[Contemplation] Corpse Party: Tortured Souls
You know… There are times when you abandon everything you were planning to write just for the sake of writing a review of something groundbreaking. More importantly, something so full of sheer amount of sht you just can’t help but enjoy it despite being horrible on every level. What is so special about this reverse masterpiece? In this review, I’ll try to explain it all.
Here is the synopsis of the manga:
Nine students gather in their high school at night to bid farewell to a friend. As is customary among many high school students, they perform a sort of ritual for good luck using small paper charms shaped like dolls. However, the students do not realize that these charms are connected to Heavenly Host Academy—an elementary school that was destroyed years ago after a series of gruesome murders took place, a school that rests under the foundation of their very own Kisaragi Academy. Now, trapped in an alternate dimension with vengeful ghosts of the past, the students must work together to escape—or join the spirits of the damned forever. What an adventure! After watching Another anime back then, I didn't get to encounter another anime so horrifying and gruesome but holds a strong base of backstory and plot twists. I've seen Corpse Party awhile back but I brushed it off. One bored night, I was browsing when I found out it was a horror anime and gave it a try - and now I can't move on.
Before we go any further, I should probably mention that this OVA was based on a video game series that’s developed a strong cult following since it’s release back in 1996, despite not getting a sequel until 2008. The series then took off, spawning countless new games and manga adaptations, as well as an eleven minute OVA that’s completely worthless and the four episode OVA that I’m discussing today. Having said that, adapting video games into the visual medium is a notoriously hard thing to do - but I'm still hoping for a Fatal Frame anime in the futuree.
I haven’t played the game, which is why I can say with complete sincerity that you don’t have to have any behind-the-controls experience to know that tons of material was left behind for the sake of adaptation. But Gore films aren't my thing. They scare the sht out of me and I can't sleep. But Corpse Party's gore is quite disturbing, yes, but my curiosity kept me on. The anime definitely feels like it’s being written by a complete sadist who considers Higurashi no Naku Koro as his ideal anime - so yeah, wtf. But whatevs, I found myself turning onto the next episode and I can't be any happier after knowing what's happening with everyone. The plot really was great.
For all of the ugliness that goes on, Corpse Party still shows the limitations of what animation can do with a horror format. The secrets just makes it easy to generate much actual scare factor. The series absolutely nails its main selling point - it's graphic visuals - but I would like it to have more episodes instead, just to satisfy my thirst.
My Rating:
Plot: 9.8/10
Characters & Dialogue : 9.5/10
Structure & Pacing: 10/10
Theme: 9.0/10
Style & Tone: 9.0/10
OVERALL RATING: 9.5