Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess) is the first big project for Gainax after there smash hit Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, so this show has a lot to live up to as the bench mark for quality was set really high with there last show. And the first episode of Shikabane Hime does not disappoint, it incorporates the Gainax flare for animation and action sequences with a big helping of zombies and evil spirits.
In the first episode we meet Hanagami who seems to be at the point of moving out of what seems to be a orphanage, run by a strange monk named “Sentinel” and a school teacher. Hanagami seems to be in the process of moving into a place of his own. Before he moved out on one particular night he stumbled upon a dead girl lying in front of the orphanage shrine covered in blood. As he approaches her he hears voice and hides behind the shrine.
Seconds later the monk comes running into the shrine after seeing the girls bloody and battered body lying in front of the shrine, and for all intensive purposes she seems to be dead. But the monk picks her up in his arms while taking a deep breath and hugging her tightly. A few seconds pass and the seemingly dead girl suddenly comes back to life!
We learn afterwards that her name is Makina Hoshimura and that she is a “living corpse” who has been tasked to hunt down and kill Shikabane’s, and it seems that she is working with the priest Sentinel that revived her earlier. They are currently tracking a serial killer who has killed four women in his “harem.” After getting killed and turning into a Shikabane he now prays on the flesh and blood of living human beings.
After regaining the trail left by the Shikabane, Makina follows him to a local brothel where she finds that most of the female prostitutes have been turned into mindless puppets . And that he is using them as human shields to protect himself against her. A battle takes place in which he transforms into his true form, he manages to grab and overpower her as he flies into the night sky.
Makina struggles to free herself from the Shikabane’s grip and she succeeds in doing so. But she drops several hundred meters to the ground below; coincidentally Hanagami happens to pass by the spot where she crash landed. And of course having dropped several hundreds meters she is pretty much dead. After remembering what the monk did Hanagami attempts the same thing and manages to bring her back to life.
Makina continues the pursuit and manages to corner the Shikabane on a hotel rooftop where with the help from the monk and the mysterious organization she manages to defeat it. But both of them did not notice the fact that Hanagami was following them, and that he has seen the whole event take place. What does this mean for all the people involved?
After shows like Macross Frontier, Code Geass R2 and Slayers Revolution finished up. I was looking for a new show that I could just sit down and watch something with good entertainment value. And I think Shikabane Hime fits the bill perfectly as I was pretty impressed with the series first episode. Do yourself a favor and download the first episode by Lunar and tell me what you think.
guess its back to fansubs