Don't regret dying or hold on to any attachments as you move onto the other side or you may come back as a corpse. You'll then find yourself in the crosshairs of some hottie undead corpse princess who's sole job is to kill 108 corpse so that she may make her own journey to heaven.
Pretty nifty idea actually and it didn't make all that bad of an anime show either. In fact I'd say it was one of the better shows of the season and Funimation liked it so much that they just had to go and gobble up the licensing rights to it as soon as they could so that they could stream it on YouTube where I finished watching it myself. I've already mentioned the funimation stuff in an earlier post so wont go over that again but Shikabane Hime: Aka is definitely a must watch series that is still continuing as we speak for another 13 episodes as Shikabane Hime: Kuro and if anyone would like to explain to me what in the world Aka and Kuro have to do with the series that would be greatly appreciated. I know the words mean red and black but I don't see how they work in the title other than there is a lot of red and black in the anime. Or could it be some elaborate part 1 and part 2 name scheme?
Whatever the case it doesn't have anything to do with the actual show which is about undead female corpses who are contracted with priests to kill other undead corpses so that the girls can go to heaven once they have killed 108 corpses. That's the plot in a nutshell but of course nothing ever goes as planned and a group of very powerful corpses called the Shichisei who are out to destroy the group of priests and Shikabane Himes (known collectively as the Kougon cult). In the middle of this great battle we have our main players Makina our duel Mac10 welding Hime who is contracted with the pervert priest Keisei and poor everyday average guy Ouri where the majority of the anime focuses on. Ouri has a bad habit of finding his way to the undead corpses with the help of the dead cat from his childhood (does anyone know who or what the cat actually is? Is it a part of the Shichisei group?) and in doing so he learns of the bond between his adoptive brother priest Keisei and Makina leading him to be in the middle and often at odds with the Kougon cult becoming the focal point of the last events of the first 13 episodes. Sadly Keisei dies protecting Ouri and the other orphans at his place and ends up giving Ouri his contract with Makina so that she can finish her goal of killing the Shichisei group (who killed her and her family).
What can I say about Shikabane Hime that countless others haven't already said in order to get you to watch this rather outstanding show other than you can feel good about yourself for watching it though one of Funimation's feeds and not being an evil pirater of the anime fansubs. There is that I guess but honestly this must be seen in high quality on a bigger screen to be enjoyed the most and look forward to the next season already underway and going a bit more towards some extra fanservice as well with an Otaku cosplaying Hime and an even more perverted priest than Keisei was (seriously it's possible). I wonder when funimation will release the series on DVD (and how) and also there isn't any word (that I can find) on a state side manga release either.
