Anime Hajime Review: Corpse Party - Tortured Souls

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Corpse Party – Tortured Souls. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

A group of nine friends spends their last night together. Happy memories and sad goodbyes fill everyone’s hearts. Yet they know that no matter how far apart they are, they will always be together. As a symbol of their friendship, they decide to do a ritual that will connect them forever.

Together they perform the “Sachiko Ever After” charm.

Unbeknownst to them though, they were opening the door to Hell itself.

The group is transported to the nightmarish Heavenly Host Elementary School. Here, vengeful spirits roam the halls looking to kill anyone who enters this place. Before long, the blood begins to flow.

One by one, the friends succumb to gruesome and violent deaths. The only way to end the torment is for them to find the secrets of this realm. But one false step and the evil that resides here will take them for the rest of eternity.

Series Positives

It would appear every show this month has had a unique place in my viewing history. What makes Corpse Party - Tortured Souls special? I’ve have tried watching this show on several occasions. Not tried and failed, I have gotten through it each time. With each return though, I keep trying to find something I missed. Yet the result is never anything different. You would think I would have taken the hint. Yet my attention keeps coming back to this series whenever I see a poll asking what the best horror anime is.

When I see Corpse Party as an option, I always have the same thought. Are people actually considering this among the best in anime horror? No matter how often I watch this show, I’m left scratching my head. Am I that far in the minority? This isn’t good. It’s subpar at best. 

For something like Kore wa Zombie Desu ka, although not my cup of tea, I get why others would enjoy it. For Corpse Party though, I’m at a loss. I have never been able to see what others have. I don’t understand what’s so appealing about this series.

Okay, who am I kidding? Of course I understand the draw of Corpse Party. This show taps into a specific type of fanservice. It may not have the boobs or the skimpy clothing, but this is a fanservice-heavy story nonetheless. In fact, this review has gone on too long without me having said this.

WARNING, CORPSE PARTY - TORTURED SOULS IS GRAPHIC.

If the sight of blood from a paper cut makes you queasy, this is a hard no. Stay as far away from this show as possible. If after looking through the images in this review, you think things are a bit much, boy you are in for a surprise. Corpse Party has a well-earned reputation for violence.

For me to say I can’t see the appeal of a series like this is foolish. What I’m really trying to get at is, I have never seen this show as anything more than a broken mess with a flashy red paint job. I’m not sure what that says about me ignoring this level of brutality and remembering nothing but the flaws.

I’m not joking. When I came back to Corpse Party for this review, I was a little floored with how intense it got. And I should have known better.

My last attempt at this series came before starting the site. That is why I was willing to give this another look. I wanted to give the show a much more critical eye than I have ever given it. To be fair though, I didn’t expect my opinion to change all that much. And to a large degree, it didn’t.

For what it’s worth, Corpse Party wasn’t quite the series I had recalled it being. Some of the problems I’ve always had are much worse now. Yet I did see more aspects of note. But if you come to me saying this is a good horror anime, I will still look at you with a what-are-you-talking-about face.

While not quite a change of heart, how was I able to see the series in a different light for this go around? I asked a different type of question.

What is Corpse Party?

The obvious answer is, it’s an adaptation of the video game of the same name. A video game that, at the time of me writing this review, I have not played. Except I do intend to change that. Me wanting to play the original source material has everything to do with this show. If this was an advertisement for the game, I would have to say it was a success. I can’t imagine that is the case because me wanting to play Corpse Party is due to the series being so choppy.

The other answer to my question is something I have never considered before. Corpse Party – Tortured Souls is an OVA. That is an important distinction. It doesn’t change the flaws and problems of this show. But it can help explain why they happened. Except this can only work if we operate under a certain assumption.

That assumption being, Corpse Party the OVA didn’t change much from Corpse Party the game. What you see in one, you can expect to find in the other. This means we have the same story. We have the same characters. We have the same sequence of events. With this as the reality I was working with, I came to a single conclusion.

This OVA expected the viewer to have played the game.

Normally, I despise when a series does this. An adaptation should be able to stand on its own merits. Requiring an audience to understand a story beforehand is infuriating. Have you ever seen a film and something about it didn’t make sense? Then the friend you were watching it with says that part worked in the book. That’s not an excuse for the problem existing. That means the movie didn’t do its job.

Yet Corpse Party gets a bit of a pass.

This was not a standard anime. Corpse Party wasn’t meant for a television airing. As an Original Video Animation, the intent was for a direct home release. As such, audiences needed to seek it out. If you aren’t a fan of the source material, why would you go out of your way to buy such a product?

It’s not unrealistic to expect the storytellers of Corpse Party to think the fans would be the ones watching it. This OVA is for them. They would have the knowledge to fill in any missing gaps left behind by the story. Does that mean every fan of the series should love this? Not in the slightest.

If an adaptation misses the point of the source material, then it doesn’t matter how much you know. If Corpse Party the game’s purpose was gore, and lots of it, then yes, mission accomplished. While not having played the game, I have my doubts that pure violence is all there is to it. But I could be wrong. Yet having seen the OVA, I don’t think I am.

Before getting into everything I don’t like about Corpse Party, let’s give some credit where its due. There was a fair bit to enjoy. That is something I once thought I would never say about this show. Take the wins where you can.

Atmosphere

Despite my issues with the show, I won’t deny Corpse Party got creepy. It had miles to go before it reached pure horror, but there was quite a bit of disturbing imagery. And that’s not including the graphic violence.

This OVA had great shadow manipulation. If you decide to give this show a go, be sure to remove any potential source of glare that could appear on the screen. The series got rather dark.

Lighting aside, pay attention to everything that is happening during a given scene. If you’re only looking at what’s in the foreground, you’re setting yourself up for an effective spook. Ghosts in this show made a habit out of appearing without musical cues.

That and the main spirits in this story were children and ghost kids are never not terrifying. It also didn’t help they were bloodthirsty killing machines. Plus, they weren’t fun to look at either.

Some of the jumps you can see coming. Except that wasn’t much of a shield. Whenever the show telegraphed itself, the results were among the most frightening. Camera angles were zoomed in and unnatural. Shots felt claustrophobic. With the scares that were more a surprise, they were far away. For these other ones, they came right up to your face.

Before getting too carried away, let me make this clear. Corpse Party didn’t spread itself out. Its most horror like moments came at the beginning. The last two episodes shoved as much blood and guts into this show as possible. Yet episode one, Multiple Separation, wasn’t half bad.

I must have been remembering the large amount of nonsense that came later. Too bad too since Corpse Party’s first episode had a lot of promise. Knowing the time constraints of the OVA, this opener was well-paced and well-executed.

The first part of this episode introduced our main characters. My knowledge of what was coming made this scene tense. And if you are aware of the nature of this OVA going in, that same apprehension should remain.

Once at the elementary school, Corpse Party made the decision to focus on only two of its characters. This was the first of many choices that ended up not making sense. Yet in this case, we got something out of it. Even though it may have only been in the short term.

When following these two characters, Naomi Nakashima and Seiko Shinohara (voiced by Rina Sato and Satomi Arai), the OVA took its time. The show built its atmosphere. Instead of dumping everything up front, the pace was slow and methodical. The series’ trademark violence didn’t come until much later in the episode. When it did though, it opened the floodgates.

There was a part where Naomi and Seiko split up. What resulted was legit nightmare fuel. A story that was once meticulous became fast-paced and chaotic. For the briefest of seconds, I thought I had misjudged Corpse Party. But then I remembered something.

This first episode was the worst thing the OVA could have done. To accomplish what the series did, think about what had to happen. The show had to take its time and dedicate one-fourth of its story to two characters. Two characters out of a group of nine. A group of nine split across locations. And Corpse Party only had three episodes left to get to everything.

On top of that, there was a mystery element to this show that didn’t get introduced until midway through episode two. One of the bigger mistakes Corpse Party made was setting up a story. A story that would only get more complex the further it went along. There was a lot that needed to happen and this OVA didn’t have the time to do it all.

Animation

Corpse Party was well-animated. It’s clear that either a budget, talent, or both went into this OVA. Considering the series’ origins as an RPG Maker game, this level of detail was astonishing.

I can see the production note now. “Make it look scary.” Done.

When the main group was performing the “Sachiko Ever After” charm, it was eerie. With a storm going on outside, the lack of light, and the obvious sense of isolation, this made for a tense atmosphere. I never appreciated this scene as much as I did this time.

Also, I’m saying this was at the group’s school. As in, this was before all hell broke loose. Once they arrived at Heavenly Host Elementary School, my God. Everyone who worked on the backgrounds and settings deserves every ounce of recognition. This place was unsettling.

Getting trapped in a place like this would be frightening. This was a legitimate haunted house, a.k.a. school. Everything here was deadly. Except “deadly” isn’t quite the right word. If you were to die in this location, you got off lucky. Most of the characters got something far worse before death took them.

Speaking of the characters, everyone’s design looked nice too. Corpse Party didn’t have the cutesy look like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni or Gakkou Gurashi had. But things never got ultra-realistic either. This OVA found a nice middle ground between those two extremes. When there was blood, it wasn’t a jarring juxtaposition to the visuals. Nor was it cartoonishly over-the-top. Was it extreme though? Yes.

With all in mind, I’m going to stop tip-toeing around the issue. Though the backgrounds, character designs, and atmosphere were good, they're not what this OVA is.

I disagree with any claim that states this to be among one of the best horror anime. I’ve said that enough. Yet labeling this as one of the most gruesome, yeah, I can’t argue with that. I also won’t pretend such a notion wasn’t the sole reason I first checked out this show.

For a little behind the scenes, when doing this review, I was coming off Highschool of the Dead. That series didn’t skimp out on violence by any means. Yet Corpse Party was on a whole different level. We are talking on par with shows such as Elfen Lied. Although I would argue Elfen Lied won in the volume-of-blood department, this show takes the top spot in the number of innards and disembowelments.

Also, there's a nuance between psychic powers ripping a person to shreds and what this series did. Getting a closeup shot of a knife to the neck is a little intense. And that was one of the milder things that happened.

Knowing this, is it any wonder where Corpse Party gets its fanbase from? You don’t need to be a world-class detective to figure out what the focus of this OVA was.

There wasn’t a single scene I can pinpoint as being the most extreme. Each death was brutal. That said, I can tell you where the line was. If you can believe it, Corpse Party didn’t show everything.

The characters were running away from a group of mutilated ghost children. We got to see the moment where they ended up looking the way they did. We got some tongue cutting, eye stabbing, and other stuff. Yet there was something the camera didn’t show us. “Sadistic” is a fitting word. And although we didn’t see it, we sure as hell heard it.

When those noises stopped, yeah that was a thing that happened.

One of the unsung champions of this series were the sound effects. I hope I never hear the true sound of saw to skull. I’m okay with taking Corpse Party’s word on this.

On the other end of the spectrum, I can tell you which death was the “tamest”. The only thing involved was a decapitation. If I had to choose one of the options presented in the series, I would have to go with this one. It was the only kill that was quick and painless.

To add a little bit more context, the next most “merciful” death involved a hanging. This at least had the smallest amount of blood. So, there was that, I guess. By Corpse Party’s standards, this scene and the last one I mentioned were child’s play. For most other shows, these would have been the most shocking.

Between decapitation and child torture, that was the space Corpse Party operated in. And this animation gave us all the gruesome details.

If you want to know how far anime can go and don’t care about anything else, I can’t stop you from giving this series a look. For if this was the show’s only goal, consider this a home run. I want to put a huge emphasis on the “only goal” part of the previous sentence.

If you’re not younger me and none of this peaked your curiosity, because you’re a sane person, that’s going to be a problem. There are no other selling points for this show. Once you look past the gore and violence, you will see the hollow shell that is Corpse Party – Tortured Souls.

That “only goal” I mentioned, this was what sunk the show. This OVA got way to greedy. It wanted to exist beyond its means. Had Corpse Party stuck to its brutality and nothing else, this could have been a different kind of review.

This is a prime example concerning my thoughts on effective fanservice. If you take the fluff away, what are you left with?

Series Negatives

That initial assumption I made was me trying to understand the decisions of Corpse Party. It wasn’t me attempting to excuse them.

It really is a shame. It is a shame this was a four-episode OVA. It’s a shame each episode was only thirty minutes long. These limitations chained down a show that could have otherwise been outstanding. During this viewing, I finally nailed down what was always bugging me about this series. Corpse Party could have been great.

If this OVA was always meant to be nothing more than a gore fest, then it should have only been that. This show should have never tried to be anything more. It didn’t have the time to be anything more. If I had to guess, the series cherry-picked the best scenes from the game.

Except it didn’t include the reasons that would have made those scenes great. This is my gamer instincts coming out, but a video game would have had the freedom to explore a lot more. As a player, you would have more exposure to the world and the people in it.

I am in no position to say whether Corpse Party the game is a masterpiece, overrated, or somewhere in between. What I can say is what it has supporting it. And that is a loyal fanbase. To many, there was something to the original. And from this OVA, I can see a decent product existing.

Yet what worries me is the possibility that this series is an accurate depiction of the game. If that is true, then I am on the verge of pissing a lot of people off. With so much potential here, I don’t want this to be the case. And I’m going to find out for sure.

It’s over half a year away, but I’m saying it now. On October 31st, 2018, I will return to this series one more time. But it will not be the anime. It will be the game itself. Maybe in a different medium, I can finally understand what it is people see in this series. Be sure to come back this Halloween for Anime Hajime Impressions: Corpse Party.

But that’s enough about what is to come. For the moment, we need to focus on the things this OVA fumbled with. From across my many viewings, I have come across two major problems.

The Story

Why did this exist? This didn’t need to exist. And it certainly didn’t need to be as intriguing as it was. That made things so much worse. The hints of story that were in Corpse Party makes me think there is something to this series.

As it stands though, this OVA had a lot of missing elements. I have seen plenty of plots stumble between points A and B. This, on the other hand, ignored any sense of connection. Many of the problems that the show presented got solved off-screen.

Characters learned the history of the school through newspapers and journal entries. A common mechanic that exist within video games. But at least in video games, you must enter the room these kinds of clues are in. Here, the OVA would exposition all the information necessary. It would even answer questions it asked no less than a few seconds prior. This took away any sense of mystery to this world.

For instance, one of the characters, Ayumi Shinozaki (voiced by Asami Imai), had a strong connection to the spirit world. This allowed her to be much more aware of what was going on around her. This could be from the game and the idea of such an ability I’m not against. Except in the OVA, this was a power Ayumi simply had. There was never even a hint of her being able to do this before it became necessary.

Through this, and not a harrowing investigation, the characters learned of what they needed to do. They discovered the way to appease the spirits of the vengeful ghost children. They the group needed to return the thing that was stolen from them.

Upon figuring this out, Ayumi managed to set the first of three spirits to rest immediately. That was fine since there were two others that needed exorcising. I wasn’t expecting a lot of time dedicated to this. But I was expecting some. The next scene we got with Ayumi, she had done it. She had returned missing items to the three ghosts.

Wait, what!? That’s it? It’s over? Why? Why do that?

It was clear the OVA only showed us the most boring one of the trio. The other two had to be far more interesting. The things they were missing, I would argue, were way more intense than what the first ghost was dealing with. Also, this is me ignoring what I think the series was trying to get at.

From everything this story was hinting at, the three ghosts were looking for the same item. Please tell me that wasn’t the case. This would be so dumb if it’s true. What the spirits were missing is something I wouldn’t want to be taken from me either. Yet considering what else they no longer had, particularly one of them, my attention would have been somewhere else.

This story needed to explain its priorities. There had to have been more. Unfortunately, this was among the several plot holes in the Corpse Party OVA. This was only four episodes. How is so much of this show not adding up?

The plot hole that hurts my brain the most has to do with the identity of the person behind the curse. Warning, I’m going to venture into spoiler territory because I would love it if someone could explain this to me. And if you are up for the challenge, you can only use information that was in the OVA itself. If you need to go to the game for clarification, that has no bearing on this show.

For the murder of the three ghost children, the killer required an accomplice. The only way the killer could have manipulated someone was through leverage. Considering what the accomplice needed to do, that leverage needed to be mind-breaking. The kind of mental torment one might receive from a vengeful spirit.

If this were the case, everything would make sense. The killer would have already been dead. Due to the sudden and unnatural nature of their death, the spirit they left behind would be violent. That was as per the reasoning provided by this show. Also, the killer had a motivation for committing these murders. Again, the story established this to be true.

I can accept this. As it is, there isn’t too much to question here. Except there was one massive problem.

The killer was found alongside the bodies of the three victims. The issue was, the killer was alive. What did I miss? That shouldn’t be possible. And the reverse doesn’t work either.

If the killer died after murdering the three victims, they would have had no motive to commit the act. The reason the killer died, they saw something they shouldn’t have. And the thing they saw was the cause of their spirit becoming enraged.

As I was writing this section, more inconsistencies kept popping into my head. But this is not a rabbit hole I want to go down.

The story shouldn’t have been here. And if it was going to be here, it needed to be way more simplified. That or don’t skip chunks of the plot. If you’re only trying to hit the major beats of the Corpse Party game, you’re missing all the buildup. You’re ignoring the area where the dots connect.

And I don’t want to hear it. Odyssey, the point of the Corpse Party OVA wasn’t the story. The point was the blood and gore.

My rebuttal to that. The opening to Elfen Lied.

I said it at the start, I had forgotten how brutal Corpse Party got. How can I even say such a thing? How do you forget one of the most gruesome anime to ever exist? It’s easy when the brutality isn’t memorable. Violence for violence sake isn’t going to stick with you. Sure, it’s intense while its happening. But if it’s only happening because it’s a thing a show can do, so what?

Compare this to the very first scene of Elfen Lied. The show started off cold. You had no idea what is going on. Yet everywhere you looked, people were dying for no apparent reason. And this lasted for a while. Afterward, you came to learn how deep this story goes. You came to understand what the characters are thinking. You learned what they have experienced. This was so much more impactful than any of the deaths that happened in Corpse Party.

And since I brought up characters.

Characters

Everyone in this show was a God damn idiot. There were no good characters in Corpse Party. The only reason I felt any sympathy for anyone was thanks to the voice actors. I’ll give the OVA this, the performances were great. And why wouldn’t they be? Look at some of the people who made up the cast.

Rina Sato, the voice of the already mentioned Naomi Nakashima. Ms. Satou was Mikoto Misaka from A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun series.

Eri Kitamura, the voice of Yuka Mochida. Ms. Kitamura played Karen Araragi from Monogatari, Ami Kawashima from Toradora, and Sayaka Miki from Madoka Magica. She was also Cana Alberona from Fairy Tail. In fact, there were several Fairy Tail alumni here.

Yuichi Nakamura, the voice of Yoshiki Kishinuma was Gray Fullbuster. And where would Gray be without his ultimate rival, Natsu Dragneel? Tetsuya Kakihara played Sakutaro Morishige in this show.

One more. Miyuki Sawashiro, the voice of Yui Shishido. What has Ms. Sawashiro done? Suruga Kanbaru, Monogatari. Virgo and Ultear, Fairy Tail. Saeko Busujima, Highschool of the Dead. Am I forgetting one? Oh yeah. Celty Sturluson from Durarara.

It was so weird to hear all this talent in Corpse Party. It was even stranger when I couldn’t give any less of a crap about any of their characters. You can see the problem right at the beginning of the show. If you know three simple things, you are going to find it difficult to care about these people. These are three things we’ve already discussed in this review.

First, the OVA is only four episodes. Second, each episode is thirty minutes long. Third, the reputation of Corpse Party. When you know these three things, you will understand the issue the moment you meet everyone. Most of these characters existed only to die. The majority of them were cannon fodder.

With their fate sealed why would you bother investing anything into any of them. The Corpse Party OVA seemed to understand this. Many of the deaths happened without much emotional fanfare. While the characters may have cried, what reason did we have? On occasion, the story tried to have a sympathetic moment. The one that tried to pull at the heartstrings the hardest was when, spoilers, Yuka Mochida died.

I need to talk about this because this was so dumb. Every time I get to this series of events, it's my clear as day reminder that this is a bad show. At the end of this mini-arc, Yuka dies as a result of her injuries she sustained while undergoing torture. That scene wasn’t the annoying part. It was actually quite intense. Yuka passed on in the arms of her older brother, Satoshi Mochida (voiced by Hiro Shimono). What was annoying was Satoshi’s multi-layered reaction to this.

In the next episode, Satoshi didn’t appear to care that his sister went through incredible amounts of pain before death. But what got me was Satoshi’s reaction when her heart stopped beating. As he held her crying, my thoughts were nothing except contempt.

“Yeah, this is sad, isn’t it jackass? And you know what, it’s your fault. Your idiotic actions led to your sister’s violent death. Much of the blame falls on you.”

Satoshi and Yuka were exploring the school together. Yuka then needed to go to the bathroom and to her credit, she understood her surroundings. She tried to hold it in as long as she could. Her brother, for some reason, ignored all the good enough toilets she could have used. Sure, they were a little busted up, but so was the rest of the school. Who was going to care? At worst, she could have gone in some random corner. Yeah, embarrassing, I get that. Except, circumstances.

Regardless, the siblings found their way outside and Yuka reached her limit. That is when they met one of the ghost children. Unlike the rest, this one seemed friendly and offered to help Yuka. Satoshi, in his wisdom, thought, “Hmm, that’s a good idea.”

Why? Why was that a good idea? No less than a few scenes ago, Satoshi got a warning to not trust the ghost children. Yet here he was trusting a ghost child.

And then Satoshi told Yuka to do her business out in the field. Again, why? Why did you tell her to do that? Could you not see all the dead bodies littered everywhere?

And then, Satoshi said he would wait for Yuka inside. You stupid waste of breath. What were you doing? Why would you ever separate with your sister in this place? You left her to die. Her death was on your hands.

Do you want to know the worst part? The OVA set it up as Satoshi being the main character. I don’t know if that is true in the game, but I refuse to believe that was the case here. And considering his fate in this story, I would say he got what was coming to him. Granted, what happened to him didn’t make any sense. The chain of events that led to him holding a certain something didn’t work. But what does makes sense, if this was going to happen, it was going to happen to Satoshi.

Corpse Party is only four episodes. But each time I watch it, I’m left exhausted. This is the power that comes from a series that doesn’t care about plot or characters and yet tries to have them anyway. Something this broken can distract and overtake a show that should be simple. Why do I keep forgetting about the violence? It’s because of everything else happening around it.

I’m not sure how a series can fail in such a fantastical way. Corpse Party did it though.

Final Thoughts

I don’t like this show. I have never liked this show.

Although this viewing did allow me to see some positives I’ve never noticed before, it wasn’t enough. This OVA wasted great animation, effective atmosphere, and a talented cast of voice actors. It’s main appeal, its violence, will keep it around and that is unfortunate.

I would not be against if someone tried to do this series again. There is a story here. This could make for an outstanding horror anime. It only needs the right amount of care and time.

I understand if this show’s reputation is too big of a draw. But trust me, you can find better. Corpse Party – Tortured Souls is not worth it.

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? How would you advise Corpse Party – Tortured Souls? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.

And if you liked what you read, be sure to follow me on my social media sites so that you never miss a post or update. Also, please share this review across the internet to help add to the discussion.

I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.

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Others in the Corpse Party Series

Anime Hajime Review: Corpse Party - Tortured Souls blank

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Anime Hajime Impressions: Corpse Party (Coming October 31st, 2018)

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