Born on March 15, 1971, Megumu Okada first got his start in manga as a member of Takehiko Ito's staff for the series Future-Retro Hero Story (the manga that Outlaw Star would later be a spin-off of) in the late 80s & early 90s, before making doujinshi. One doujinshi Okada had made would then be repurposed in 1992 to become Shadow Skill, Okada's first ever professional work that was part of the debut issue of Takeshobo's Comic Gamma, a magazine that was meant to appeal to junior & senior high school students, i.e. those who had grown out of shonen magazines but weren't meant to read seinen magazines quite yet. I should make note of a common misconception online that the "full" title of Okada's manga technically includes the word "Eigi", which comes about from the fact that the official Japanese title is "影技 SHADOW SKILL" (or, in some instances, "SHADOW SKILL -影技-"), and that the way to read those kanji is "Eigi". Now, to be fair, the series does indeed use the term "Eigi" when referring to a specific style of combat in the story, but the literal translation of "Eigi" is simply "Shadow Technique", i.e. "Shadow Skill" (which happens to also be the nickname for the main character), so the manga & anime are simply titled Shadow Skill. A-ny-way, Shadow Skill would run for the entire duration of Comic Gamma's existence, which came to an end in May 1996, resulting in a total of 23 chapters across four volumes. At that point Okada put Shadow Skill on hiatus, but a year later the manga would find a new home with now-defunct Kadokawa brand Fujimi Shobo's Monthly Dragon Jr., continuing on from where the Comic Gamma run left off at. This second run wouldn't last long at only about 1.5 years, & totaling 13 additional chapters, before going on hiatus once again, though in this case it wasn't due to the magazine going under; Kadokawa wouldn't collect the newly serialized chapters, but would re-release the first four volumes in 1998.
After yet another year-long hiatus Okada revived Shadow Skill once again, now being published under Kodansha & its Afternoon series of magazines. It first ran in Afternoon Season Zokan from February 2000 to October 2002, before getting moved over to Monthly Afternoon itself in February 2003, where it would run irregularly until March 2014, when Okada finally brought the series to its end. The main reason why Shadow Skill ran irregularly in Afternoon from 2003 on was due to Okada also debuting a new manga over at Akita Shoten's Champion Red in late 2002, namely Saint Seiya Episode.G, a spin-off/prequel to Masami Kurumada's iconic Shonen Jump manga, which itself has become a trilogy of manga that's since become Okada's primary focus to this day. The main confusion regarding Shadow Skill, aside from the silliness with some people being way too literal with its title, mainly comes down to publication history, which sometimes results in people not knowing how many actual volumes there are. In short, the original Comic Gamma run was four volumes, which were then reprinted by Kadokawa during the Dragon Jr. run. In preparation for the Afternoon run, then, Kodansha did a new aizouban set of releases that collected the initial four volumes across two books, while the previously uncollected Dragon Jr. run was now finally released as the first aizouban, & instead of simple numbers these books each had their own subtitle (black howling & black wing for the original Comic Gamma run, & phantom of shade for the Dragon Jr. run). Finally, the Afternoon run itself would be collected across 11 volumes, which means that the full & complete Shadow Skill manga, as released by Kodansha between November 1999 & May 2014, totals 14 volumes. Finally, earlier this very year, Megumu Okada revived his OG action manga in the digital pages of Tokuma Shoten's Comic Ryu Web with Shadow Skill Dawn, which is naturally still running as of this review & hasn't been collected yet.
And that's not even taking into consideration the anime adaptations! As the Comic Gamma run was in its final months a four-episode OVA adaptation of Shadow Skill by Studio Zero-G Room & director Hiroshi Negishi would come out, with the first 45-minute episode (comprising the "First Season") coming out on October 25, 1995, while the following three 30-minute episodes (comprising the "Second Season") actually all came out after Comic Gamma's closure, from September to November of 1996; whoops. This OVA would see official English release via Manga Entertainment in 2001 via dubbed & subbed VHS & dual-audio DVD, with the "Second Season" being treated as a single, 90-minute "Motion Picture". Then on December 12, 2003 a 60-minute OVA titled Shadow Skill ~Kuruda-ryu Kousappo no Himitsu/Secret of the Kuruda-Style Annihilation Technique~ saw release that was in full-CG & utilized cel shading... and looked notably different from anything prior, due to it reflecting the change in Megumu Okada's own art style, as seen in Saint Seiya Episode.G; this OVA has remained Japan-exclusive, though it's considered the "Third Season". In between the two OVA productions, however, came the focus of this review, which is the TV anime adaptation of Shadow Skill that debuted on TV Tokyo on "July 2 at 25:15" & replaced (coincidentally enough) Outlaw Star. Much like the first two OVA "seasons", Shadow Skill TV would eventually see official English release, though this time it was via ADV Films, which initially released the show across six dual-audio DVD singles from late 2005 to mid-2006, before re-releasing it via DVD boxset in both 2007 & 2009. So enough with the preamble, let's see how late-night's first "pure action" anime holds up after all this time.
Elle Ragu is a powerful martial artist who roams the country of Ashlianna with her surrogate brother Gau Ban, with the two heading over to the southern city-state of Kuruda so that Elle can enter a tournament & make some big money... because Elle & Gau have a ton of debts they have to pay off, which isn't helped by Elle usually wanting to spend any earnings they make on food & drink. Ashlianna, though, is surrounded by various nations that are only tenuously holding on to whatever visage of peace is agreed between them, as seen by a Demon Beast-controlling spy causing havoc one night in Kuruda; he wore clothing from various nations, so as to mask his true origin. The central holy city of Julianess is protected by the four city-states in each of the cardinal directions of it, with Kuruda being the city to the south & its warriors being known as Valle. As long as it pays well Elle is willing to take on whatever job comes her way, with Gau in tow to learn from his big sis in becoming a great Valle, for Elle Ragu, a.k.a. "Shadow Skill", is the 59th & newest Sevalle, a title only given to the most powerful warriors in all of Kuruda. However, when a group obsessed with the "Annihilation of the Holy Nation" starts making moves, like encouraging the neighboring country of Solfan to finally invade Kuruda, it'll be up to Elle & her fellow living Sevalle to protect Kuruda & all of Ashlianna from destruction... and Gau will be tested to his absolute limits to see if he truly can be a worthy Valle, or even a future Sevalle, himself.
From what I can tell, Shadow Skill TV isn't actually a direct adaptation of Megumu Okada's manga, but rather takes the characters, world, & general aesthetic and style of the manga to tell its own (mostly) original plot, though various plot points, storytelling beats, & character bits are taken from the manga. So let's start with our main cast, as they look to be more or less accurate to their manga originals when it comes to who they are. Elle Ragu is an amusing lead in how she can be rather dense when it comes to matters outside of fighting (she literally laments how she didn't realize something so obvious when she initially logic-ed her way into the obvious conclusion), and a major part of her being in constant debt is due to her love of drinking, but at the same time she's not a dumb muscle head by any means. She values friendship & family immensely, while her training that's turned her into a Sevalle means that she relates to & understand ideals & emotions that a "warrior" would have, including pride, vengeance, respect, etc. Elle also takes her position & job as a Sevalle extremely seriously, as despite hating the pomp & circumstance surrounding it (like posing for her statue or engaging in frilly ceremonies) when she's given a summons by King Iba Sutra of Kuruda (the 55th Sevalle, "Hawk Eye") she instantly responds & follows her orders, because that's what expected of a Sevalle.
Meanwhile, Gau is about as dense as Elle is but is similarly dedicated to becoming stronger, and in a sense arguably plays the more "traditional" lead character in a story like this, i.e. the young upstart who gets stronger as the story moves on. Gau's goal is to become a Sevalle himself one day, though in his case his icon is "Scarface" Vai Lo, the 57th Sevalle who now roams the land as a wanderer but meets Gau in Episode 2 & keeps a eye on his progress every now & then. However, Gau truly does look at Elle as his literal family, especially as she took him in after his village & family were all killed by bandits when he was younger. In return Gau immediately sees Elle's family as his own, including her older brother Diaz, a Sevalle prospect who damaged his own body to no end to help pay for treatment when Elle was young & ill, now simply living life as a master smithy who's waiting for the day the damage done to his body finally takes his life. When the Solfan army uses a ploy to keep Elle busy while they go after Diaz, Gau shows no hesitation in heading over to save his surrogate older brother, despite having only just met him recently. Alongside Elle & Gau are Follinkmeyer Plasmitizer, i.e. "Folli", a Sui Rem who uses magic talismans in combat & essentially acts as the responsible older sister for Elle (especially when it comes to making sure Elle pays off her debts), & Kyuo Lyu, a Demon Beast hunter known as a Septia who's actually the sole survivor of her troupe (which was led by her grandfather) & has a massive & blatantly obvious crush on Gau... well, obvious to everyone except for Elle & Gau, because they're just that dense.
I will admit that Shadow Skill TV has a bit of a curious start to it, and it might even turn some people off at first. Part of that is the first two episodes, which deal with the tournament in Kuruda & introduce a ton of characters, concepts, & terminology at the viewer at a rapid fire rate, only for a large portion of all that stuff to not really play a major factor in the following episodes. That's because Episodes 3 to 9 are more or less episodic "scenario of the week" stories that see Elle & the gang take on various jobs. There's Kyuo's proper introduction where she wishes to get vengeance on the giant Demon Beast that killed her troupe. Folli finally confronts Elle over the death of her master, which Folli initially believes Elle to have done in cold blood, though after spending time with her she questions if that's true. They help Feolina, a young girl who runs an island inn after her father's death, the truth behind her father being the main plot of the episode, which results in the gang being allowed to live at the inn for free as her employees. They assist a small squad of old soldiers watching the Kuruda/Solfan border in dealing with an assassin who's a Hulem, a warrior who can summon spirit Demon Beasts at will. Gau takes on Scribe Lohengrin, i.e. "Lo", a "Light Skill" user (the fist-based counterpart to Elle & Gau's kick-based "Shadow Skills") who falls heads over heels for Kyuo... and often makes a fool out of himself in front of Kyuo, while also looking at Gau as his ultimate rival, both in love & combat. Finally, Episodes 8 & 9 are a two-parter that introduce Diaz & the Four Devas (of which Elle is one) that swear to protect Julianess & the neighboring lands from harm. This results in Shadow Skill's first third feeling a little unfocused & maybe too episodic for its own good, as while there are some recurring elements to be found (& the episodes themselves are rather good) it can feel a bit like the show is spinning its wheels a bit.
However, in reality that entire first third plays a big factor in the grand scheme of things, as they do establish aspects of world building when it comes to the conflict between Kuruda & Solfan, introduce recurring characters (yes, even the squad of old men play a part later on), & set things up so that once the main plot begins in Episode 10 everything makes sense, including the rapid fire set up seen in the first two episodes. In the end, the main attraction of Shadow Skill TV is the remaining two-thirds of the show, which deal with "The Annihilation of the Holy Nation", a secret plan put into place by a mysterious villain named Shia Khan who has two powerful warriors on his side. One is "G" Kain Phalanx, the long-thought dead 58th Sevalle who went mad in his search for power & now wishes prove to his fellow Sevalle that he is truly the strongest in the land. The other is Len Fuma, a practitioner of Ying, a newly-created third Kuruda Style, who uses his techniques to help instill distrust between the city-states of Ashlianna, since the Four Devas are never supposed to engage each other in combat, and since he uses a Kurudan style it puts the onus solely on Kuruda itself. The story also introduces the idea of Soma, a form of energy brought about by nature itself (& is used by various warriors, including Valle & Sevalle) that has been reduced to very little within Ashlianna recently, which itself also makes "The Annihilation of the Holy Nation" a more possible scenario for the villains. Soma admittedly doesn't play a major role in the story, but the current lack of it does act as the impetus for some actions made by Julianess in the last few episodes.
There's also a stronger thematic focus on the simple question of "Why does one fight?", as people like Elle & Scarface question why Gau wishes to become stronger. For a proper Sevalle the very act of fighting is what drives them forward, while the usual cited reasons people use, like pride or wanting to protect those they care for & love, are really just supplemental reasons than primary goals. It sounds a little simplistic but at the same time it does make sense, since one doesn't necessarily need to physically fight in order to feel "proud" or to "protect" others; those who prefer to fight likely do enjoy the act of fighting itself. However, one can take the idea of fighting for its own sake to an extreme, like Kain did, which results in them entering a madness that desecrates the ideal of what a Sevalle aims to be, i.e. becoming the beast itself, instead of simply understanding the "pure" nature of the beast. Gau, in turn, eventually has to come to terms with how he really feels, both about himself & his drive to get stronger, all while trying to see if he can truly avoid going down the same path towards madness that Kain found himself in. This isn't helped any bit by Scarface, though, as he continually puts Gau into life-or-death scenarios in order to force Gau's potential out, like having him fight 1,000 Solfan soldiers to protect Diaz (a literal "ikki tousen" challenge), having him take on Kain all on his own (despite Kain being admitted as being the the strongest of all Sevalle), or asking Julianess' "non-human" mystic warrior Darkness to leave Gau helplessly bleeding out to see if Gau is still capable of fighting back against death itself. To be fair, no one really agrees with Scarface's tests for Gau, including Diaz & even "Crimson" Kai Shink, the 56th Sevalle who once gave Scarface his titular scar, but I wouldn't outright necessarily call Scarface the "antagonist" to Gau. Again, while Elle is technically the "main character" of the series, Gau is in reality the "protagonist", when you really think about it.
In terms of overall production, Shadow Skill TV marked the TV directorial debut for Tsukasa Sunaga, who previously had only directed the first "season" of Dirty Pair Flash & the short Dragon Quest Retsuden: Emblem of Roto anime film, before later directing both Eden's Bowy & Magical Meow Meow Taruto. Yep, Sunaga only ever headed up five anime as director before sticking solely to storyboarding, which he continued doing as late as 2023, so it's not terribly surprising that, when combined with Studio Deen handling the animation itself, Shadow Skill TV really does run the gamut in terms of animation quality. At points the show can look rather good for its time, with a strong usage of contrast in lighting to help evoke strong visual emotion, while the character designs by Fuminori Kizaki (who'd later move to Gonzo & direct Basilisk, Afro Samurai, & Bayonetta: Bloody Fate) do a great job adapting Megumu Okada's old style into animation, complete with strong facial visuals. However, there are also lots of points where the show can look more than a bit rough, and while at some points it could be argued that it's done on purpose to match some comedic moments there are also just some episodes where it simply looks like the studio "Deen-ed it up", as I've said in the past. The dichotomic visuals can be annoying, because when Shadow Skill TV hits visually it does so with some pretty damn good panache, but when it misses it can look more than a bit embarrassing. This show was also produced in the early days of digital animation, which means that while traditional cel animation was primarily what Studio Deen used here there are numerous shots in each episode that were done digitally... and it's blatantly obvious when the show switches between the two styles, so much so that it might even distract some people, due to how impossible it is to not notice it.
One nice touch, though, is how the anime handles the manga's penchant for featuring spoken text (namely the "Martial Arts Language" that characters audibly speak to bring forth power) in bold font on the pages without any word bubbles, which from what I can tell actually originated in Shadow Skill & today is a rather common sight in action manga. For the anime it simply reserves entire shots where it's nothing but the text on screen, usually for no more than a second at a time (one kanji at a time), while in other moments the text is overlayed on top of the image on screen, and while today it's maybe a bit simple it's still very evocative & effective in how it's used. In terms of the script we have Masashi Sogo making his debut in series composition, a job he'd become much more prolific with after Shadow Skill TV, with titles like Bleach (Eps 1-212), Gantz, The Prince of Tennis (Eps 1-75), GTO, Fairy Tail, & (most recently) Digimon Ghost Game. As mentioned, this anime is apparently more of an original story that simply utilized concepts & ideas from Okada's manga, though Okada himself is credited with "Design Support", but the end result is a very well done story, overall. The first two episodes do admittedly introduce a lot at once, followed by a bunch of seemingly self-contained episodic stories, but Sogo & his writing staff did an excellent job in making sure that those seemingly isolated stories actually played some sort of importance later on. Today there's sometimes talk of episodes of a show that don't directly advance the plot forward as being "filler", i.e. stuff that can be skipped over, but Shadow Skill TV demolishes that kind of logic by being very consistent on setting things up early on in a way that you wouldn't immediately think of it as set up, only for the events of those seemingly "filler" episodes to actually be called back to in ways that truly showcase the reach of the overall story. In short, there is no such thing as "filler" in Shadow Skill TV... except for Episode 14, which is a literal one-off that stars a duo of characters (Lai & Fais) who explore an ancient ruin & only ever appear in this one episode, with Elle making a cameo at the very end to rescue them; still, the point of the episode was to establish & explain the concept of Soma, so it has thematic relevance.
Then we have the music, which was composed by... Osamu Tezuka?! No, no, the "God(father) of Manga" didn't rise from the dead to do something he had never done before by composing music, but rather I'm talking about Osamu Tezuka the composer, who has a completely different kanji for "Osamu" (理) than the iconic mangaka did (治); I've actually covered a Tezuka-scored anime once before here in 2017 with the Samurai Spirits 2 OVA. Tezuka had previously scored the Shadow Skill OVAs prior to this TV anime adaptation, so he no doubt had a familiarity as to what works for this series, and the end result is a very good score. Tezuka's style tends to be a bit more orchestral, with this series having a strong focus on drum-lead "tribal" beats, and in turn it helps give the serious battle moments & character-focused drama even more intensity, while the songs that aim to be a little more rock-like also sound rather good. While Osamu Tezuka obviously won't have the same level of fame of the man he happens to share the same (romanized) name with, his talent in music making is undeniable.
For the OP theme we have "Born Legend" by Kasumi Matsumura (though listed here solely by her first name), who had previously sung the theme songs for the OVAs, and this is seriously an all-time classic anime theme. A perfect example of a theme song that slowly builds over the course of the entire OP sequence, climaxing during the chorus in spectacular fashion, "Born Legend" really does come off like its the undisputed theme song for Shadow Skill, and remains outstanding 28 years later. Meanwhile, the two ED themes do something very different by not simply being split up between halves, like in most shows. Instead, the ED theme more or less depends on how each episode ends, with there being a "female side" song for when Elle gets the focus at the end, as well as for more relaxed final shots, while the "male side" song is for when Gau ends an episode, as well as for more serious & tense final moments. First up is "Last Quarter" by Princess Pudding, the "female side" ED that's used for Episodes 1-5, 7, 9, 14, 18, & 26, which is understandably more upbeat in style, but still just serious-sounding enough to not clash with the show's general vibe. Then there's the "male side" ED used for Episodes 6, 8, 10-13, 15-17, & 19-25, "For My Pride" by Spirit Level... which is literally one of the rock bands that anison legend Masaaki Endoh was a part of early on in his career, prior to him joining JAM Project in 2000. In other words, "For My Pride" is an outstanding ED theme for Shadow Skill TV, matching perfectly for the more intense & serious episode sign offs it's used for, and has kind of become a bit of a forgotten Endoh classic, if only because Endoh himself isn't credited anywhere for the song, since he didn't compose or arrange it (those were by Hiroshi Imaizumi), nor did he write the lyrics (that was Keiko Kimoto); he simply sung it.
For the Japanese voice cast we have a good amount of reprisals from the OVAs, so everyone is led by the duo of the legendary Megumi Hayashibara as Elle & the (quite honestly) unknown Akio Matsuoka as Gau. Seriously, Matsuoka's literally only known for voicing Gau in all of the Shadow Skill anime (yes, he did return for the third OVA in 2003), plus a nameless background role in Porco Rosso from 1992, but he honestly does a really good job with Gau, on the whole; there's one scene where Matsuoka gives a rather weak scream of emotional agony, but otherwise he's good. As for Hayashibara... well, it's the literal voice of female Ranma Saotome & Lina Inverse voicing Elle Ragu, so she's pretty much a perfect fit for the character. Then there's Ikue Otani as Kyuo & Yuko Mizutani as Folli, who are both also very good in their roles, though they both get very little time to shine outside of small moments like Folli's fight with Elle, or when Kyuo tries to (futilely) stand against Kain to prevent Gau from fighting him. Really, the next actors who get to shine most are Yasunori Matsumoto as Scarface & Mitsuru Miyamoto as Diaz, who are both similarly deep-voiced & serious in many ways, but Matsumoto does get some moments of dry sarcasm as Scarface, while Miyamoto gets to show great emotion whenever Diaz actually has to get serious about battle. Also of note would be Kouji Tsujitani as Kain, Kappei Yamaguchi as Lo, & Tomokazu Seki as Len, who all do great jobs with their characters, whether its's Tsujitani showing Kain's willing fall into madness, Yamaguchi playing Lo as both super serious & comically flummoxed, & Seki getting to play a little bit against type by voicing a villain. The rest of the Japanese cast is rounded out by the likes of Masaharu Sato (Iba Sutra), Minako Takenouchi (Feolina), Ryuzaburo Otomo (Shia Khan), Takehito Koyasu (Kai Shink), & Takeshi Kusao (Darkness), among many others who only appear in one or two episodes, max.
As for the English dub by ADV, directed by John Swasey, the cast is led by the duo of Luci Christian as Elle (pronounced "Ellie" in the dub, likely due to how in Japanese her name is pronounced "E-re" & not "E-ru") & Greg Ayers as Gau, who both really do knock it out of the park. Luci Christian, in particular, sounds to be having a blast as the often uncouth Elle, with a great mix of unserious bravado at points & tender & emotional moments when needed. Meanwhile, Ayers' Gau is overall very good, though his penchant for making it sound like Gau was still going through puberty at points sometimes results in a little bit of awkwardness, mainly during the Martial Arts Language bits; I get why Swasey & Ayers went in that direction, and it's not bad, but it is maybe a little overdone here & there. Christine Auten voices Folli (who ADV renamed "Faurink Maya the Plasmatizer", even for the subs, which is terrible because ADV didn't bother to "fix" any of the other ridiculous sounding names heard throughout) & Hilary Haag voices Kyuo, and like their Japanese counterparts do a very good job with what they're given, with only those small handful of moments to truly shine. John Swasey also shines a bit as Scarface, delivering a similarly gruff as Matsumoto does in the Japanese version, while Jason Douglas also does well at making Diaz sound simultaneously wise & (at points) tired of life. The rest of the English dub includes the likes of Blake Shepard (Len), Lee Stringer (Shia Khan), Mike McFarland (Darkness), Monica Rial (Feolina), Chris Patton (Kai Shink), Jay Hickman (Kain), & Marty Fleck (Iba Sutra), among many others in smaller roles. Overall, ADV's English dub for Shadow Skill is rather solid & a good way to watch the show.
I should also point out that the dub features two voice actors who have since been blacklisted from the industry, due to highly inappropriate behavior in the past, in the form of Illich Guardiola (who voiced Lo) & Vic Mignogna (who voiced various minor roles, including a couple of recurring ones). Neither make or break the dub, in all honesty, but considering their pasts it's worth mentioning their involvement, for any who may be interested in checking out the dub.
While I do try to go into titles I have little to no experience with beforehand with as few expectations as possible, I couldn't help but have some when starting Shadow Skill TV. I had seen the first episode or two a long time ago, but I also had read the first volume of Saint Seiya Episode.G long ago so I had some small familiarity with Megumu Okada's work & style beforehand. It's a good thing that I noticed it mentioned online that this TV anime wasn't exactly a direct adaptation of Okada's manga, too, because I think that's what allowed me to accept the show's first third or so, as those first nine episodes' focus (mostly) on more comedic & episodic jobs for Elle & her friends really do clash a bit with the other two-thirds, which are generally much more serious in tone. Still, credit to Masashi Sogo & his crew of writers for cleverly making that first third still essential to enjoying the rest of the show by making call backs to those early episodes in smart & effective ways that remove any sensation that they're simply "filler" episodes; yeah, Episode 14 is the sole exception, but even that's still a good episode, on its own. Similar to when I covered Nessa no Haoh Gandalla earlier this year, Shadow Skill TV is a series that rewards patience & sticking with it through to the end, resulting in a series that (for the most part) really wouldn't be made in today's primarily single cour-focused industry that results in most series needing to fully establish things within only a couple of episodes. Truly, characters like Kain & Len aren't really focused on until the second half, and Shia Khan himself is never really seen outside of silhouette. Yes, like many TV anime of its time, this show doesn't technically end with a "proper" ending where the "main" villain is defeated once & for all, but it does finish the story that it was telling & ends on a fine stopping point.
Some visual inconsistencies aside, both in the literal animation quality & the constant switching between cel & digital animation, Shadow Skill TV is a very good series that, at its core, is mainly about examining why people fight, and it does a very good job at slowly shifting the focus over from Elle to Gau in a way that makes sense. While Elle is certainly the "main character" of the story, it's Gau who's really the "protagonist", i.e. the one who goes through a journey that results in him becoming a better & stronger person than how he started off, and that's truly where Shadow Skill shines the most. While Shia Khan, Kain, & Len wind up being the "central" villains of the show, the real "antagonist" is essentially Gau needing to come to terms with why he fights in the first place, and what he needs to do to overcome any insecurities & fears he has in order to truly reach his potential in the future. People like Kain, Len, Darkness, & even (indirectly) Scarface may be the people he takes on directly, but in the end they're really more representations of roadblocks that Gau needs to get past in order to continue towards his path of one day becoming a Sevalle, like his surrogate older sister. In the end, I'm glad that I finally watched Shadow Skill TV, and I'm even a little annoyed that it took this long for me to finally do so.
Anime © 1998 Megumu Okada/Bandai Visual·Kadokawa Shoten·Marubeni·Sotsu
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