Reviews for Amatsuki (6.74)
vashar
Ban Yukiko
Furuhashi Kazuhiro
Story: 5/10 (Warning: possible spoilers in this section) The story is so simple that you might miss it if you were looking for something complex. The inconclusive/unclear ending made ...
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28.09.2008 21:39 - direct link
(rs6406)
Story: 5/10 (Warning: possible spoilers in this section)
The story is so simple that you might miss it if you were looking for something complex.
The inconclusive/unclear ending made me give this aspect a rather poor score. I had to think hard to understand what the whole story was about and I'm not sure if it's an accurate understanding.
Since the story can be hard to follow, I believe it's best to summarize my understanding of it to reveal it's values. The main character is called "the blank page". He's has power unknown, but perceived to be on the same level as god, as he is not bound to fate as others under god are. His power is coveted by the spiritual leader of the humans and head of the demons (in terms of their relationship to heaven). It appears that it has a more present power, but it cannot be drawn out consciously, but the actual underlying power matches the symbolic name - he is unbiased. He doesn't hate demons nor humans. Humans and demons hate each other and the demons believe that heaven favors the humans who vastly outnumber the demons. In the end, the main character's actions are the sparks that ignite the creation of a harmonic coexistence between the demons/spirits and humans, which in the past has never widely caught on.
The answers to riddles of the demon who attacked the main character in the beginning, never get answered as the actual answers to them are different for everyone depending on their beliefs. They are symbolic, there simply to open the mind of the viewer and look at tough questions through another perspective.
The moral of the story seemingly is to not to always believe in popular belief, especially if your mind and heart disagree.
Animation: 7/10
Animation seems to be a bit better crafted than in other anime in terms of detail and relatively unique special effects.
The visuals have a great amount of detail. Expression changes seem to move much more than the facial features - a subtle tilt of the head, movement of the arms and shoulders, breathing, etc. A bit more body language you can say. Character chins moves when talking (in close-ups). Characters are a bit more active in showing their thoughts - if a character is still mad, their eyebrows will at least twitch rather than stand there like a statue. Trees, I noticed, were beautifully done. There were many different species of trees represented. The temple grounds were highly exquisite.It was done like a palace. Even merchant houses were highly detailed.There was subtle artwork done on the walls in the houses and intricate designs done on framework. The Nihonbashi/Edo Castle area was very detailed too. I actually paused and went back over a few times to soak in the detail. They did well to try and replicate an image of history.Good use of shadows and light. If there was more vibrant color depth,it could almost qualify as movie quality.
The unique camera angles provided cool effects. There are some perspectives that gave sort of a 3-D effect. Example: after the battle at the Princess's temple, the temple guardian leader used a longbow to point at Kuchiha. The bow scaled big to small according to distance,which was a very cool 3-D effect that obviously was memorable.
Oddities: In one scene, they weren't swinging their arms while walking (hands free their sides) and were simply bobbing up and down (the camera cut off their legs). Another scene, Kuchiha vs. demon horde, sword slashes were simply trails of light and the damage caused was laughable. The horde moved like waves of still pictures on puppet sticks. Might be a style, might be cheap/lazy techniques.
Sound: 6/10
Sound is subtle and unobtrusive, yet soothing and mood setting.
Background music was very subtle, but it was there lending it's soothing tones to improve the quality of the show. Ambient sounds and the sound of crowds and extras were well done. I like how far characters went to get to a quiet spot to talk privately with each other.
The OP and ED songs fit my tastes extremely well. I liked them well enough to get sit through the OP and ED more times than not.
The sound effects aren't done any better than other anime in terms of realistic quality, like when someone gets kicked in the face, you tend to hear the unrealistic smack (cabbage smash) more than the the grunt or yalp of pain. Or you can hear the sound of someone placing their finger on someone's nose to quiet them, but you can't hear the sound of the hands resting on their shoulder.
Character: 6/10
Characters are simple. They have little background. You learn of their personal characteristics bit by bit as the show goes on.
Kuchiha and Shamon's mini background story mirrors the main story. The way Shamon defended and brought up the Kuchiha, despite demon inside her and his profession to exorcise such things, is very similar to the effect that the main character is having on the world of humans and demons.
The samurai incidents were a cool history lesson (on social class structure) and it was played out relatively well, though had comical endings that only fantasy anime sense could bring out.
Character design is done better than some recent animes I've watched. Hair and eyes are very well detailed. Lower lips are defined. Older people are sufficiently wrinkled and the wrinkles actually match their facial expressions which adds a bit of realistic accuracy. Their costumes are very detailed as well, but it's like every other anime, it's their everyday wear and seems to be fairly indestructible.
Value: 5/10
This show feels like a piece on history (social structure) and morals more than an actual original story.
I could tell that there was a good deal of knowledge of history which was used to back the story up. I can't vouch for the accuracy, else I would've given the story a bit better score if it were. The characters aren't too cool or charming or stand out as someone memorable. The story seems incomplete. The music and visuals are outstanding though.
The world of spirits didn't get enough air time, in my opinion. A great amount of creativity could be shown off through this. It's too bad it was simply treated as a passing side show.
If it weren't for my interest in the history portion and the great visuals and music, I would have dropped this. The team must've believed in the formula, less is more, in regards to the subtle visual details and music/sound implementation, and they really pulled it off well - I tend not to be impressed when certain styles get overdone.
This was good to pass the time, but not worth collecting or watching again.
Enjoyment: 6/10
The ending ruined my impression of this series. I give it credit though, I did hope for another episode when it was actually over, since I wanted to know more. It's just that the negatives seem to outweigh the positives when I think back on it as to why I enjoyed it up to this point. Writing this review was one way to realize what I liked and didn't like and why I continued watching. After writing this, I can I say I liked it, but not enough to recommend.
The story is so simple that you might miss it if you were looking for something complex.
The inconclusive/unclear ending made me give this aspect a rather poor score. I had to think hard to understand what the whole story was about and I'm not sure if it's an accurate understanding.
Since the story can be hard to follow, I believe it's best to summarize my understanding of it to reveal it's values. The main character is called "the blank page". He's has power unknown, but perceived to be on the same level as god, as he is not bound to fate as others under god are. His power is coveted by the spiritual leader of the humans and head of the demons (in terms of their relationship to heaven). It appears that it has a more present power, but it cannot be drawn out consciously, but the actual underlying power matches the symbolic name - he is unbiased. He doesn't hate demons nor humans. Humans and demons hate each other and the demons believe that heaven favors the humans who vastly outnumber the demons. In the end, the main character's actions are the sparks that ignite the creation of a harmonic coexistence between the demons/spirits and humans, which in the past has never widely caught on.
The answers to riddles of the demon who attacked the main character in the beginning, never get answered as the actual answers to them are different for everyone depending on their beliefs. They are symbolic, there simply to open the mind of the viewer and look at tough questions through another perspective.
The moral of the story seemingly is to not to always believe in popular belief, especially if your mind and heart disagree.
Animation: 7/10
Animation seems to be a bit better crafted than in other anime in terms of detail and relatively unique special effects.
The visuals have a great amount of detail. Expression changes seem to move much more than the facial features - a subtle tilt of the head, movement of the arms and shoulders, breathing, etc. A bit more body language you can say. Character chins moves when talking (in close-ups). Characters are a bit more active in showing their thoughts - if a character is still mad, their eyebrows will at least twitch rather than stand there like a statue. Trees, I noticed, were beautifully done. There were many different species of trees represented. The temple grounds were highly exquisite.It was done like a palace. Even merchant houses were highly detailed.There was subtle artwork done on the walls in the houses and intricate designs done on framework. The Nihonbashi/Edo Castle area was very detailed too. I actually paused and went back over a few times to soak in the detail. They did well to try and replicate an image of history.Good use of shadows and light. If there was more vibrant color depth,it could almost qualify as movie quality.
The unique camera angles provided cool effects. There are some perspectives that gave sort of a 3-D effect. Example: after the battle at the Princess's temple, the temple guardian leader used a longbow to point at Kuchiha. The bow scaled big to small according to distance,which was a very cool 3-D effect that obviously was memorable.
Oddities: In one scene, they weren't swinging their arms while walking (hands free their sides) and were simply bobbing up and down (the camera cut off their legs). Another scene, Kuchiha vs. demon horde, sword slashes were simply trails of light and the damage caused was laughable. The horde moved like waves of still pictures on puppet sticks. Might be a style, might be cheap/lazy techniques.
Sound: 6/10
Sound is subtle and unobtrusive, yet soothing and mood setting.
Background music was very subtle, but it was there lending it's soothing tones to improve the quality of the show. Ambient sounds and the sound of crowds and extras were well done. I like how far characters went to get to a quiet spot to talk privately with each other.
The OP and ED songs fit my tastes extremely well. I liked them well enough to get sit through the OP and ED more times than not.
The sound effects aren't done any better than other anime in terms of realistic quality, like when someone gets kicked in the face, you tend to hear the unrealistic smack (cabbage smash) more than the the grunt or yalp of pain. Or you can hear the sound of someone placing their finger on someone's nose to quiet them, but you can't hear the sound of the hands resting on their shoulder.
Character: 6/10
Characters are simple. They have little background. You learn of their personal characteristics bit by bit as the show goes on.
Kuchiha and Shamon's mini background story mirrors the main story. The way Shamon defended and brought up the Kuchiha, despite demon inside her and his profession to exorcise such things, is very similar to the effect that the main character is having on the world of humans and demons.
The samurai incidents were a cool history lesson (on social class structure) and it was played out relatively well, though had comical endings that only fantasy anime sense could bring out.
Character design is done better than some recent animes I've watched. Hair and eyes are very well detailed. Lower lips are defined. Older people are sufficiently wrinkled and the wrinkles actually match their facial expressions which adds a bit of realistic accuracy. Their costumes are very detailed as well, but it's like every other anime, it's their everyday wear and seems to be fairly indestructible.
Value: 5/10
This show feels like a piece on history (social structure) and morals more than an actual original story.
I could tell that there was a good deal of knowledge of history which was used to back the story up. I can't vouch for the accuracy, else I would've given the story a bit better score if it were. The characters aren't too cool or charming or stand out as someone memorable. The story seems incomplete. The music and visuals are outstanding though.
The world of spirits didn't get enough air time, in my opinion. A great amount of creativity could be shown off through this. It's too bad it was simply treated as a passing side show.
If it weren't for my interest in the history portion and the great visuals and music, I would have dropped this. The team must've believed in the formula, less is more, in regards to the subtle visual details and music/sound implementation, and they really pulled it off well - I tend not to be impressed when certain styles get overdone.
This was good to pass the time, but not worth collecting or watching again.
Enjoyment: 6/10
The ending ruined my impression of this series. I give it credit though, I did hope for another episode when it was actually over, since I wanted to know more. It's just that the negatives seem to outweigh the positives when I think back on it as to why I enjoyed it up to this point. Writing this review was one way to realize what I liked and didn't like and why I continued watching. After writing this, I can I say I liked it, but not enough to recommend.
