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A bored executioner teams up with an immortal severed head and her combat maid to solve mysteries and fight monsters.
“You’re one of the monsters.”
Undead Murder Farce takes everything you know about gothic horror and murder mystery detective fiction and then stretches it almost cartoonishly out of proportion like it’s being watched through a funhouse mirror. Think you’ve seen your share of demon slayer stories? Then let’s throw in Jack the Ripper, Arsène Lupin, and Sherlock Holmes for good measure. Tired of the “monster of the week” genre? Well, what if Frankenstein’s Monster and the Phantom of the Opera were in the mix with vampires, werewolves, and every other supernatural creature imaginable? It’s elementary, my dear Renfield.
Oh yeah, and the main character is an immortal severed head.
All of that just scratches the surface of Undead Murder Farce, a supernatural detective anime series that would be like if Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc was partners with Belial from Basket Case.
Set in an alternate version of 19th century Europe that’s ripe in monsters, the series follows a seasoned Oni Slayer, Tsugaru Shinuchi, who is currently going through the motions and lost his luster when it comes to sleek executions. Tsugaru is used to taking on odd jobs, but Aya Rindo is his oddest client yet–an immortal head in a cage who’s transported around by her combat maid, Shizuku Hasei. After nearly 1,000 years of unrest, Aya hires this put-upon Oni Slayer to orchestrate her execution. In exchange, she’ll spare him a grisly fate where he’s consumed by oni and loses his humanity; Saliva-swapping supernatural shenanigans ensue and Undead Murder Farce is off to the races.
The opening minutes of Undead Murder Farce plainly address the absurdist nature of this narrative. “It is what one might call a farce…,” insists this on-screen text. However, Undead Murder Farce refers to “farce” in the truest sense of the word where it means an off-kilter perversion rather than this dark anime trading in broad, slapstick comedy. Make no mistake, this is a dark, nihilistic tale. Any farces here are meant to laugh in the face of God, not be laughed at themselves.
Undead Murder Farce quickly establishes its stakes and the overwhelming strength–but also the unique setbacks–for Oni-human hybrids. These unique individuals can put both standard Oni and the most talented of swordsman to shame. A larger quest also breaks out to recover Aya’s body, which evidently prevents her head from simply regenerating the rest of herself and returning to full strength.
There are really effective character designs here where Tsugaru, Aya, and Shizuku all look familiar, but also feel distinct and stand out in what can otherwise be a dour universe. The same is true whenever Undead Murder Farce features famous figures from history or literature, all of whom undergo radical makeovers that make them feel unique to this universe. This cornucopia of constant chaos makes Undead Murder Farce really feel like a Takashi Miike movie in anime form. He’d truly be the perfect person to helm a live-action adaptation if Undead Murder Farce goes on to reach such levels of notoriety. It adeptly juggles multiple genres at once, each of which grow odder through osmosis.
A lot of Undead Murder Farce showcases impressive and creative fight scenes that feature atypical choreography and complications that elevate them beyond two competent warriors who trade blows back and forth. Shizuku’s bayonet combo leads to some particularly inspired fight sequences. Undead Murder Farce also turns to some really effective editing and visual flairs between Aya and Tsugaru’s introductory conversations that makes sure that these more expository moments are still visually dynamic and properly pop. This carries throughout the rest of the series and conveys a heist-like energy even during the series’ more muted moments. Undead Murder Farce also features such incredible explosions of color. It doesn’t seem as if kaleidoscopic rainbow bursts would fit with such nihilistic subject matter, but it really helps punctuate this world. It’s a clever way to visually represent the tonal dissonance in which the anime finds its strength.
As far as anime series premieres go, Undead Murder Farce covers a surprising amount of ground when it comes to not only its unique world-building, but also Aya and Tsugaru’s characters. The premiere is far more than a flashy information dump and table-setting. That being said, the premiere’s economical nature makes it that much easier for the subsequent installments to properly hit the ground running and really showcase this supernatural world’s personality. The first handful of episodes showcase diverse mysteries with larger than life personalities that give a better indication of the anime’s episodic structure. Any forward momentum with the grander plot is genuinely exciting, but it’s the standalone mysteries where Undead Murder Farce excels. There’s definitely pangs of Columbo or Poker Face here as Tsugaru, Aya, and Shizuku move from town to town and seemingly act as beacons for crime and mystery. When it comes to actual horror, Undead Murder Farce is unlikely to genuinely scare any seasoned horror fans (although it will no doubt surprise them), but it does present deeper terrors than merely brutal violence and heavy bloodshed.
Undead Murder Farce is ultimately about an immortal person’s quest for eternal rest, but in doing so it also explores what it means to be alive and what motivates lost souls, like Tsugaru, to go on living when submission would be so much easier. It also examines the delicate difference between those that live life to its fullest and those that recklessly rush towards death. This becomes the emotional beating heart to the series that helps it gain greater substance than just a hack-and-slash fest with morbid characters and captivating mysteries.
Undead Murder Farce is one of the most unique anime of the year, but its strong character development, well-constructed mysteries, and passion for monster massacres will make this fringe title appeal to any newcomers to the medium. There’s enough weird, wild stuff afoot that will satisfy anyone who’s even mildly curious about this brooding, bold genre experiment. It’s such a good time with infinite room to grow that audiences are bound to be disappointed the next time a new monster hunter arises who doesn’t have a severed head as a boss.
‘Undead Murder Farce’ is now streaming on Crunchyroll, with new episodes premiering on Wednesdays.
