Nyanpire
[starrater]
Horror
Descendants of Darkness
[starrater]
Kara no Kyoukai
Alternative title:
Kara no Kyōkai – the Garden of sinners (Japanese)
空の境界 (Japanese)
[starrater]
Shigurui
[starrater]
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: 2000
Episode Length/Run-time: 102 Minutes
Summary:
The Half-Human Half-Vampire Vampire Hunter who goes simply by ‘D’ is continuing his quest to fight against the vampire nobility that rules over a far-future post-apocalyptic world. Because of his reputation he is called upon by the Elbourne family to rescue their daughter, Charlotte, from the clutches of Meier Link. But D is not the only one on the hunt, and seperating Charlotte from her new love may prove more difficult than D originally expected.
Review:
A long awaited follow-up to the classic movie Vampire Hunter D, Bloodlust is a worthwhile addition to the family.
The Vampire Hunter D series is based on a series of novels by Hideyuki Kikuchi, this particular movie is based off the third book. Acclaimed artist Yoshitaka Amano’s wisdom is drawn from yet again to bring the pages of the novel to life on the screen and his dark style creates artistic poetry on the screen. Angular features, dark odd creatures, and towering spires adorn the movie in a distinct style that one has to see to believe.
Unlike the first movie the storytelling in Bloodlust does become slightly muddled. Which is not helped by the somewhat confusing and uncertain dialogue. The finale of the movie is also somewhat of a letdown, ruining the otherwise perfect pacing the film had all the way through.
Despite that the film has all the surprises, twists, action and pleasant oddities as the first film. It remains a worthwhile watch to be enjoyed more by adults than kids. This film, while not perfect, stands as a strong follow-up to a classic and should be on any anime fan’s must-watch list.
[starrater]
Vampire Hunter D
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: 1985
Episode Length/Run-time: 80 Minutes
Summary:
Doris Lang lives in the futuristic world of 12,090 AD under the fear of vampires and other monsters. When she is chosen to be Count Magnus Lee’s new bride she solicits the help of a vampire hunter who goes by the name of only D. D’s history is shrouded in mysteries and mysticism as a half human, half vampire. But even to the count’s surprise, there is more to D than meets the eye.
Review:
Vampire Hunter D was illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano, one of my personal favorites. His character designs create a dark and gothic world for these semi realistic and interesting characters to live in. The animation, as a result, is extremely well done. While the movie does show its age, it really serves to enhance the dark and gritty feel. Though the music showing it’s age is significantly less impressive.
D is an interesting character, one of your strong, stoic types he fits the role perfectly. His mysterious hand which is a wind tunnel face (which I suspect Inu Yasha ripped off?) creates some clever banter in the show.
The show’s violence and adult themes also work for it as it doesn’t hold anything back for the viewer. The story, however, is somewhat basic and seems cliche now, the viewer needs to remember that this was one of the first vampire animes out there. It’s nice to see vampires at their gory and dark roots (as opposed to the shiny hot kind).
Overall it’s a good show and supports itself well.
[starrater]
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (with Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai)
Alternate Titles: When they Cry,
Original Japanese Release Date: 2006 (Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni), 2007 (Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai)
Episode Length/Run-time: 26 episodes (Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni), 24 episodes (Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai)
Summary:
Maebara Keiichi moves out to a small backwoods town in the summer of 1983. He befriends his cute new classmates and settles into his life as a student, playing board games after class, and generally being a carefree kid. But he quickly discovers not all is right with this town and the people he’s met may not be who they seem to be. A series of deaths begins to sweep across the city but after a short period of time events seem to “reset” and continue again. The circumstances surrounding this town, and the deaths, remain in mystery.
Review:
This review is covering both the first (Higurashi no naku koro ni) and second (Higurashi no naku koro ni kai) seasons at once. The reason for this is while the first CAN stand alone it makes little to no sense by itself. The first season is setting up the characters, premise, and introducing the questions of what is going on and why things are happening. The second season is the “answers” to the first season. Where you see why the town is caught in this confusing loop and being continually restarted after the unfortunate events which occur. In other words, the second season is the story and the first season is the “set up.”
From here on, there may be some loose spoilers, as the review will be near impossible to go forward with without them. I recommend you stop here though if you have not seen this series stop here and just take my word for it, watch it.
… Still here? Okay, review time. So the simple explanation for what is happening in the village is that all the villagers are infected with a parasite that makes them go crazy should they leave the village, OR should the host parasite (which is within Rika Furude) be killed. The way the series begins to show this in the first season is through the subtle thing that every time she is killed, or someone leaves the village that’s when the crazy happens. This then justifies the random scenes when they’re all playing boardgames because it provides contrast. I love things like this, things you don’t notice unless you’re really keeping track. Rika has the power to move time though a local deity (and I won’t spoil more than that) so she is attempting to move through time in an effort to find a course of events where the village is saved.
Cool, right?
This series starts out good, and just becomes fantastic. It’s gory, surprising, disturbing and doesn’t hold anything back. It is so nice to finally see a series that is not only shocking and surprising but it doesn’t rest or rely on that plot device, there is more to it than that. If you watch this series you MUST watch both seasons. There’s no point in watching just the first season because you really then don’t even see the full story.
It well deserves a 5 and is one I recommend for anyone mature enough to handle it’s dark subject matter.
[starrater]
Elfen Lied
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: 2004
Episode Length/Run-time: 13 ( 25 mins ea.)
Summary:
The show revolves around the Diclonius, a dual-horned, mutated human-like species that is said to be “selected by God” and will cause the destruction of mankind. They have a “sixth sense”, providing them with telekinetic capabilities, and because of this they have been captured and isolated by the government into laboratories. Much to their dismay, Lucy, a young and insane Diclonius breaks free and violently murders most of the guards in the lab. During her escape, she gets shot in the head. Surviving the blow, she drifts off to a beach where Kouta and Yuka discover her. Having lost her memory, shes named after the only thing she can now say, “Nyuu”. The two allow her to stay at their house. However, one cannot say that “Lucy” is quite dead yet…
Review:
Warning, this show is not for the faint of heart or stomach! This anime is packed to the brim with gruesome violence and murder. The first 10 minutes of the series lets you see this, as its filled with brutal, violent killing and dismembering of most of the guards in the lab where the Diclonius’ are kept. Red blood sprays and exploding bodies are also characteristic of the anime. My response to Lucy’s extensive murder-spree in the beginning was nothing less than “Holy Shit!” I dont think I’ve ever seen such violence so early in a title. But wait, it gets better (or worse for those violence haters).
Then they introduce Nana, whos also a Diclonius. Shes about 14-15 years old. When shes introduced, shes stark naked, covered in blood, and chained to a wall. After that, we find out shes been experimented on. Sweet right? Shes sent out to find and kill the escaped Diclonius. She doesnt want to kill anyone initially anymore, but a compromise is made. However, she makes the mistake of confronting Lucy alone, which results in her being graphically dismembered from fingers to toes (literally). Now being considered useless, shes to be put to sleep, but is later released instead. Also, did I mention this show contains a lot of nudity? No? Well it does. ALOT of it. However, none of the nudity is of a sexual nature, except for a few backstory scenes.
Theres only so much that can be said about a 13 episode series before revealing too much of the plot line. So I’ll wrap it up. The animation and artwork is great, and the show is well paced. In between the extremely heated moments of violent-goodness are some moments of joy (just enough to keep you from losing your mind to the violence). Needless to say, this show will strip you of your innocence. Also, the setting is very scenic and beautiful as well, an additional touch that helps keep the show from being just pure violence.
[starrater]
Iria, Zeiram the Animation
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: 1994
Episode Length/Run-time: 6 ( 35 mins ea. )
Summary:
Iria is a story about a girl and the Alien that she hates with a passion. The story begins with Gren, her bounty-hunter brother, taking a job with Iria tagging along. Gren is a well-known skilled bounty-hunter, whereas Iria is simply an apprentice. The job? To determine what has happened to the crew and cargo of a space station. Action ensues, and a war between Iria and Zeiram begins.
Review:
First of all, Iria takes place in a world mixed between ancient china and a space-based world. Along with the characters and action, this anime packs a punch of entertainment. The plot may be a bit lacking, but the characters are easily loveable, and theres a lot of weird stuff that goes on on the side that keeps things fresh. Combined with the fast paced action, a hot main character who’s a badass, innovative technologies and skills, and the unique world in which the story takes place, the foundation of a great action anime is laid out. To better describe the setting, picture an ancient east combining with a space-traveling futuristic western world. I mean come on, Fujikuro rides a flying rickshaw! Does it get much more awesome?
Oh wait, yes it does. The crazy laser guns, portable shield generators, flying cars, inter-spatial teleporters, and other practical do-hickies make this anime a blast to watch. Its interesting to see how the futuristic technologies tie into the old-style world Iria takes place in.
All of these together, along with the neat cultural additions such as Iria’s intricate hair beads and some historical architectural designs, make Iria one anime you won’t soon forget!
[starrater]
Higurashi – Live Action
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: 2009
Episode Length/Run-time: 106 Minutes
Summary:
This live action film follows the beginning of the Higurashi storyline from the anime. The story is set in 1983 in a small town known as Hinamizawa. Keiihi Maebara moves in as the new person in town and quickly learns about the towns history and the mysterous murders that are occurring therein.
Review:
This live action film has some good things going for it but ultimately what causes it to be just a so-so film is that Higurashi is really difficult to adapt to live action. The setting of course was easy to adapt, mostly because the anime was actually set in a real life town and was modeled very closely after it. Of course, not surprising, the live action film takes place in the town as well. The part of the film that doesn’t adapt well are the characters. The characters largely are pretty poor representations of the characters in the anime. Some of the characters don’t even seem to be the same age as they would be in the anime. The psychotic moments were also very underwhelming. The crazy laughter and “uso!” moments were not very tense at all.
In terms of the story, I was both happy and dismayed with the amount of content the live action seeks to cover. It’s nice that the movie only handles the first four episodes of the anime because it covers them thoroughly, however, anybody who has watched Higurashi knows that the first season is practically fluff compared to the second season and even within the first season, four episodes just isn’t enough to really create much of a story at all. What you basically watch with this movie is an incomplete plotline. I can see how it would seem like a very bad film for those who know nothing of the anime.
That being said, I recommend this film to lovers of the Higurashi series. It will be an interesting watch at least. However, if you haven’t seen the anime, be prepared for some confusion and disappointment at the ending.
[starrater]