It is the year 1897, and Japan is still grappling with the idea of exterminating monsters that hide within its borders. Tsugaru Shinuchi, who has taken on the moniker “Oni Slayer,” is a man who violently clashes with such monsters for a living. One day, while walking the streets, he encounters a woman dressed as a French maid carrying a birdcage. At this encounter Tsugaru along with the lady got into an altercation. Inside the cage, however, was the severed head of an immortal woman who called herself Aya Rindo, and her maid/ bodyguard called Shizuku Hasei. Tsagaru is offered help in finding his body and extending his life. Being a half-oni makes him susceptible to the darker side of his demon heritage. Their research leads them to Europe where they were tasked with assisting other individuals in solving various crimes.
While the events that transpire within the storyline are captivating, Tsugaru stands out the most alongside two other characters. These 3 characters embody the three key points of excellency.
Even his ego appears to have a sense of irreverence Tsugaru half-oni who does not shy away from deadly altercations but retains a nonchalant attitude towards them, seems entertaining. Now, please consider Shizuku’s character whom if Tsugaru as a half-oni is totally spur-of-the-moment in life, she is completely the opposite, never goes on a whim and has great composure while looking after Aya’s directives, the amount of tension created between these two comes close to being a panda blooming on its’ side. In fact they do not have any form of any relationship at this point, but it is clear exactly the other way, which as mentioned earlier only serves to increase the fun factor. Besides, there is an additional element of comedy in the fact that she is in a maid’s uniform but as I said before, the whole theme is embedded with the aura surrounding Aya, which is further developed with the ‘genius woman’ in a cage, a ‘he’, being the most attractive character of this anime.
Aya’s general approach gets us into the second issue that we must addressing, which is how Hatakeyama considers the absurd of the three rancorous characters when placed in more absurd situations and with even crazier people. The end product even succeeds to make the above not to mention the app dedicated detective, who has a head inside a cage, plausible enough. This allows the audience, right from the start, to enjoy the narrative and solving mysteries without needing to think about it. The end result is not only brilliant but also very enjoyable, surely one of the key aspects of the entire series.
Thirdly, in relation to the last the appearance of several legendary characters and “perennial” pop stars, which serve to increase the entertainment value of the narrative. There appear vampires, werewolves, Alister Crowley, Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom of the opera, Arsene Lupin, Moriarty and Jack the Ripper.
The Request to Add Such Characters In Anime Is Not a Novel One as ‘Record of Ragnarok’ has recently done the Same but The Way That The Anime Integrates Them Into The Narrative Here Which Is A Method That This Anime’s Approach Clearly Contrasts, Again In The “Absurdness Appearing Normal” Mentioned Earlier.
Another Key Feature Which Should Interest Agatha Christie And In General All The Fans Of Whodunit Is The Mystery/Criminal Which Is In Effect The Main Starring Element Of The Telling The Story ‘s Progression. Aya’s Approach To Untangling The Mystery is Certainly Poirot Apropos But Hatakeyama Has Wisely Added Very Good Element Of Variations In The Three Arcs In This Case. The First is whodunits, the second is how did they do it, and the third is whodunits but in a much more grand scale, one more strength of the anime.
To conclude, and in yet another vital point that shows even further the fact that this is an anime meant for an older audience, there is an element of sexualism, which is primarily showcased via Carmilla, as she and her more amorous tendencies are what the story primarily revolves around. It is indeed quite entertaining, given that she utilizes it on Shizuku, who happens to be the strictest and most controlled character of the series, once again, only in a zone which is natural for the plot and in no way is disturbing, at least not as a priority in relation to the fanservice angle.
And since I am on this topic, the fact that there are so many extreme as well as so many different characters in the story enabled Noriko Ito to develop a number of characters that were just as fascinating to watch as they were unique. It’s evident that Aya is remarkable even in the larger picture, yet so do Tsugaru and Shizuku, and even those particular “players” I described previously. The sole occasion this method of attack fails to deliver is towards the end of the last arc where the emergence of many new characters who do not have distinguishing features are just not drawn as well as they usually are.
The Belle Epoque setting, which commences after the first episode, is also quite vividly portrayed while the whole baroque design in the visuals is pleasantly surprising.
The three locations the mansion in the first arc, the urban in the second and the rural in the third are all well designed and animated and the background is often a part of the action as well. Lapin Track’s animation seems to be the pinnacle of the contextual elements of the series, where the absurdism was actually a major part of it, as all the fighting was seamlessly incorporated into the storyline. Once again, the series excels in this aspect of it as the fights contain Violence, humor, grotesqueness and even eroticism as well.
There is not much more to add, though it goes without saying that the animation was not very impressive in the last arc at times, Undead Murder Face has proven to be something that stands alone amongst other series due to its unpredictableness, immersive and intelligent plot which uses amalgamation of different techniques, in one of the best anime of the season so far.
For More Movies Like Undead Murder Farce (2023) Visit Solarmovie.
