Undead Girl Murder Farce – Episode 1 Recap & Review

Oni Slayer

Episode 1 of Undead Girl Murder Farce begins in 1987. We’re in the Meiji Year 30 in Tokyo. Trickster Yokai and supernatural Ayakashi are the norm here, and under the flag of westernization, a large-scale, organized extermination effort is underway. The Great Purge is what they’ve colloquially referred to this, and at the center of it is a half-demon martial artist dubbed the Oni Slayer. He spends his evenings performing in a theatre for hungry, bloodthirsty patrons, slaying various monsters of different shapes and sizes.

Despite being a proficient hunter, our half-demon protagonist, Tsugaru Shinuchi, is quickly reminded by the theatre owner that he’s no human either. However, he’s not like the other demon here, and he’s actually pretty docile.

After another fight in the arena that night, taking out a demon cat of all things, Tsugaru questions a servant maid sneaking around in the middle of the night, following him. Outside, by the side of a lake, he reaches out to question her. Wordlessly, she brandishes a gun and uses her powerful martial art skills to go toe to toe with this half-demon.

Lying on the floor after being bested, the maid, Shizuku Hasei, apologizes for the hassle, but admits that this only happened because Tsugaru touched her birdcage. “Be more cautious in the future.”

She made this trip to Tokyo based on rumours and after fighting with Tsugaru, she has a prophetic message for him. If he continues to fight and win, he’s going to meet his demise before long. The blood of an oni runs through his veins, but he’s reckless and using his powers every night at the theatre means he’s in danger of being consumed by the oni that’s coursing through is veins. She’s here to strike a deal with him, something that will be “lovely” for them both as it means he’ll extend his lifespan… but he needs to grant her wish.

Removing the blanket over the bird cage, the severed head of Aya Rindo reveals to be the one who’s actually speaking. She reveals that Shizuku is actually her maid and she wants Tsugaru’s help to track down her body. She’s one of the Immortals and can never grow old. She’s been 14 years and 3 months for over 900 years. About six months back, someone took the rest of her body. This someone was also half-oni but she remembers he was a foreigner and had a cane with an M engraved on the handle.

Oni are notorious for nullifying a monster’s ability to regenerate. If Tsugaru is going to join her, he needs to be careful. The more he uses his powers, the more likely it’s going to decrease his sanity and shorten his lifespan. Despite fighting every night, it seems Tsugaru has a reason to stay alive, given how capably he fought against Shizuku.

His original plan was actually to go out in a blaze of glory, likening his life to a joke and wanting to perform to a massive crowd while dispatching monsters along the way. He was born depraved but now, that plan is out the window given he’s teaming with Aya and Shizuku. However, he also refuses to kill her. It’s an interesting chat in truth, as the pair verbally spar and trade ideologies about the nature of life and what it means to live.

Their goal here though is to head over to Europe, which is where Aya’s body seems to be. As fate would have it, the guy who seems to have decapitated Aya is the same one who took away Tsugaru’s humanity. Tsugaru remembers the engraved cane is similar to the person who captured him. He’s almost certain of it. Tsugaru promises to let her have the time of her life all the same, as they eventually strike a deal.

In order to complete the deal, and expand Tsugaru’s lifespan, he needs to accept her bodily fluids. With the choice of nasal mucus or saliva, he chooses the latter, and as he brings the severed head closer to his lips, the episode comes to a close.

The Episode Review

Undead Girl Murder Farce gets off to an intriguing start and it seems like, based on the ending, we’re jetting off for Victorian London. With an old man, featuring a cane with M engraved on it, could we be looking at Moriarty or Mycroft being the culprit? The time period certainly lends itself to this revelation, especially as Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes are both on the credits for this anime.

The world itself is fascinating and the time period perfectly captures the mood and tone that this anime is clearly going for. It’s also rather amusing that our protagonist is called Oni (Demon) slayer too, which you can’t help but feel is a way of avoiding a potential lawsuit there!

The animation is smooth and the cutaways are slick and impressive. This could well be a sleeper hit this anime season and the first episode certainly gets the ball rolling nicely. Next week’s follow-up should be a good one!