Konnichiwa Hivers, it's me, your ridgette again! For today, I'm going to share another anime recommendation about a dystopian era where live corpses coexist with humans. So was it basically zombies coexisting with humans? Kinda—but not really since those corpses didn't come back to life itself, instead they're injected with somewhat a temporary soul that made them move again as if they're alive—so yeah, they're not really zombies, more like a machine in flesh used for several types of labor. At first, I wasn't really that interested in it because I'm not really into zombie tropes, but its plot was intriguing and the art style was also eye-pleasing, so I gave it a shot. Now, join me as we unearth the story of how those corpses lived with humans in The Empire of Corpses.
About the Anime
The Empire of Corpses (Shisha no Teikoku) is a sci-fi anime that aired on October 2, 2015. This anime was animated by Wit Studio, and it was directed by Ryoutarou Makihara. Its main themes are history, psychology, and a little bit of horror. It's a two-hour-long movie that was based on the posthumous published work of the late Japanese author, Project ITOH. It was one of his last written novels, and it was also co-authored with his friend, Toh Enjoe.
So it started with a brief back story: several years before the successful resurrection of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the population feared and hated the presence of the moving corpses. They didn't approve of the use of technology to bring back the dead, but later on, they soon realized and saw the possibility of a war with them. With that, they began to implement this technology into action, and thus, after years of simulation and analysis, by the nineteenth century, humanity had improved technology that enables corpses to move again as if they're alive!
However, these corpses held no personal thoughts or emotions, and that's why each of them was injected with pseudo-soul that programmed them to act according to the occupation they're designated to. The technology may improve in controlling the ability of the corpses to move, yet even with this leap, humanity still can't bring back what's lost in the moment of death, and that's the soul. However, there was one who is said to have revived a corpse with a soul, and it was none other than Dr. Victor Frankenstein. But unfortunately, he disappeared after finishing his radical work on corpse reanimation.
On the other hand, to fulfill his promise to his late friend, John H. Watson, a medical student, performed an illegal installation of a Necro-unit for the resurrection of his late friend, whom he renamed Friday. After being caught by an agent who works for the British Crown, he was offered two choices. One is to face the penalties and punishments, while the other is to work for the government and search for the whereabouts of Frankenstein's notes. Of 'course, he chose the latter since he's also in pursuit of the secrets of the soul, which can only be obtained through those notes. The journey towards the search of Frankenstein's notes will surely be perilous, but he will do everything to obtain the secret that he's been yearning for.
But does he have what it takes to seize them? Or will he fall into despair and hopelessness as he uncovers the harsh realities behind the developing corpse technology and the price he needs to pay in order to advance to the path where those secrets lie?
Honestly, I was quite lost in the first half of the movie. Some of the names of the characters really distracted me from following the plot because they're really familiar to me, so that got my detective side revved up. I thought that they would use the plot from the novel where those characters' names were from, but I guess I'm mistaken. I caught some usual foreshadowing, but I guess the plot twist, even though it's not really that out of the box, caught me in surprise. Also, I like how the story became unpredictable for me.
Further, the way it ended in a manner that left a lot of possibilities was really affecting for me, and I really liked and enjoyed it. Although some or most of the viewers find it the weak spot of the movie, for me, it's rather the greatest part. The possibilities of what will happen next were brimming, and for me, that's more enjoyable to imagine than to have a resolved ending. For me, ambiguity really adds impact to endings (except if I'm watching a series, because obviously it's not cool to watch many episodes just to have an ambiguous ending at the end of it, right?), and that's why I find its ending distinctive and somehow memorable.
As for its visuals, like I've mentioned, it's one of the things that compelled me to watch this movie. Although its art style isn't that unique or striking, it's definitely neat and eye-pleasing. The animation was really smooth and engrossing to watch. The fight scenes were animated well, and the fluid animation in those parts really made those scenes gripping. The character designs were really fine, and aside from how they animated the action scenes, I also liked how they animated and portrayed the emotions of the characters. From the dead eyes to the hopeful ones, I was really enthralled watching their emotions vary among the characters. The background music, noises, and special effects were skillfully managed, thus enhancing the other cinematic elements of the movie.
Overall, my personal rating for this anime is 8.9/10. The first parts of the movie were quite confusing for me (maybe it's just for me because my attention was divided, for I'm also trying to recall the lore of some of the familiar characters I've watched there). The translation above (or some brief lore that the translators provided about certain historical or literary characters) was kinda distracting for me, and I think those translations aren't that necessary to the plot. If you want to watch it with subtitles, then you better just ignore the translations above because it'll just cause you confusion if you divert your attention to it. Anyway, the plot and ending were definitely nice and engaging, and the visuals and other cinematic elements were also noteworthy. So if you're looking for sci-fi anime with an eye-pleasing art style and an intriguing story line set in a dystopian steampunk era, then I guess this is the sign for you to check out The Empire of Corpses.
Before I end this review, I gladly share with you its trailer, so—
That's all for now, Hivers. I hope you enjoyed reading my anime review. See you on my next blog!
Arigatou and tanoshinde ne minna-san~
The pictures that didn't have source were screenshots from the anime movie, while the last picture was edited in Canva.
