UNDEAD MURDER FARCE
Season 1 (13 Episodes)
Studio: Lapin Track
Based on the manga by: Haruka Tomoyama
Streaming: Crunchyroll
Release Date: July 6, 2023
Rating: Mature
Undead Murder Farce, adapted into a manga from Yuugo Aosaki’s novel series and now available as a 13-episode series on Crunchyroll, was a fresh breath of air and a personal favorite of mine of the Summer ’23 season. This supernatural mystery series is gripping from the get-go, and I’ll try my best to convince you to check it out.
It’s the year 1897, or Meiji year 30, but we’re witnessing a Tokyo you won’t be finding in the history books. All things grotesque roam the land; vampires, demons, yokai, you name it. The Oni Slayer, Tsugaru Shinuchi, fights for a sum just enough to sustain himself, in a place one might call “Fight-Club-meets-freak-show.” Because he’s half human and half oni, a demonic creature, Tsugaru doesn’t have much left to live. His life takes a turn when he’s ambushed by a rifle-carrying maid whose fighting skills are on par with his and a birdcage in hand that has… the talking head of a girl inside? Aya Rindo is an immortal, 900-year-old girl, here with her maid Shizuku to strike a deal with Tsugaru with the hopes of hunting down a common enemy they have.
The word “farce” is indeed the cornerstone of this series; both in the sense of its political commentary and all the artistic choices made, both visually and audibly, to give this story a strong theatrical feel. For example, at times you can hear wooden clappers and drums, where one might be familiar from the traditional Japanese theater form kabuki, to emphasize the impact of certain lines and actions. From Tsugaru being an avid fan of rakugo (a Japanese traditional performative storytelling) to reciting stories here and there, to the pair they make with Aya, their constant banter is akin to that of a comedy duo’s. Everything from the personal traits of the characters to the cases they are involved with are handled as if it’s a stage performance.
And its success might not come as a surprise after a glance at the name acting as the director. Hatakeyama Mamoru, while having worked as a producer and a storyboard artist before, is recently known for his directorial work on the acclaimed Kaguya-sama: Love is War, depicting comical mind games between two high-schoolers who try to force the other into a love confession, and Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, the emotionally-charged and compelling story of an ex-convict finding himself a rakugo master. Like these two series, Undead Murder Farce has a distinct, clear vision of the artistic style it’s aiming for, and it’s exhilarating to see a series that isn’t trying to be different for the sake of it. Instead, we have a show that doesn’t shy away from being bold when the circumstances or the emotions need that emphasis and impact but is cohesive yet fresh otherwise.
Save for the opening and certain scenes, the color palette overwhelmingly consists of earth tones. While one might expect this choice to give the series a grim air, our eccentric trio’s lively chatter, the flashy supporting cast full of known fictional characters such as Holmes, Lupin, and Phantom to name a few, and spectacularly choreographed fighting scenes carry the energy throughout the course. As the show is dialogue-heavy, split scenes that slide in or move around on the screen while the two main characters go back and forth for minutes, not only provide a glimpse at their reactions but also give the dialogue a certain dynamism that also keeps your attention on the conversation.
The visual direction is not the only aspect that rushes in to keep the audience engaged. A lot hangs on the shoulders of the voice actors as well, and it’s not an overestimation when I say Tomoya Kurosawa (as Aya Rindo) and Taku Yashiro (as Tsugaru Shinuchi) have knocked it out of the park. Though it’s a shame that due to her deadpan character, we don’t hear Shizuku’s deep, resonant voice as often, it’s still a lingering performance by Makoto Koichi. The conversation between Aya and Tsugaru flows so naturally, the ways they jokingly jab at each other are exceptionally witty that you come to believe characters are indeed alive and quite often get lost in the delight of the other’s quips, sometimes even forgetting they are in a room full of people and have a murder case to solve. Aya’s intonation, particularly, intentionally theatrical yet far from sounding showy, does a great job at underlining that she’s indeed from a completely different era. It’s simply mesmerizing.
She is an immortal being who was born in the Heian period and is clearly a very smart woman. She was beheaded by a half-oni-half-man, a being like Tsugaru, meaning according to the lore, even if she doesn’t die, she can’t heal herself. What she knows about the person who stole her body is that it’s a European man with a cane, the letter M carved on the handle.
Tsugaru is haunted by the image of the very same man, who has run beyond cruel experiments on his body until he’s turned into a half-oni. We briefly catch a glimpse of his past at the beginning, where he was employed as an Oni Slayer, a faction that’s seemingly formed to be used as a tool to slaughter these yokai under the guise of “reformation”. It’s not a coincidence that this time period coincides with the Meiji era, where major political, economic, and social changes led to the Westernization of Japan. The first episode puts the setting and the position of yokai, and specifically Tsugaru, in the political and social context of its time, in a matter-of-fact way.
What Undead Murder Farce achieves that some of the other mystery series with a “genius detective” don’t is that we as the audience are invited to solve the mysteries along with the crew. The genius solves the case with just one look at the crime scene, and all we can do is wait for the detective to explain their deduction moments later because there’s not much information or many leads for us to hold on to. Even though Aya is clearly many steps ahead of the audience, she still takes time to thoroughly investigate. And through the camera focusing on very specific places or traces, or Aya questioning aloud, we are capable of following her train of thought, making the murder cases more engaging.
I should conclude my review by saying this: Undead Murder Farce has everything you might expect from a mystery series and more. It has an intriguing setting, a colorful cast (humans and non-humans included), and a historical and political substance that is kept accessible for the audience, all while keeping things fun and appealing. Not to mention how both the visual and sound design stand out from the rest, with a brilliant soundtrack by yuma yamaguchi that sets the mood just right. You might want to spice up your October by adding it to your to-watch list!
Undead Murder Farce is available on Crunchyroll.
