_{(BTW, please ignore the header pic...Noname-san is being extremely OOC today... *punches him*)}

Sorry for this random little journal, but I watched the short "Kigeki" today and I just had to share it with everyone! It's so lovely!

Feudal Ireland in the midst of war and occupation. Deep in the Black Forest lies a ruin nicknamed the Devil's Castle. There is a rumor that a skilled swordsman lives in the castle and will lend his services in exchange for rare books. A young girl sets out to find this Black Swordsman and requests him to save her village.

**

This is one of the most beautiful shorts I have ever seen. Despite being only 10 minutes long, Kigeki manages to fit in a deep and dark story that is far from a comedy. The limited colors and soft glows create a haunting atmosphere, and the action scenes are just gorgeous to watch. The background music, Ave Maria, is different from most bgm and stands out, but it's certainly fitting when you think about one of the many causes of contempt between the two countries at that time (Roman Catholicism vs Protestantism). There are only two characters and we don't even know their names, but I think leaving out the names makes it both a story many can relate to, or a fairytale that was never real in the first place. The 10 minutes does rather leave you craving for more, but keeping it short also preserves the mystery behind it. Kigeki is definitely something everyone should watch at least one time!









Here is a link to the video on Veoh: www.veoh.com/videos/v558878zfX…

Discussion time/ Self-contemplation:
(Please only read this after you watch Kigeki...)

(Everything will sound obvious after I say it, but sheesh did it make me think at first. XD) When I first watched it, I wondered why this was called 'Comedy' when the story seemed to be the opposite! But after the second time, the Black Swordsman's words in the beginning, the village sage's stories, all began to make sense. There was a time of severe strictness when laughing and the such was forbidden. All books with humor were burned. It was during this time that the Swordsman was born, which might explain his seemingly lack of emotion. To read some Comedy, to fill up the hole with what he was denied all his life, he was willing to do anything-even kill. Perhaps in a dark time such as that, what everyone needed was just a little comedy to lessen the pain on both sides. And even now, the importance of comedy in our lives can't be forgotten~
The Black Swordsman is portrayed as a vampire. With his "black hair and pale skin," being able to see at night, his threats to the little girl about eating her flesh and drinking her blood, the disappearing bodies and his mouth stained with blood at the end, he does seem rather...unearthly. But I believe he is 100% human. Perhaps he fueled the rumors so he could have an excuse for the degree of his actions.
"What happened to the bodies?" They were hidden under the bridge. (:
At the time of the girl, were comedy books still banned? I can't tell... If it WAS banned, then how would the girl be able to get her hands on one? And it wasn't even hidden... If it WASN'T banned, then why didn't the Swordsman just go and buy his own books? Did he feel guilty reading such books? Hmm...d-does anyone want to think?

There is one thing I don't get...
15 years after their meeting, Ireland gains its independence... HUH?! Didn't Ireland gain its Independence 1921-ish? So 15 years before that is 1906... Armies wore metal coats of armor in 1906?! What the heck? Is anybody Irish here, care to explain history to me? I have a feeling Wikipedia isn't telling me something...XD Or the anime is off...really off...

Oh, and creepy laugh is creepy. 8DDD Good job Midorikawa-san! Ah, I love his voice~ It's Seiran~~!

The art inspired me to try to color this old pic of Noname (anyone remember?!). But well..I got a little impatient near the middle so not everything is colored, but the important thing was that I wanted to catch the colors and the glowy feel of Kigeki. I tried to paint a winter bg scene but it turned so obscure and now it looks like abstract art or something.

I used (partial) vector drawing. I realized I should've used vector for my animation before, it would've looked cleaner in the zooming and stuff...