… and dies. The plot of the show is centered on adventures of a young Mototsumitama Kuro (a descendant from the tribe which supervises the system) and a boy who unwillingly makes a partnership contract with her, Keita. Their growing bond will eventually lead them to learn the secrets behind the atrocious system and confront the very brother of Kuro, who is planning to destroy the world.

It has been a while since I’ve seen a show as inconsistent in quality as Kurokami. It’s made of only good and bad things with virtually nothing in between. It appears to have it all: interesting setting, attractive characters, cool action scenes, dramatic moments, no fillers, a complete ending; everything you’d want from a show selling on martial arts. At the same time it has a completely messed up pace with some essential details completely omitted, fights less than one minute long and characters doing things without so much as an explanation. Frankly, I find shows like Kurokami the most painful to review. Observing brilliant potential of the original material all I can do is facepalm myself every few minutes due to the most clunkiest of adaptations. I haven’t read the manga, but I get the feeling it’s pretty good, anime, however, is not.

Animation: 4

The first thing I noticed in Kurokami was that animation done by Sunrise (Tales of the Abyss, Gundam 00) is far above the standards of the usual martial arts flick. Backgrounds are very well detailed and alive, offering some really picturesque nature sights. Color palette is not exactly vivid, but the brown tone works very well at making the action on screen realistic. Character designs, first off, blend with backgrounds extremely well, there is not second you’d think the two are actually separate entities. Innovation, on the other hand, is slightly lacking, particularly on more or less generic male designs. Some more detail on character faces might have made them look better, as some people come off as too “geometric”. Kuro is about the only one from the cast with a truly memorable design, offering good style both in facial design and apparel.

The best part of the animation, however, is the motion fluidity which, though inconsistent at times as the show might have had budget troubles near the end, offers some really nice choreography during battle scenes. Unlike the usual ‘still frames, big explosions’ treatment, Kurokami actually exhibits its characters running, blocking, dodging, counterattacking and so on during the fights, successfully making this show stand above many pretentious action anime. It’s really sad the fights are so short though, while most shounen don’t shy from stretching their boring fights to a couple of episodes, Kurokami rushes to end its brawls in the matter of minutes, or even at times, seconds. Funny thing, however, despite looking fluid during the action scenes, Kurokami sometimes comes off as awkward during something as simple as walking animation. They really gave their all on action scenes I guess, heh.

Sound: 3

Music composed by Ishikawa Tomohisa, while not particularly OST buying material, offers some really innovative techno-like vocal pieces which work very well on those modern day martial arts scenes. It’s not like there are many pieces which stand out much, but you will certainly notice, and likely remember some of them. This show also spurts two different OPs and I must say I liked the less metallic light rock theme Sympathizer by Kuribayashi Minami more which is the first one. While the heavier tRance by Ganrodeo is by no means a bad song, I found the male singer slightly mismatched by the plot which completely centers on the female Kuro. There are two EDs too, but, well, they are neither particularly good, nor particularly bad, okay to listen if you watch one episode at a time, but certainly skip-able if you watch few in a row.

Voice-acting is slightly inconsistent though. While the main cast offers no particularly notable performances, there is Nakata Jouji, Tamura Yukari and Yukana on the side-lines to support the sound stage. I must say I have mixed feeling towards Shitaya Noriko’s performance as Kuro, she certainly sounds fresh, but I couldn’t shake the feeling she is more fit to voice gloomy introverted characters.

Story: 2

It really pains me to rate a story which offers complete ending and imaginative setting this low, but the realization of it is downright horrible. Frankly, after the first two episodes I was ready to declare Kurokami the best martial arts anime in years and bam, the rushed pace of the speed I have yet to witness elsewhere kicks in. Plot, certainly worthy of 52 episodes, if not more, is wrapped in 23 here. Characters come and go without any explanation, villains get killed off by some guys you are not familiar before main cast even arrives, the show jumps months into the future before you can even notice; but the main problem is that the connecting points between the scenes are completely missing. Each episode packs a gazillion of twists, yet they happen so fast without any proper connection to each other, you get confused and ultimately alienated to anything what’s going on. In one frame characters enter forest, in another they are already fighting and after ten seconds it’s night already, it’s as if you were watching a summary of something.

However, even with the horrible pace which makes the plot hard to believe, the original material is still crafted well. There is drama behind the death-match of brother and sister, some characters actually die, ending is wrapped up in a bittersweet manner and, well, some fights are nice, however short they are. It’s not like Kurokami offers anything new other anime have never tried, but the original idea and plot appear to be quite solid. Heh, this show could have been so much better if that horrible pacing wouldn’t have been so alienating.

Oh yeah, if there is but a single thing that certainly sets Kurokami apart from other shows in the genre is that it is really cruel to its female heroine. I mean, I haven`t seen a cute girl get hit in the face by a baseball bat since Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and Kuro here also gets smashed to car windows, cut by crystals and trampled by overgrown opponents.

Characters: 3

The problems with characters are attributable to the atrocious pace as well. They are interesting, they are nice, they are attractive, and they develop before you know it. It’s funny how the last episode of the show actually packs lots of “recap” scenes which were, probably, cut from the previous episodes, yet show the vital reasons behind some character development. Why did they cut these out in the first place is certainly beyond me. Anyway, while the main character is a generic kind-hearted character, common in the genre, other characters have more potential than the show ever let’s them to use. Gentle and energetic Kuro, for example, is a fresh air in, now, tsundere dominated anime realm. It’s too bad she doesn’t have a single long-winded dialogue, but her attitude and flashbacks flesh her character out quite well. The glimpses of growing affection, however, are near impossible to notice when the show jumps from one fight to another in a matter of seconds. Her brother might be an interesting character too, if you are up for using your imagination to fill all the holes missing from his backstory.

Side cast is, unfortunately, completely underwhelming. They appear to have personalities and might come off as interesting sometimes, unfortunately, most guys are killed, discarded or simply ignored before you can grasp their personality. I mean, much less of a backstory, some characters just pop out of nowhere without any explanation whatsoever and disappear later in the same fashion.

Conclusion: While Kurokami offers interesting setting, exciting martial arts and a plot which actually goes somewhere, it is marred down by its horrible pacing issues and half-baked character development. I, personally, haven’t seen a good fighting anime in years, so if you are hungry for one, you might give Kurokami a shot with low expectations. Of course, you have watched Rurouni Kenshin, Hunter x Hunter and Scryed already, right?