REVIEW: ‘Undead Murder Farce’ Episode 1 —”Oni Slayer”

Seinen anime is alive and well on Crunchyroll with the 17+ rated Undead Murder Farce (also known as Undead Girl Murder Farce). Demons, blood, and an ending scene that makes you ship a severed head with the main character, and hey, it’s going to be a wild Summer 2023 anime season. But to focus on the more adult elements of the series is to look past the gorgeous animation from Lapin Track, directed by Mamoru Hatakeyama, and based on the novel series by Yugo Aosaki.

Set at the end of the 19th century, Undead Murder Farce Episode 1 begins in the Meiji Era, Year 30. Unlike the Meiji Era of history, this one was filled with supernatural beings, Oni, yokai, and monsters of darkness that, under the push of Westernization, have had their populations decimated. Under something called the Great Purge, supernatural creatures have been pushed to the brink of extinction. Enter, Tsugaru Shinuchi, the “Oni Slayer.” A half-oni-half-human cage fighter in a circus, his job is to perform for crowds, slaying oni and hiding his true identity as he hurtles toward his impending death. That is until he meets Aya Rindo, an immortal who has lost her body.

Undead Murder Farce Episode 1 brings an oni-slayer, a served head in s gilded cage, and her sniper handmaiden together as they attempt to solve a crime, leaving Tokyo behind them and heading to Victorian Europe. With her body stolen after being cut by an oni, Aya enlists Tsugaru to help her solve the cage. An old man with a cane is all she knows and of course the location, Europe. His reward? Tsugaru will be able to consume a part of Aya, thus stilling his growing oni nature and saving his life in the process. A kiss can prolong his life.

The series binds together horror, action, and mystery in a fantastic way. This is due both to the writing and the animation. From the writing side of things, the concept of purging monsters, a vampire’s beheaded wife, and a man tasked with killing oni who is a monster himself is a setting that hooks you. Between the two of them, Aya represents a Westernized Japan with all the Victorian trappings present in her cage and maid, and Tsugaru, in his Hakata, represents a piece of the past. As the two move together and out of Japan, the series has teased a meeting of Japanese and European monsters that I want to see unfold.

On the animation end of things, Lapin Track is stellar. There is equal attention given to crafting Aya’s beauty and Tsugaru’s attractiveness and the bloody action sequences that move quickly and fluidly. The animated pacing of the episode is also perfect, offering up a quick and brutal entrance for viewers as Tsugaru fights the oni around him in his own cage. As the pacing clams in the last half of the episode and Aya and Tsuguru make their deal, everything falls into place. Tsugaru is the body and Aya is the brains, but both are trapped by their own circumstances.

One thing is clear in Undead Murder Farce Episode 1, this is just scratching the surface of the series, and I can’t wait to see where it goes. Gorgeously animated and expertly paced, Episode 1 is a fantastic start to a unique series. Dynamic in atmosphere and character, Undead Murder Farce may be a sleeper hit for the Summer anime season.

Undead Murder Farce is streaming now on Crunchyroll with new episodes every Wednesday in July.