Kurenai ( 紅) is a 12 episode drama based on the light novel series of the same name by Katayama Kentaro. The anime originally aired in Japan in early 2008.
Kurenai Shinkuro is an orphan high school student who moonlights as a dispute mediator. Mediator is code term for beating someone up if they don't agree to the terms of the resolution to the dispute. Usually he is assigned to jobs helping people who are being harassed by the local yakuza or stalkers. He feels he has the ability to do more important work for his employer, the incredibly well connected and shrewd Benika. She decides to test him with a bodyguard assignment that will test his limits. Previous to her career as a woman to come to to resolve sensitive issues, Benika was the head of security for a powerful and secretive plutocratic family. She and her lieutenant break into the family compound and kidnap the family heads only daughter. Benika then entrusts the girls safety to Shinkuro as both a test of his abilities and an answer to his requests. However he is unprepared to take care of the incredibly mature seven year old Murasaki. The girl has been raised in a fashion similar to the members of the ancient imperial court and has no experience outside of her cloistered world. The shock on her is just as severe when she is taken from her pampered servant filled world to live in a dingy run down one room apartment. As Shinkuro struggles to guard the headstrong girl they both change for the better. Unfortunately for everyone, her family is searching for her with all of their far flung power. Its only a matter of time before they are discovered and Shinkuro must face his doubts about his abilities.
The story for the series is rather good once it all unfolds. In the beginning its hard to pin down what type of series its supposed to be. At first there seem to be some super natural aspects, which turn out to be incorrect. At other times it seems like it might turn into a harem, with Shinkuro surrounded by a variety of female characters, but it doesn't turn into that either. The action is minimal and when it does show up the animation is unfortunately not very fluid. Shinkuro doesn't take any sort of journey to become stronger as if he were the lead of a shonen battle manga. Instead the focus of the story is really the interpersonal relationships between a handful of characters, mostly Shinkuro and Murasaki. The show details how these two lonely individuals grow as caring and perceptive human beings. While it has some action and other categorical elements the series is really a drama focusing on human development.
While the artwork during the fight scenes is jerky and unpleasant the rest of the series is well animated with quality character designs and background details. The characters have very definable traits and body language that is well done. There is zero fan-service, which is surprising, since the series is ripe to exploit that. One unfortunate thing is the lack of expansion on some of the more prominent side characters. It would have been nice to find out more of Benika's past or her lieutenants. Some of Shinkuro's school friends pasts would have done better if expanded upon as well. But all in all the series was pretty good and worth the time. Although the middle of the series has a relatively useless episode that's only designed for some heart string tugging at the end. What would be really cool would be to revisit the characters 10 years later as a way to conclude the story line. I wonder if the light novels did that?
The series was licensed for distribution in North America by Sentai Filmworks and is somewhat available on DVD.
Kurenai Shinkuro is an orphan high school student who moonlights as a dispute mediator. Mediator is code term for beating someone up if they don't agree to the terms of the resolution to the dispute. Usually he is assigned to jobs helping people who are being harassed by the local yakuza or stalkers. He feels he has the ability to do more important work for his employer, the incredibly well connected and shrewd Benika. She decides to test him with a bodyguard assignment that will test his limits. Previous to her career as a woman to come to to resolve sensitive issues, Benika was the head of security for a powerful and secretive plutocratic family. She and her lieutenant break into the family compound and kidnap the family heads only daughter. Benika then entrusts the girls safety to Shinkuro as both a test of his abilities and an answer to his requests. However he is unprepared to take care of the incredibly mature seven year old Murasaki. The girl has been raised in a fashion similar to the members of the ancient imperial court and has no experience outside of her cloistered world. The shock on her is just as severe when she is taken from her pampered servant filled world to live in a dingy run down one room apartment. As Shinkuro struggles to guard the headstrong girl they both change for the better. Unfortunately for everyone, her family is searching for her with all of their far flung power. Its only a matter of time before they are discovered and Shinkuro must face his doubts about his abilities.
The story for the series is rather good once it all unfolds. In the beginning its hard to pin down what type of series its supposed to be. At first there seem to be some super natural aspects, which turn out to be incorrect. At other times it seems like it might turn into a harem, with Shinkuro surrounded by a variety of female characters, but it doesn't turn into that either. The action is minimal and when it does show up the animation is unfortunately not very fluid. Shinkuro doesn't take any sort of journey to become stronger as if he were the lead of a shonen battle manga. Instead the focus of the story is really the interpersonal relationships between a handful of characters, mostly Shinkuro and Murasaki. The show details how these two lonely individuals grow as caring and perceptive human beings. While it has some action and other categorical elements the series is really a drama focusing on human development.
While the artwork during the fight scenes is jerky and unpleasant the rest of the series is well animated with quality character designs and background details. The characters have very definable traits and body language that is well done. There is zero fan-service, which is surprising, since the series is ripe to exploit that. One unfortunate thing is the lack of expansion on some of the more prominent side characters. It would have been nice to find out more of Benika's past or her lieutenants. Some of Shinkuro's school friends pasts would have done better if expanded upon as well. But all in all the series was pretty good and worth the time. Although the middle of the series has a relatively useless episode that's only designed for some heart string tugging at the end. What would be really cool would be to revisit the characters 10 years later as a way to conclude the story line. I wonder if the light novels did that?
The series was licensed for distribution in North America by Sentai Filmworks and is somewhat available on DVD.
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