Onimusha is a fictional animated series based on mostly real life characters. It follows the events of legendary samurai, Miyamoto Musashi and his mission to eradicate a demon possessed samurai menacing a mountainous region of Japan.
If you've ever seen Records of Ragnarok then you'd probably remember Musashi being in the sidelines watching as Kojiro fought Posseidon. Well, in this animation, Musashi was the main character.
According to history, Kojiro was a renowned swordsman in the whole of Japan and during that bloodied era where it was kill or be killed, he cut through a decent chunk of enemies. However, he met his end at the hands of Miyamoto Musashi who went on to become the master of his own school.
Anyway, in this animation, Onimusha, a rogue samurai got hold of some demonic powers that enabled him take over the minds of people. He also seemed to have an undead army at his call and was able to raise the dead.
Musashi, armed with a special gauntlet that gives him demonic super powers fought against various levels of foes from the present and past.
He had to literally fight his demons both within and outside. The final battle was an intense skirmish between Musashi and Kojiro that didn't have a deciding end.
The series depicts the corruptible power of gold, the exquisite swordsmanship of both the protagonist and villains alike.
I enjoyed the story for the most part but I think by episode 6, they ran out of ideas and started padding it up with random shit that no one actually cared about.
The animation style was different from the usual. It was visually appealing sometimes but on other times, it just missed details. Facial expressions were good but it seemed sort of laggy like when you're playing a high res game on power saver.
Overall, I'd give it a 3/5 rating as an anime lover and 3/5 overall as a series. It's enjoyable at times and while it's filled with plenty plot holes, it paces nicely and makes for good watching.
I love how they mix real history with fantastic elements. Musashi and Kojiro are fascinating characters and their story has so much potential. It's a shame that the series starts to feel a bit stagnant in the middle, but at least it has engaging visual moments.