Tsundere for Tsukihime?
This purchase is no coincidence. Bought 2 days after Zyl put up my ancient review of Tsukihime, I'm certain my good comrade-in-anime revived something more insidious than just a forgotten relic of the past. Flooded by memories of the bishoujos of Tsukihime (especially the meido-twins), I found myself drawn to the R3 boxset in my favourite DVD store this afternoon, despite having seen the item countless times. It is right to say that Kohaku and Hisui compelled me.
Marathoning the series that evening, I was surprised how much I enjoy an second seating. Casting aside issue of untapped potential of the epic Tsukihime legend, I was able to immerse into the bare-bones Arcueid tale so lovingly crafted by J.C.Staff. Viewing the series as a tragic tale about love lost and found expanded my appreciation of the anime. In addition, the art direction, animation quality and music are top notched for a 2003 production. This could have helped by the excellent quality of the R3 DVDs. The 2003 production looked a lot cleaner and more crisp and my recent haul of Funimation DVDs - Soukou no Strain and SHUFFLE! Not sure if it's the ep-to-disc ratio. After all my 12 ep Tsukihime was encoded on 6 discs while Funimation's SHUFFLE!'s 24 eps came packed in 4 discs.
While I still stand by my review, it needs to be said that every word is only true in light of the source material. So, it surprises me greatly to claim now Shingetsutan Tsukihime CAN be enjoyed as a standalone entity, separated from the game source - if we only took time to appreciate the other aspects of the production besides the lean tale. But of course, a Tsukihime anime focusing on the 'Far side of the moon' would still be a dream come true since I have new-found love for Akiha. Oh how blessed is the household of Tohno with worthy bishoujos!
from the ancient times STVY
Sakura Wars TV Series 1 (Reviewed 2003-02-10, Updated 2003-11-23)
Based on the console game, the TV series draws on the very first version (have lost count of the number of subsequent versions). This is set in an alternative 1920s setting where the Taisho era didn't all go horribly wrong and Imperial Japan is quite nice and not militaristic or fascist at all. Oh, there was this Great Demonic War just five years ago too and it's Steampunk.
Tsukihime
This review was originally written by Stripey on 2004-04-21 but somehow wasn't exported from the old blogspot site. I'm putting it up again for the sake of completeness and for my final 'from the ancient times' post to link to.
Tsukihime is one of the two animes that I REALLY want to see re-made. (The other being Mahoromatic 2.) That is not to say Tsukihime is a bad series per se. In fact everything about its production is outstanding; artwork, music, animation, cinematography and character design. However, the story and poor pacing sank the series and J.C. Staff has utterly no excuse for it since the intricate world of the original game exists for them to import the story wholesale.
Shingetsutan Tsukihime 08
From that same fan site, I was reminded again how beautiful the names of the girls from the Tohno household are. Hisui has the kanji which reads "Fei3 Cui4" in chinese (which means jade in both the languages). Kohaku has the kanji which reads "Hu3 Po4" in chinese which means amber. I suppose they are named after their lovely eye colors? Akiha literally means autumn leaf. Its kanji is translated "Qiu1 Ye4" which is extremely poetic and romantic in mandarin.
This ep kind of got me all confused. So is Shiki the boy who was stabbed? That was his close call with death? So was he still the one who said he will always be beside Akiha? Is he really Tohno Shiki? I think the abovementioned site offers some solid answers... it took me all of my willpower not to read the character section (spoiler heavy). I did skim through it a little to know that Ciel senpai like curry stuff and also that the uniform she wears (when she's in scary mode)....It's not mandatory nor from the church... yeah she's a cosplayer :p She's also the megane-ko of the game.....
Shingetsutan Tsukihime 07
This is not your run-of-the-mill Tenchi syndrome. The girls involved are intelligent and sophisticated in their own uniques ways. And yes, they all have a hidden agenda. Definitely not your typical Love Hina or Da Capo. Even their cat fight over him was so elegant (no hair pulling) and every statement they utter is congruent with their individual dark purposes. Pity most of them are not human. Yes, even Akiha is not human. Many questions follow this revelation. Can I assume that all in the Tohno household are undead? Does that include Kohaku and the kawaii Hisui? Does undead status automatically confers a +10 bonus to charisma? (To be confirmed if we add Hisui to the undead list) Although this ep continues the Tsukihime tradition of "more questions, no answers", it was still rewarding to see the gathering of the beauties and have them 'slug' it out over Shiki. I would pick Satsuki over the rest. Being human should have its privileges.
On other note, I love the artwork for Tsukihime. I personally consider it one of the most beautiful animes I have seen. Its art direction is very commendable indeed. I particularly loved the use of the fountains during Akiha/Ciel's conversation in this ep. It was as if the surrounding fountains were also holding their breath for Ciel's startling revelation. The story may not be much at the moment, but the cute girls and breathtaking background rendering more than make up for it. Such is graphic poetry.
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