Kurenai - Top 3 Moments

Call Kurenai the little show that did. While it may not have been the most popular show this season, it definitely was one of the best. And along with Toshokan Sensou it’s probably the sleeper hit of the season. Now that the series has wrapped up we thought we’d take a look back and pick our Top 3 moments from the series.

Just for the record our official score for Kurenai is 3 out of 4 Potato Heads. Which in our scale means that it is “Time Well Spent”. We probably would have given it a 4 out of 4 if the ending was a little better. We didn’t like how Kuhouin’s didn’t get their come-upins. Sure Ryuji got shredded up by Shinkuro, but nothing really happened to the Kuhouin clan. And you have to wonder how long Murasaki’s dad will keep his promise and let her live freely. And we personally would not leave a seven year old alone in that environment. Plus did we miss something, or did the series not address the mystery behind who killed Shinkuro’s parents? Well, guess they have to save something for Kurenai season 2 if they ever do one.

#3 - The Musical Interlude

We know that there are a lot of mixed feelings about this episode, but we liked it. Kurenai is such a heavy show that touches on some dark subject matter, so having a funny, care-free episode was great in our books.

But the reason the musical interlude made it on to the list is because it came completely out of nowhere. You watch the first 5 episodes and you think you have the series pegged for what it is, a drama with action elements. Then episodes airs and your like - “WTF was that! Wait a second that was awesome”. Episode 6 is probably the single funniest episode of all the shows currently airing. And coming from a dramatic series was a complete surprise.

#2 - The Emergence of the Blade

So all we knew about Kurenai before starting to watch the series is that it was about a 16 dispute mediator who is asked by his boss to care for a 7 year old girl. So we’re thinking … “hmm that’s interesting”. Then in episode 4, Shinkuro goes all Wolverine like and unleashes a sick blade from his elbow. At that point, we’re both sitting on our coach watching this, and in unison we go “oh - wow”. We already gave your our theory that there is less and less “Wow” moments in Anime today, as material seems to be recycled or predictable. So its always refreshing when something unexpected happens. And was this certainly unexpected.

#1 - The Return of the Blade

By the time episode 10 roles around, the plot has shift into overdrive and is approaching the climax. That’s when you realize that you’ve only seen Shinkuro bust out the blade once this whole series. And you start thinking that maybe reader, issa-sa was right - maybe the blade is just a gimmick. But it also goes to show that Kurenai can stand on its own without the kid with a blade in the arm factor.

Then in the finale were treated to some awesome fights. Is it us or does the fighting style Shinkuro uses to dish out the punishment on Ryuji seem a little like Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master technique? Regardless, its the best realistic (minus the whole blade thing) fight scene we’ve seen it a very long time. How Ryuji remains alive after Shinkuro goes postal on him is a mystery. And we would have like to seen the finishing blow on Lin. But even without that this is our favorite scene from the series, what’s yours?

Tags: Kurenai