People have been telling me that Kurenai is an amazing show, and prior to watching the first two episodes I fully intended on checking it out based on the visual style alone.

However, most of the comments I’ve seen in regards to Kurenai have focuses on the young 7-year-old Murasaki and her realistic and charming innocence. I thought it would be a fairly slice of life show.

No one told me that those moments of innocence are there to contrast with the ugliness of the rest of the main character Kurenai’s world. It’s a world of corrupt and emotionally crippled adults who are forced to play a game of life without knowing all of the rules. The show’s mood carries a sense of stark pathos in the same vein as the tales of the rogue surgeon Black Jack.

So yes, people were right, Kurenai is an amazing show. I just wish I had a better sense of what truly makes Kurenai good beforehand.

Or maybe I don’t. It’s fun to be surprised, after all.