What time is it? Its….. P-Meister TIME! Its time for another review of an ongoing series… This one has caught my eye and the P-Meister feels that there’s a lot of potential in it. Anyway, lets get straight to action! Summary!
One day… a student failed his exams…
Summary of events so far…
He went for this ‘remedial lesson’ where he gets to go into a fake edo period. Basically, by putting on some high-tech goggles, u see CG images of things… History has never been so fun before… This student is none other than… read the name on the exam paper…
Anyway… Tokidoki Rikugou(also called Toki) met another failure, who was suspended. His name is Kon Shinonome. Shinonome explains the situation about gods and mythical beasts in relation to the people there. This may not make sense at first, but it is actually the theme of the anime. Apparently, this anime brings two people who relates well to science to a world with people who relate to mythical beasts and gods.
Toki lost Shinonome and then walks on. As he carried on, he was attacked by a nue. What is a nue? [LORE: if you watched Clannad, remember Sunohara set the theme to carve the wooden block into a nue when challenging against Fuko.] Basically its a wierd looking monster that is a symbol of illness and misfortune, described as having the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog, the legs of a tiger, and a snake as a tail.
Just then, the female protagonist comes in to save him. Look her hair, its part of her clothes.
She introduces herself as Kuchiha. I somehow don’t know why she has to display that belly all the time. Gets me excited… ANYWAY! BACK TO THE POINT, later episodes reveal that she has a Dog God in her and is despised by humans, being called a demon of some sort. Toki realises that he’s not alone as he is taken in by Shamon… Apparently, Shinonome also suffered the same fate. Both of them had their disabilities, Shinonome lost his right arm and Toki lost his left eye(which can see wierd things, =( but not through clothes).
Living in this realm where gods and mystical beings exist is what this story is generally about. I know i skipped a number of characters, but the P-Meister has MORE IMPORTANT parts to cover!
The purpose of the storyline?
I’m not entirely sure, but so far, I believe that the storyline is about the existence of gods and myths compared to the modern world. Modernists often believe that the actions of such superstitious practice are nothing more than ignorance. The artist is probably trying to show that this point isn’t entirely correct all the time. Also, in the modern world, we have are so intrigued by science that our beliefs are now based on science, forgetting on the religions and beliefs of the past. We have lost the connection to that world. This anime tries to explain what the people in the past could have experienced, which we would never ever find in textbooks. This anime sure contains some thought provoking events.
A bit more on Toki and Shinonome and Kuchiha
Toki has defended Kuchiha several times and showed some interest. There are hints that there might be a romance-type of relationship eventually. Toki is also popular among the other girls. In a world where acting against personal grudges can cause death, Toki has spoken up and defended Kuchiha. The advantage that Toki and Shinonome have in that world is the knowledge of science. Toki thinks he should be doing whatever he can. Shinonome on the other hand has a cynical view of his current situation.
My thoughts on the latest episode…
This episode started off explaining the heart and the body, which i believe have some impact on the purpose of the storyline(as stated above). The body is what all humans have, whilst the heart it is talking about isn’t the physical heart. Its about the spiritual kind of heart.
Later, some hints are given that the princess being cursed may be from the gods. It may be her retribution after all. This was also described by the Dog spirit in episode 4. Other fillers are then included, such as the history of Kuchiha. Also, I reckon there’ll be something going on between her and Toki.
Anyway, the biggest part of the episode is the display of the princess. She is nothing but a dead corpse… or so i thought at first. In fact, she claims to have transferred her soul to a doll. She proves this by displaying her ‘soul’ out, proving the doll isn’t just mere ventrillo. It is then revealed that there are only 4 people who can separate this heart(spirittual, not physical) from the body.
This princess then shows her physical form, Ginshu. I don’t know if I should call her a him or her so i’ll stick with ‘she’. She’s actually neither male or female and has NOTHING IN THE GROIN region… ugh! Anyway, she was cursed by the Byakuroku to die and be reborn everyday. Further talk suggest that Toki has the power equivalent to a god… (I didn’t particularly like this part)
Anyway, the princess and the Bonten are on opposing sides and both want to use Toki’s abilities.
This is a filler-like episode. I tell myself that such things do happen. It may not be as good as I expected but may be a building block to a great storyline. There are plenty of surprises, but even the P-Meister isn’t sure how many surprises he can take before he gets bored.
My thoughts on the series
Well… I am glad all the animes this season have their own strengths. Amatsuki is one that is emotionally intense but not lacking the fight as well. So many things are happening in a short period of time, building up the background quickly… implying a pretty STRONG climax coming up. I believe there’s a lot of potential for this anime if it is done properly. The producers absolutely waste no time showing the sequence of events, yet not dulling the atmosphere. It is one of the better anime this season I believe. Lets hope Studio DEEN doesn’t screw this up.
Still, I won’t say this anime is for everyone. Its has no scientific correlation and may bore others with its fiction after a while. Also, the idea of the main char having god powers gets BORING after a while. This anime can go both ways. Like always, I do a mid term review if its worth following, so do stay tuned!
Conclusion
Amatsuki is a 13 episode long series. I don’t think it will go very far with 13 episodes from whats going on. Episode 1-4 won my heart but Episode 5 kind of quenched the build-up for the climax i was expecting. I still believe it will end up well though. Perhaps there might be a season 2. Anyway.. P-Meister signing off! Hope you enjoyed this review.
4 Comments
May 9, 2008 at 2:44 am
I like the ancient setting of this show and will continue following it, but I’ll have to wait to see how it will turn out to form my final opinion on it.
May 10, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I’ll try to catch this series; a plot where its set in a modern cum past set sounds interesting. From the above picture, I think that Kuchiha looks more like a he than a she, does anyone thinks so too? (:
May 11, 2008 at 1:39 am
Kitsune-> Yep i agree… another 8 more episodes to go.
Hynavian-> Sometimes girls who have a little more masculine characteristics are sexy. somehow, i like her deep matured voice.
June 8, 2008 at 11:05 am
[...] June 8, 2008 There are a few of you who may have wanted to continue this series but were stuck at episode 6. So was I. I was intending to wait for the fansubs to be released but i guess it won’t be. I only managed to get subs for 1-6. Apparently, it seems the high profile uploaders were arrested. I’m not going to start a debate if illegal sharing of files is right or wrong. Instead, for the benefit of those who are deciding whether to keep watching this series or not, I will be writing a mid term review. This is a continuation of my previous post. [...]