Men themselves are a fragile conglomeration of muscles and guts, which when spilled all look alike.
All men die, and if they defeat their foes, they are defeated by old age and descend into their dotage. Attempts to teach martial arts merely produce living weapons. This is not a romantic depiction of bushido or what unswerving loyalty means it is a depiction of the intrinsic failure modes, and the inevitable lord who is unworthy of loyalty of any kind but cannot be quietly executed or tortured to death as he deserves. (I say male characters, because the women are disempowered chess pieces who are subjected rather than subjects.) The beauty of the martial arts displayed is outweighed by the horror of what they are *for*, and it is all wrapped in a trenchant critique of the politics which allow and encourage all of this to happen. We might identify with Seigen due to his egalitarianism and how we spend most of the time watching him be persecuted and take his revenge - except he is introduced with cruelty, is ultimately undone by his own hubris, manipulates and lies beatifically, and kills his first master. There is almost no male character we can describe as good: as much as we identify with the "heroic" protagonist, we have to remember he is a blood-daubed murderer who repeatedly murders for trivial reasons such as anger or being ordered by his master and our nose is rubbed in this by the time we reach the end. Power once had will be abused, and we will see it done so for every reason: bloodlust, sexual lust, entertainment, pride, advertising,
It's not so much that _Shigurui_ is an extended demonstration of the amorality of power, but it demonstrates the corrupting effects of power, the *immorality* of power. We see power exercised in casual assassinations, marauding groups of murderers, offhand executions of random ronin, the social power of giving bad etiquette advice, the confinement of a demon warrior within a rigid hierarchy, the seductive power of beautiful women. Seizing power, developing power, sabotaging power.
SHIGURUI MANGA ENDING EXPLAINED MIE KILLED HERSELF MOD
Mod Edit: This review may contain spoilers.
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