At two hours, I'll be the first to admit, The Empire of Corpses is a movie you have to find the time to watch. With references to historical figures galore (Thomas Edison, Ulysses S. Grant and Charles Bumbray) as well as literary ones (John Watson, Victor Frankenstein, M, etc), it's not a film you want to watch half heartedly, as you will be doing yourself and this beautiful movie a disfavor The Empire of Corpses is one of the most beautifully animated films I've seen in some time. Every scene ebbs and flows like water. The voice acting is perfect, with each character perfectly suiting their anime counterpart, but it's the story that is truly something spectacular. With deep philosophical questions about Death, Souls, Ambition, Free Will, War and Love just to name a few. It's one of those movies you can watch and enjoy on the surface (The story isn't that complicated and can be easily followed if you're paying attention), or if like myself, you like to peel back the layers and see what's underneath, The Empire of Corpses will not let you down. I will admit to the final act being flawed. Without spoiling anything, the main villain's reason for doing what he was doing was…..weak/weird? While I could go along with M's reason for his evil plan (to make the world one way so there would be no more conflict or wars), I couldn't get behind the Final/Main Villain's reason. Everything got super confusing at this point. The ending also was very 'up in the air', with an end credit scene (with Sherlock Holmes no less), that while a nice nod to fans of literature, added nothing to the story and left you with more questions than answers. I'm sorry I took this long to watch it, but I'm glad I took my time. This a movie I could spend hours dissecting, but for the sake of this review I will simply say, it's not just for anime fans, this is a full length, well written, beautifully executed movie that deserves to be seen by all.

This film takes a well known story of Dr Frankenstein and adds a different spin on the ideas of death.I thoroughly enjoyed it and was one of the first anime films i watched outside the Studio Ghibli collection. The idea of bringing corpses back from the dead as working puppets, is a very dark matter and i believe this film manages to convey its story.However it may of helped me relate to the characters and have a better understanding towards their motives, if more background was given into their lives.Enjoyed so much have ordered myself the steel-book blu ray version to enjoy :)

So I watched the Empire of Corpses, which belongs to the trilogy of works by the late Itoh Keikaku, dealing with all sorts of existentialism issues. The premise is about a world where humanity can reanimate corpses and use them as cheap labors and soldiers, effectively building a strong economy around what used to be worthless. It's trying to retain a degree of seriousness but mostly fails because of the constant morbid imagery and the mindless explosions which is something you would expect to see in a B grade action flick.The animation is done by studio WIT, and it looks amazing, yet overused at this point since they keep reusing the same setting in their works: An 19th century steam-punk Europe, with zombies. The music is OK, although forgettable, while the dialogue is mostly info-dumps, making the exposition very amateurish.The characters are nothing to remember for and the only thing that stands out is their names. They are all based on famous people from history and literature, making everything feel like a hunt for references and derivatives. There is practically nothing fresh about this concept; even the premise is essentially Frankenstein taken to a global level.The plot feels to the most part like watching the second Ghost in the Shell movie. Gorgeous to look, pretentious to listen to, and absolutely no commitment to give a dime about anything that is going on in it. The characters say stuff as if reading an essay written by a high schooler attempting to sound wise, then something blows up, they go to a different place, sit down, and continue their boring couch philosophies.It may not sound like a big issue but trust me, it's impossible to give a dime when there is a war going on, the main characters as standing in the back, reading books, and talk about the meaning of life while zombies are chewing each other to a second death. They are talking about people who are not even alive, nor take part in the battle.As if that wasn't enough of a problem, the last third loses all sense of logic and becomes about magic crystals and spells that make you switch bodies. Everything becomes possible, you can't take anything seriously, the resolution is a ridiculous cop out, and you are essentially watching Guilty Crown all over again. Final verdict, it's awful.

The Empire Corpses has a great concept but ultimately suffered from a confusing end plot and weak character bonds. The movie takes place in 1879 and corpse technology is used for low income jobs and soldiers in war. John Watson is a young scientist who wants to revive his friend back from the dead. In order to get his friends soul back he goes on a mission to retrieve Victor Frankenstein's notes on where to recover the soul. While the story was somewhat intriguing up until then the flaws of the movie began to show their true colors. The characters not really having any relation to each other began show when they tried getting emotional with each other. It didn't help that the hilariously big breasted women who turned out to be a robot and Thomas Edison's creation. At that point it just became cheesy and it could have been so much more. The part that truly lost me was the ending which incorporated what looked like magic(not really magic but looked to much like it), Complicated reasons for what the hell is happening, and the ending with Watson sitting in the chair and Friday working on him(seriously what the hell happened there). Lastly there was the Sherlock Homes cameo and the fact that the thing everyone is waiting for the whole film isn't even brought to them is quite unsatisfying(don't want to spoil it so i wont sat it). The Empire Corpses was decent at first but then drew away from the steam-punk zombie society and fell into weird cyborg booby girls and magic zombie controlling abilities.