When I first started Shikabane Hime, I was hit with a bit of information overload. This is a trend that continues through the whole series, but as the mystery started to deepen, I realized that the information was setting up a complex set of alliances. Although the series is ostensibly about cute schoolgirls shooting up zombies, the relationships between characters are interesting and the plot is surprisingly deep. As soon as I gave Shikabane Hime a second chance, I found myself drawn in and always looking forward to the next episode.
Story
In some ways I am confused by the decision to split SH up into both an Aka and Kuro season (13 episodes each). It’s clear that the directors wanted to hit the midway point with Keisei’s fate, but I think the plot was a tiny bit rushed because of this hard-set limit. Still, I never would have expected to be drawn in by this story of priests and the girls who are, in many ways, treated merely as tools. I guess you could consider SH as a sort of Gunslinger Girls with zombies. This undercurrent of discrimination keeps the other characters interesting while the main storyline of Makina’s quest for revenge gains steam. The mysteries presented in the first season are surprisingly engrossing, and I can’t believe that I am so interested in Ouri’s true identity.
Characters
While many of the supporting characters are cool, they are very clearly secondary characters. The main focus is always on Keisei, Ouri, and Makina and this is the right decision. While Ouri remains a bland main character, his past is so mysterious and integral that I actually cared about him a lot in the second half of the season. Makina started as slow as well, but her role as a vehicle of ass-kicking was gradually supplemented by her burning desire for revenge and her relationship with Keisei. As for Keisei, he started out as a silly character but his role in the second half of the story was absolutely amazing. Keisei’s fight in episode 12 was incredible and yet he never loses that humorous charm.
Tilt
The OP and ED are alright and do the job, but the BGM is great for evoking that creepy dark mood. I also couldn’t help but think of Daniel Bedingfield’s Gotta Get thru This every time the cat started her preview narration. The production values were good (and very classically Gainax) throughout the season, and some of the later fight choreography was excellent. The voice work was good, although no one in particular stood out to me as being truly great.
Verdict
After a bit of a slow start, Shikabane Hime really began finding the right mix of action, mystery, and humor. I think there was a little too much information crammed in, although the final recap episode did help make some things clear. The series gets very very good in the final half, and I’m really looking forward to SH: Kuro now. It bothers me a little that the two seasons run back-to-back, but that isn’t something that should stop you from watching this series.
Kabitzin’s Rating: 4/5
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Kabitzin – who has written 1940 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
One of the founders of Sea Slugs, I handle most of the blog admin tasks while wearing my I AM BOSS shirt. I like my action series well choreographed, and my romance series extra trashy. I also have a soft spot for puns.
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I really appreciate that funimation took the initiative to sub and release the episodes for free, but I wish they would come out a bit faster.
I don’t think there’s anyway this can morph into a gurren lagann, but you never know. Ouri seems to be a little to much of a wuss, but thankfully not a Shinji level wuss. I feel like they’ve introduced too many characters really. They all seem to be the same type of character too. The only shikabane hime who’s really different is the loli (there all lolis really, but the loliest). The seven stars seem to be carbon copies of each other as well since they all have the same personality really. Part of what makes a good series is having a bad guy as exciting as the hero and I think Shikabane Hime hasn’t quite done that yet. Sure the character is interesting intellectual, but they don’t grab me the same way as the anti-spirals or lord genome and the 4 generals of heaven. Maybe that will change but I’ll still follow this series. It’s good, but it isn’t great… yet!