Season One / Season Two Original Run: March 13, 2005 - September 22, 2005 / August 11, 2007 - November 2007 Season One / Season Two Number of Episodes: 4 / 2 Genre: Comedy, Supernatural Based on the Series Created By: Masaki Okayu and Torishimo
***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan Season One and Season Two. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
Sakura Kusakabe (voiced by Reiko Takagi) was once quite normal. Then one day, a beautiful angel name Dokuro Mitsukai (voiced by Saeko Chiba) started living in his house. While that may sound like a literal gift from heaven, any fantastical thoughts become hard to focus on when a spikey steel bat is cleaving off one’s head.
Now on a daily (and in some cases, hourly) basis, Sakura is suddenly and violently bludgeoned to death by the superhuman strength of Dokuro. Fortunately — if you want to look at it that way — Dokuro can instantly bring Sakura back to life after his insides end up splattered on the wall.
Then, because of reasons, Sakura must face even more problems; some of which actually intend to kill him.
Any notion of a quiet life is — often like Sakura’s body — blown to smithereens. Then again, once you have experienced dying for the hundredth time, what else is there to worry about?
Series Positives
A quick explanation:
Although two separate releases, Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan and Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan 2 will henceforth be referred to as a single entity — Dokuro-chan. In total the entire series only consisted of six episodes (four from season one and two from season two), and if I am brutally honest, this review will be plenty short despite the unification.
In addition to that, Dokuro-chan was a textbook definition of a fanservice-centric anime. Therefore, this is one of those series which is either in-line with your tastes, or it simply isn’t.
Before you start getting any wrong ideas, I want to remind you that the term “fanservice” has a much broader meaning than what most — including myself — typically use it for.
Often, when we speak of “fanservice,” images of very attractive looking characters — oh, who am I trying to fool — images of very attractive female characters in revealing outfits (if clothed at all) and in highly suggestive positions (again, if at all subtle) come to mind. With that, as well as plenty of examples of male characters being portrayed in similar ways, it is easy to mistake “fanservice” to be completely interchangeable with eroticism.
“Fanservice” only means “elements to please the audience.”
As such — at least according to countless anime producers — sexy fun times undoubtedly meets that definition. However, fanservice can also refer to badass action and pop culture allusions. And in the case of something like Dokuro-chan, fanservice can be over-the-top violence.
(But just to be clear, this series had plenty of the more common form of fanservice too)
I won’t lie, I originally watched Dokuro-chan way back when because of its reputation as being one of the bloodiest anime out there. I must say, those claims are not inaccurate, and accordingly, that is the only reason why anyone ever needs to consider watching this show.
This series wasn’t what I would call “good,” but it did accomplish what it set out to do. Along with that, Dokuro-chan managed to craft together a handful of funny moments. It would be a lie to say I found zero entertainment value when returning to this series.
Granted, I only had to sit through six episodes, and a three-hour viewing session is nothing compared to what I usually do.
To give some praise to this show — albeit in a very morbid way — there was creativity behind Dokuro-chan’s methods of inflicting pain. Admittedly, the series’ go-to of simply obliterating Sakura into a red mist lost most of its wow-factor after the umpteenth time it happened, but nevertheless, there was enough variety to go around.
Let me end this section by stating:
Dokuro-chan is, indeed, one of the most violent anime in existence.
If your curiosity was peaked even slightly by that last sentence, should you decide to give this show a look, I can’t fault you.
Series Negatives
Although I am about to be critical, I have no intention of being snobbish; Dokuro-chan doesn’t warrant that level of reviewer’s passion.
The strength of this series came from curiosity over quality. I suppose if you are looking for a compelling story, funny jokes, memorable characters, and amazing animation, and then for some reason, you decided to go with Dokuro-chan, then yes, there would be some disappointment for sure.
Conversely, if you go into this series expecting it to be a bloodbath and find it mostly underwhelming, join the club. Dokuro-chan, along with being a pure fanservice series, is a perfect example of what happens when a show relies entirely on fanservice. The novelty gets old after a while.
You could argue that Dokuro-chan is one of those series not well suited for marathon viewing. However, my counter to that point would be: Why the hell would you want to watch this series any other way?
Thus, we can get to the heart of Dokuro-chan’s biggest problem:
This show was boring.
Aside from the occasional chuckle here and there, as I was watching, I could actively feel myself losing interest in what was going on. Moreover, I’m a little surprised there was a narrative to this series to begin with.
To separate the show for a moment, Dokuro-chan‘s first season had one of the most barebone plotlines I have ever seen. Season two, although treated as a sequel, was far more random and sporadic. If anything, that should have been the entire series. Season two really didn’t care why an overly violent angel began living with a human and speaking for myself, neither did I.
In fact, this was not the first time I have returned to Dokuro-chan, nor was it the first time I forgot there was a story attached to this show.
In conjunction with that, the characters of Dokuro-chan were either tolerable and forgettable, or annoying and forgettable. For example, if there was someone who constantly asked to be bludgeoned to death daily, it was Sakura. The only time he was sort of interesting was when he was getting his nuts kicked in.
To be fair, though, titular Dokuro wasn’t much better. She wasn’t likable in the least, and that had nothing to do with her willingness to murder. She was a huge brat who always threw a hissy fit whenever anyone was foolish enough to fall short of her impossible to predict standards.
Thank everything that is everything this series was as short as it was because I don’t think it could have held my attention much longer than it did. And to tell you the truth, I fully suspect I will again forget what happened in Dokuro-chan before this review turns two months old — and that’s being generous.
Final Thoughts
Here was a whole lot of nothing, and this show knew that more than anyone.
The only element this series has to its name is its violent nature, and unfortunately, if that doesn’t appeal to you, then you are out of luck.
A story existed but was not needed. Characters were animated, but it was hard to care. Jokes were made, but only a small portion really landed. HOWEVER, that one guy exploded into a bloody pulp after he was struck by a pointy bat; that was kind of neat.
If you are intrigued by that last part, then for that reason alone I can recommend Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan Season One and Season Two.
But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? What would be your advice concerning Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan Season One and Season Two? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
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For Anime Hajime, I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.
