Shigurui feels like a walk to the slaughter. It's very intense if you can get into the story.

STORY 8, gut wrenching, very intense, because of the way the story told (flash-forward in media res) , it very much feels like a slow decent into insanity, even though we know where we are going already.

ART : 9 , some amazing panels, the art is always on point, only default is its often hard to differentiate secondary characters, and sometimes even the protagonists, especially at the beginning.

CHAR : 9, here the protagonists are both blank slates for the reader to sometimes identify to, and at the same time, well-defined ideologically strong characters with intense personal motivations. When i see this kind of characterization it always reminds me of Berserk, who's one of the most well known example of this kind of "drama" where the characters stand for themselves, but also an ideological stance and worldview, always makes for a good story.
The characters are very intriguing and I nowadays relish having protagonist that are not clearly cut as "good" or "evil". Whenever i pick up a new manga nowadays it just feels like the author is saying "this guy good, this other guy bad just because", probably to cater to the autistic demographic who can only understand the world in black and white.

ENJOY : 7, yeah, not really a fun read, binge material tho

OVERALL : 9 , well it's just good you know. You can argue that it's sometimes soulless and bland in certain parts, but i'd argue back that it was probably intentional to make it such. A cold, cruel, simple, realistic story hits me more than a well-defined world with colorful characters. Here the world is so simple that it's basically a sandbox for the characters to oppose in.