1/5 An Acquired Taste
  by C. A. Fennelle
This anime is pretty bad. The story is pretty slow and boring and it
jumps around a lot. It's also extremely graphic which I'm usually into,
but it's done all wrong in this case. The music goes with the depressing
feel of the story, but is terrible in my opinion. The only things that
seem to be good about Shigurui are the visuals. The artwork is pretty
colorless which makes it feel dull at times, but it's visually
impressive nonetheless. I would only recommend this to people who are
fans of gore or people into swordsman homosexuality because that's what
they'll find when they watch this.

4/5 Bloody and watchable
  by L. White
This is worth watching if you are looking for a darker series. If looking at the cover arts turns you away, then don't bother. The story is bloody and doesn't pull punches. It is also fairly complicated with the politics of the dojo and the small sampling of Japan in that era. Is this historically accurate? I don't care. Darker stories are difficult to come by as it is.
The artwork is not anything that will detract from the show. The audio is not amazing. No part was particularly lacking. The conclusion was not all I hoped for, but that helps the series perhaps.
A number of people have said that they couldn't like either main character. All of the characters were so depraved and they had no investment in any of them. The characters' have their moments of admirable actions (save a few characters). Seeing their humanity and how they handled similar situations differently is what made this worth watching.
I don't love gore, but I appreciate directors not holding back (so long as it doesn't become an exposition). Unfortunately, there are some scenes where it really is just exposition. The most valuable part of the series is the moral (or ethical) problem of what should/could have been done. No, this is not as good as Berzerk. No, it is not a great directing masterpiece like from Kurosawa. It is Shigurui, a bloody, dark, tale you can enjoy if you managed to watch Berzerk through to the end.

5/5 a review for all rev-ewwws
  by sid viscous (elp-town, texas)
i've learned to read reviews starting from the least appreciative(1star) on up. generally speaking the longer the review, the more elaborate and exaggerated the appreciation is. Whether the appreciation is positive or negative this usually means one misunderstands the "ARTISTIC" intention behind the; team, partnership, committee, concern, or who ever made the project. Most crave dragonball-sailor moon knock offs, while some of us have the capacity for more formidable topics and depictions. Read reviews carefully. See what some one is actually complaining about. See if they have good grammar. If you do you might not agree with their review. Do the legwork and see what the creators have made before. See if the set is cheaper at stores in your town, on fye, e-bay, or on other sites before you buy something that just doesn't jump out at you.
This show is not very linear or coherent. That does not make it bad. I've watched several anime and am usually impressed by the ones that look nice, but that are very complex and "UNEASY" to understand. I like something to pose questions that make one struggle to understand. That just means it deserves a little more time than others. It's has principles. It has ideology. In today's world where only the exaggerated and elaborate have ideologies question everything. But furthermore, FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF.

2/5 lame
  by Justin P. Apathy
me and my girlfriend usually cant wait to watch anime series when we buy them, but with this one we watched one episdoe and there it just sat. we finally finished up the other episodes but i only made it thru the first 3 and then i went to bed.

1/5 don't buy this
  by Mr. Joe (USA)
If you like good anime like Berserker, Basilsk, or claymore don't buy this I made the mistake of buying it and now I m stuck with it. Yes the animation looks good and is gory but the battles are one hit kills and the dialogue makes no sense.

The action is super weird half of the time you only see guts flying and you wonder what hit the guy. The story has no end by the way and it keeps moving back and forward in time. (spoiler) don't expect the opening scene to be explained or finish or in no way be conected with the story.