Shonen Onmyouji: The Complete Series (A J!-Ent Anime DVD Review)

“Shonen Onmyouji” is an action-packed series that combines the supernatural and Japanese history along with gorgeous art and intriguing characters. A must see!

DVD TITLE: Shonen Onmyouji: The Complete Series

DURATION: 625 Minutes (26 episodes)

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 WIDESCREEN, ENGLISH & JAPANESE DOLBY DIGITAL 2.0

COMPANY: Studio Deen/GENEON/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: 13+

Release Date: October 27, 2009

Based on the Original Novel by Mitsuru Yuki

Original Character Designs by Sakura Asagi

Directed by Kunihiro Mori

Music by Koh Nakagawa

Character Design by Shinobu Tagashira

Anime Production by Studio Deen

Featuring the following voice talent:

Yuki Kaida/ Chio Su Ping as Abe no Masahiro

Junko Noda/ Chio Su Ping as Mokkun

Mugihito/ William Gary Ladick as Abe no Seimei

Katsuyuki Konshi/ Chris Carroll as Guren

Tarusuke Shingaki/ William Gary Ladick as Abe no Yoshimasa

Sanae Kobayashi/ Meriem Bekka as Fujiwara no Akiko

Tomomichi Nishimura/ Paul John Pistore as Fujiwara no Michinaga

Toshihiko Seki/ Jerry Szombathy as Fujiwara no Yukinari

Akira Ishida/ Richard Cansino as Young Seimei

Norio Wakamoto/ Jerry Szombathy as Kyuuki

Hiroki Takahashi/ Jerry Szombathy as Rikugou

Jun Fukuyama/ Richard Edward Maclvor Jr. as Fujiwara no Toshitsugu

Toshiyuki Morikawa/ Mardjuki Curran Shane as Seiryuu

Hiromi Konno/ Chelsea Curto as Taiin

Junko Minagawa/ George N. Cahill IV as Genbu

Rie Tanaka/ Denise Tan Shu Fen as Tenitsu

Kenichi Suzumura/ Ron Studd as Suzaku

Risa Hayami/ Carina Hales as Kouchin

Kazuhiro Nakata/ George N. Cahill III as Byakko

Hiroshi Arakawa/ George N. Cahill III as Tenkuu

Natsuko Kuwatani/ Coral Tong as Tenkou

Masaya Matsukaze/ Richard Edward Maclvor Jr. as Taijou

Atsuko Tanaka/ Chio Su Ping as Takaokami no Kami

Fumiko Orikasa/ Candice De Rozario as Kazane

Junichi Suwabe/ James Shubert as Ryusai

Abe no Masahiro is the grandson of the great sorcerer Abe no Seimei. Unfortunately for him, his grandfather did such a great job in the past, he really hasn’t had a need to perform any magical duties and as a result, Masahiro lost his sixth sense and the ability to see spirits. One day, a demon drops from the sky and proclaims that Masahiro must continue his grandfather’s work and learn to be an Onmyouji regardless of the dangers that await him!

“Shonen Onmyouji” was originally a light novel series by Mitsuru Yuuki with illustrations done by Sakura Asagi. The story centers on Abe no Masahiro, a young man whose grandfather is the great onmyouji, Abe no Seimei. However, unlike his grandfather, Masahiro at first doesn’t have a sixth sense so he is not able to see demons or anything else supernatural. However, because he comes from that household, he is consistently compared to his grandfather and he despises that fact. One day, a small demon falls onto Masahiro’s head and to his surprise, he can see and hear him. Masahiro regains his sixth sense and with the help of the small demon, Mokkun, starts to fight off demons.

From that moment on, Masahiro’s future as a onmyouji is determined and he decides to become an even more powerful onmyouji than his grandfather one day and to get out of his shadow. He then meets Princess Akiko, who seems to share his ability of seeing the supernatural. They quickly become close and Masahiro decides to do whatever he can to protect her. Masahiro faces a number of challenges: demons from foreign lands, angry ghosts, and he even has to prove to his grandfather’s servants: the shikigami that he’s worthy to be Seimei’s heir, but with the help of Guren, he may be able to do it.

“Shonen Onmyouji” the anime concentrates on two story arcs: The Kyuuki arc and the Kazane arc.

“Shonen Onmyouji” focuses on the following main characters:

Abe no Masahiro – Abe no Masahiro is the main character of the story and is the grandson of the great and powerful onmyouji, Abe no Seimei. At the beginning of the series, Abe no Masahiro has no powers of an onmyouji and can’t even see the demons around him. He hates being referred to as Abe no Seimei’s grandson and hates living in the shadow of his grandfather. One day, he encounters a small demon looking creature that he can actually see and hear and eventually names him Mokkun. After their meeting, Masahiro decides to train to become a powerful onmyouji after all and surpass his grandfather. Masahiro is usually calm, however whenever someone refers to him as Seimei’s grandson he gets mad. His grandfather also likes to pick on him and when that happens, instead of confronting his grandfather face to face, he likes to go into his room and trash it. He cares deeply for Princess Akiko and does everything he can to protect her.

Mokkun/Guren – Also known as Touda. He is the strongest of Seimei’s shikigami and controls fire. He made it his life duty to protect Masahiro. He has the ability to turn into a small white bunny looking creature(which Masahiro names Mokkun) and that is how he presents himself at the beginning of the series to Masahiro and he is the first supernatural thing that Masahiro is able to see. He is extremely loyal to Masahiro and does anything to protect him. It appears that he sinned in the past and with that event, some of the shikigami still hold a grudge against him. He helps Masahiro train and become stronger as an onmyouji. He hates babies… or rather he hates the fact that he could possibly scare him because of the way he looks.

Princess Akiko – She is the daughter of the Minister, Fujiwara no Michinaga and unlike most people, she can see supernatural beings such as demons and ghosts. Because of this, she has demons go after her constantly so she is protected by Abe no Seimei. One day she meets Masahiro and they become friends. She looks up to him and cares for him deeply. Despite being a princess, she is grounded and kind.

Abe no Seimei – Abe no Seimei is the most powerful onmyouji of all time and the grandfather of Masahiro. He commands the tweleve shikigami and also has the power to turn into his younger self when he needs to go into battle. He cares a lot for his grandson and believes that he is the only possible heir to him, but he also loves to tease him as much as possible.

Abe no Yoshimasa – Abe no Seimei’s son and the father of Masahiro; he is also an onmyouji.

Fujiwara no Michinaga – Fujiwara no Michinaga is the Minister of the Left and Akiko’s father. He is one of the officials that Seimei and the other onmyouji serve.

Fujiwara no Yukinari – Yukinari is the Minister of the Right and is a noble that has taken a liking to Masahiro and he offered to become Masahiro’s guardian at his coming of age ceremony.

Fujiawara no Toshitsugu – Masahiro’s fellow student onmyouji, who likes to ridicule Masahiro. He likes to talk big, but his powers as an onmyouji aren’t as impressive as he puts on.

Takao no Kami – She is the dragon goddess that reigns over Kifune mountain. She is all powerful and usually does whatever she wants, but she decides to lend Masahiro a hand once in a while because he entertains her.

The Remaining of the 12 Shikigami:

Rikugou – One of Seimei’s most trusted shikigami who personally guards Seimei. He is very calm and quiet. He goes to aide Masahiro after being requested to do so by Abe no Seimei.

Tenitsu – She is in the form of a beautiful young woman. She is not a very strong fighter, but has great powers in defense and in healing.

Seiryuu – One of the strongest fighters out of the shikigami. He holds a grudge against Guren and doesn’t want to regard Masahiro as Seimei’s heir.

Genbu – He is small in size, but quite powerful. He appears frequently with Taiin.

Suzaku – He takes on the form of a young man and has fire powers like Guren, but they are used for more purifying spirits. He deeply cares for Tenitsu.

Byakko – He takes on the form of a very muscular man. He uses wind just like Taiin but his wind is much calmer.

Taiin – She is in the form of a small girl. Despite her small size, she is a pretty strong fighter and uses strong, violent gusts of wind. She doesn’t like slimy things.

Kouchin – She takes on the form of a young woman with short black hair. Despite being a woman, her fighting abilities is second to Guren. She is very close to Guren and is one of the few that don’t hold a grudge towards him despite what happened in the past.

Taijou – He takes on the form of a young man with long green hair.

Tenkou – She takes on the form of a young woman with long silver hair.

Tenkuu – He takes on the form of an old man with a long beard. He is the governor of the 12 shikigami.

The Antagonists

Kyuuki – Kyuuki is a foreign demon who showed up to Japan from the West in search for energy and power. He targets Akiko and sends many of his minions to go after her and later Masahiro as well when he finds out they both have a great deal of spiritual power.

Kazane – She is a powerful young woman that seems to hold a strong grudge against Abe no Seimei and is out to get him as well as Masahiro and Guren in revenge.

Ryusai – Seimei’s best friend who met a tragic end very long ago.

“Shonen Onmyouji” features a total of 26 episodes on six DVDs. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 1- This Youth Seimei’s Successor – Abe no Masahiro is the grandson of the great onmyouji, Abe no Seimei, but he seems to be lacking the power to see demons himself until one day he comes across a little creature he names Mokkun.
• EPISODE 2- The Palace Burns at Twilight – Masahiro meets Princess Akiko.
• EPISODE 3- Listen to the Frightened Voice in the Dark – Masahiro tries to find the source of the fire that had just occurred.
• EPISODE 4- Search for the Foreign Shadow – Masahiro starts having dreams of demons.
• EPISODE 5- Repel the Raging Demons – Masahiro comes face to face with a very powerful onmyouji but it’s someone closer to him than he realizes.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 6- Grab the Sign Emerging from the Darkness – An evil shadow plots to take the Princess.
• EPISODE 7- A Woman’s Desires Roped in from Beyond – Princess Akiko is visited by Princess Keiko but something is not right.
• EPISODE 8- Stop the Resentment that Echoes Through Kifune – Masahiro goes to save Princess Akiko.
• EPISODE 9- Crush the Curse of Darkness – When Masahiro is faced with a great danger, Guren shows his true powers.
• EPISODE 10- A Voice in Response to a Faint Wish – Kyuuki goes after Princess Akiko again.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 11- Hold the Symbol of the Vow Close to the Heart – The search for Kyuuki continues.
• EPISODE 12- Penetrate the Mirror Cage – The final battle with Kyuuki takes lace and the other shikigami start to accept Masahiro as Seimei’s successor.
• EPISODE 13- The Evil Song Brought by the Whirlwind – An onryou(angry spirit) appears and wreaks havoc on the people.
• EPISODE 14- It is Like the Full Moon to Wane – A powerful curse gets placed on Yukinari by the onryou.

DISC 4:

• EPISODE 15- Release the Catastrophic Chains – The one who brought the onryou back to life reveals herself to Seimei.
• EPISODE 16- The Old Shadow Wanders in the Night – Kazane tries to take Masahiro’s life.
• EPISODE 17- Sleep in the Caress of the Six Petals – Masahiro helps to put another wandering soul to rest.
• EPISODE 18- Nobody Knows that Reason – Masahiro goes to help one of his older brothers protect his baby from demons.

DISC 5:

• EPISODE 19- The Time of Shadows over North Star – Masahiro sees an ominous dream.
• EPISODE 20- Chasing the Winds of Invitation, onto Underworld – We learned what happened in the past between Seimei and Ryusai.
• EPISODE 21- Severed Bond in the Flames of Sin – Masahiro along with Guren, Rikugou, Taiin and Genbu get trapped in the underworld.
• EPISODE 22- All for the Sake of the Honored Miko – Guren is taken and the seals to the underworld are about to be broken.

DISC 6:

• EPISODE 23- Firegod Kagutsuchi’s Flames are Awe-inspired – Masahiro is faced with a very difficult decision.
• EPISODE 24- The Wind of Dusk, the Eye of Dawn – Kazane learns the truth about her past.
• EPISODE 25- Dancing Junipers in the Whirl of Miasma – The final battle begins.
• EPISODE 26- Sharpen and Polish the Blade of Fire – Conclusion. Will Masahiro be able to save Guren or lose him forever?

VIDEO & AUDIO

“Shonen Onmyouji” is presented in 16:9. The animation is very high quality and gorgeous to look at. The animation quality is consistent throughout the series and doesn’t falter. The backgrounds are very detailed and add to the mood of the particular scenes. If the scene and mood is dark, the background (the environment, colors, etc) is dark. If the scene is a little more light and comedic, the background is rather bright and colorful. Because there is a lot of magic, spells, and other supernatural elements involved in this series, there are a lot of special effects and all of it was done quite well.

For audio you have the option of either Japanese or English. The opening and ending songs fit well with the series. The opening is a fast-paced song that Yuki Kajiura composed and they fit the opening animation with the song quite well. You get a glimpse of all the main characters, including all the shikigami, and the audience’s attention is caught. The ending song is lighter and slower, and the animation is slower and there are a few cute moments in the animation making it enjoyable to watch. The music throughout the series is also very well composed and they fit each piece of music well with the particular tone of the scene. There are only English subtitles available.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The special features on the discs are textless opening and ending and Geneon previews.

Shonen Onmyouji is another great series that does a great job of combining action and comedy. I love that this series concentrates on Japanese mythology, legends and demons as well. The art style, especially the original character designs, are geared more for the female demographic, but nonetheless it’s gorgeous and definitely doesn’t take away from anything.

Abe no Masahiro isn’t the most manly character, however he is able to hold his own and shows that he is powerful. He is not another helpless and whiny main character(however, he does throw tantrums now and then) which is reassuring. His relationship with Mokkun/Guren is both comical and admirable. The amount of characters in this series isn’t too overwhelming, despite there being twelve shikigami that Abe no Seimei uses. Throughout most of the series, only a few of them come out at a time and most of them only serve as secondary characters rather than main characters. Other than Mokkun/Guren, Rikugou is the only one to play a pretty major role through the series.

I like series that deal with the supernatural, history, and mythology so this was a great series for me. Abe no Seimei is a very famous historical figure in Japan and shows up in various movies, dramas, anime, manga and other medias. This is another great interpretation of him and his tales. The viewers can get some knowledge of Japanese mythology and some history as well through this series as they talk about onmyouji, shikigami, ayakashi, onryou, the land of Izumo, and etc. Even though it was a very tiny glimpse, you learn a little about how Japanese politics worked around the Heian period too. Despite having to do with history and a tiny bit with politics, there’s nothing too heavy or serious that would make the series tedious to watch.

I believe that this series has something to offer any audience. There is plenty of action, supernatural elements, and comedy that many audiences will enjoy and then there are plenty of pretty male characters that I believe that many girls will enjoy. However, the presence of pretty male characters (not to mention one of them happens to turn into a small bunny looking character) doesn’t overshadow the main story so I think that the male audience can enjoy it thoroughly as well. The story moves at a steady pace from the first storyline to the next(no filler episodes really) and doesn’t drag and the story keeps you wanting to find out what happens next.

The Japanese cast in this series is once again very strong and features some professionals including Katsuyuki Konishi, Toshihiko Seki, Akira Ishida, Toshiyuki Morikawa and Junko Noda just to name a few. Each character’s voice seemed to match what one would imagine they would sound like and the acting was very well done. As for the English dub… I hate to report that it’s not the worst I’ve heard, but it’s definitely not one of the best I’ve heard either. Even though I usually end up watching anime in Japanese, I do watch English dubbed anime at times. I’ve seen some amazing dubbing jobs where I actually didn’t care what language I watched it in, but this one was a little too painful for me personally. The voices themselves weren’t too bad, even though Akiko sounded a bit too awkward to me and young Seimei sounded… old. The pronunciations of the Japanese terms and names such as “onmyouji” (often pronounced “an-myouji”), “Masahiro”, “Guren” (which all come up quite often…) were a bit off and painful for me to listen to because I speak the language… Once again, not the worst… but for me I would definitely have to go for the Japanese version.

There is also a slight romantic element in this series between Masahiro and Akiko, but it is pretty subtle and innocent. Their relationship is used more to show how dedicated he is to protecting her and how much she cares for him. I believe that is actually one of the best parts of the story and I admire their relationship. I also respect the relationship between Masahiro and Mokkun/Guren because of how dedicated they are to each other.

I highly recommend this series for those who are interested in the supernatural and Japanese history and or mythology. For those who enjoyed series like “Yu Yu Hakusho”, “The Hakkenden”, “RG Veda”, the “Saiyuki” series, or “Inuyasha”, I highly recommend this series as well. “Shonen Onmyouji” has a great story and because the anime only covers part of the story in the novels, hopefully we’ll be able to see more in anime form in the future.

Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

Humrous, action packed and stylishly hip!  From the director of “Cowboy Bebop” and “Macross Plus”, Shinichiro Watanabe wowed anime fans with the stylish “Samurai Champloo”.  Now the popular samurai action anime series receives its first entry to Blu-ray!

Images courtesy of © manglobe Shimoigusa Champloo. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series

DURATION: 26 Episodes (650 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9, Dolby True HD English 5.1 and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV PG

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: December 8, 2009

Originally Created by CLAMP

Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe

Script by Dai Sato, Keiko Nobumoto, Ryoto Sugi, Seiko Takagi, Shinichiro Watanabe, Shinji OBara, Touko Machida, Uwadan, Shimofuwato

Music by Fat John, Force of Nature, Nujabes, Tsutchie

Character Design by Hideto Komori, Kazuto Nakazawa

Art Director: Takeshi Waki

Mechanical Design by Mahiro Maeda

Anime Production by Studio Manglobe

Featuring the voices of:

Kazuya Nakai/Daniel Andrews as Mugen

Ayako Kawasumi/Kari Wahlgren as Fuu

Ginpei Sato/Kirk Thornton as Jin

Check it. The notorious Champloo crew is straight carving up the competition on Blu-Ray. Be the first one on your block to catch these buck willd samurais abusing their license to ill in high def!

Let’s break it down. Mugen’s a reckless sword-slinger with a style that’s more b-boy than Shaolin. He’s got a nasty streak that makes people want to stick a knife in his throat. The there’s Jin, a deadbeat ronin who speaks softly but carries a big blade. He runs game old-school style, but can make your blood spray with the quickness. When these roughnecks bring the ruckus, it ain’t good for anybody, especially them. Enter Fuu, the ditzy waitress who springs her new friends from a deadly jam. All she wants in return is help solving a riddle from her past. She and the boys are tracking the scent, but there’s ninety-nine ways to die between them and the sunflower samurai.

In 2004, Shinichiro Watanabe known for his directorial work on the anime “Cowboy Bebop” and “Macross Plus” returned with his latest anime “Samurai Champloo”.    The 26-episode anime series was no doubt highly anticipated due to Watanabe’s work with “Cowboy Bebop” and featured anime production by Studio Manglobe (“Sengoku BASARA”, “Ergo Proxy”).  The series spawned a manga series right after and also a Sony PlayStation 2 video game.

The anime series would receive rave reviews for its stylish presentation but also how it would be a samurai action series with slapstick comedy.  Also, featuring a hip-hop soundtrack courtesy of Watanabe’s friend DJ Tsutchie and the Japanese hip hop duo Forces of Nature, Fat Jon, Nujabes and other talented artists who would contribute to the series and have involvement in the various album soundtracks.

In terms of its stylish presentation, it helps when the series has talents such as veteran Kazuto Nakazawa (who worked on “Kill Bill Vol. 1″ and anime series such as “El Hazard”, “Blood+”, “Fatal Fury”, “Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko”) working on character designs and Mahiro Maeda (“Blue Submarine No. 6″, “Final Fantasy: Unlimited”, “Gunbuster”, “Gunsmith Cats”, “Last Exile”) working on the weapons (mechanical design) for the series.

In America, the series would debut a year later on the Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” featuring a censored (due to profanity) version and also eliminating any blood or nudity.    The anime series was released in the US by Geneon and on December 2009, the complete series is being re-released on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

In the first episode of “Samurai Champloo”, Mugen goes into a tea house where a group of samurai thugs and a politician’s son try to intimidate patrons including waitress Fuu.  Mugen offers to take on the men if she will feed him 50 dumplings.  At first, Fuu resists but when she starts getting hassled by the men, she agrees to Mugen’s demands.  Mugen, meanwhile takes on the samurai thugs and easily defeats them.

Meanwhile, Jin is a ronin samurai had taken on the local magistrates men who were about to slay an innocent man who didn’t have enough money to pay them.  Jin then enters the tea house to get something to eat/drink but sees a fight between Mugen and the thugs.  Mugen thinks Jin is part of the group of thugs and attacks him but Jin is able to counter him.

Both Mugen and Jin start fighting to the death but with the tea house in shambles after the fight and burning down, the two are caught after they faint from smoke inhalation and now face execution for the murder of the magistrate’s son.  Meanwhile, Fuu who no longer has her job because the place had burned down now wants to focus on finding this samurai who smells like sunflowers and feels that she needs some help.  She decides that Mugen and Jin would be the perfect choice but to get them to join her, she must rescue them.

And because she is able to rescue them, the two must join her but also promise that they can not duel one another until they help her find the samurai who smells like sunflowers.  “Samurai Champloo” features a storyline which features the three as they travel from village to village, getting into trouble and also helping those in need.

“Samurai Champloo” is a series that focuses on three individuals who join together in order to find the sunflower samurai.  Their adventures take place during the Edo Period.  The main characters are:

Mugen: The wild hair, foul-mouthed wandering samurai who sports a metal-soled geta (traditional Japanese wooden sandals) and a samurai sword and wanders from village to village.  Wants to fight the best and so far, his biggest challenge has been Jin but knows he can’t fight him until they finish their quest.

Jin: The quiet, mild-mannered ronin  who wears eyeglasses and fights via the traditional kenjutsu style of the samurai.  Slow to anger but easily gets aggravated by Mugen.

Fuu: The 15-year-old girl who recruits both Mugen and Jin to find a samurai who smells like sunflowers.   She is accompanied by her pet flying squirrel named Momo.

Each of the three individuals tend to get themselves in trouble but in each episode which features an adventure as they go from village to village to find this sunflower-smelling samurai and try to make it to Nagasaki in order to find the sunflower samurai

“Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series” features the following 26-episodes on 3 Blu-ray discs.  Here is a spoilerless summary of each episode:

Disc 1:

• EPISODE 1 – Tempestuous Temperaments: An introduction to how Mugen, Jin and Fuu and how they united with each other.
• EPISODE 2 – Redeye Reprisal: A horrible ogre is supposedly killing people, is it true?
• EPISODE 3 – Hellhounds for Hire Part 1: Mugen and Jin ditch Fuu and somehow end up working for rival gangs.
• EPISODE 4 – Hellhounds for Hire Part 2: Part 2 of the storyline featuring Mugen and Jin working for rival gangs.
• EPISODE 5 – Artistic Anarchy: A kidnapper posing as an artist has Fuu on his list for his next victim.
• EPISODE 6 – Stranger Searching: Fuu takes part in an eating competition.
• EPISODE 7 – A Risky Racket: A thief has stolen Fuu’s money and the group tries to search for him.
• EPISODE 8 – The Art of Altercation: A man has been looking everywhere for a samurai wearing eyeglasses (Jin) and is out for revenge.
• EPISODE 9 – Beatbox Bandits: The group encounters a group of bandits that beatbox?

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 10 – Lethal Lunacy: Mugen takes on the Shaolin-trianed swordsman.
• EPISODE 11 – Gamblers and Gallantry: Jin saves a woman and ends up falling for her.
• EPISODE 12 – The Disorder Diaries - Mugen steals Fuu’s diary and reads what she has written about their adventures together.
• EPISODE 13 – Misguided Miscreants Part 1: Mugen’s past catches up to him.
• EPISODE 14 – Misguided Miscreants Part 2: Mugen gets his revenge on the pirate!
• EPISODE 15 – Bogus Booty: Mugen and Jin take on the beautiful ninja.
• EPISODE 16 – Lullabies of the Lost Verse 1: The three have an argument and end up splitting from each other.
• EPISODE 17 – Lullabies of the Lost Verse 2: Part two of the episode of where the three go on their separate ways after an argument.
• EPISODE 18 – War of the Worlds: Each of the three have their own storyline as Fuu gets a facelift, Jin keeps his promise for a friend and Mugen learns how to read.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 19: Unholy Union – Fuu gets closer to finding the sunflower samurai.
• EPISODE 20: Elegy of Entrapment Verse 1 – What happens when the three encounter a blind musician.
• EPISODE 21: Elegy of Entrapment Verse 2 – Jin and Mugen learn new techniques.
• EPISODE 22: Cosmic Collissions – The three go on to Nagasaki and somehow ends up in a mine that may have treasure.
• EPISODE 23: Baseball Blues – What happens when the three encounter a group of American thugs…how about a game of baseball?
• EPISODE 24: Evanescent Encounter Part 1 – The three have arrived in Nagasaki and now go to look for the sunflower samurai.
• EPISODE 25: Evanescent Encounter Part 2 – Jin must take on the most powerful man in the Shogunate, Kagetoki Kariya.
• EPISODE 26: Evanescent Encounter Part 3 – The final episode as Fuu finally finds the sunflower samurai and both Mugen and Jin are put to a test.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Samurai Champloo” is featured in 1080p High Definition 16×9.  Before I go into discussion about picture quality, I just want to emphasize that this is an upconvert of a 2004 anime TV series.  Television series in Japan are not exactly the best in quality compared to a Japanese OVA and a film.  With that being said, “Samurai Champloo” was produced by Manglobe who had a lot of time to work on this stylishly cool looking anime series.  When this anime series first came out, you can’t help but think how awesome the look of the series was courtesy of veterans Kazuto Nakazawa and Mahiro Maeda.   The series looks absolutely fresh and cool!

Here we are five years later and the Blu-ray release is out and there are positives and negatives.  The positive is that the series looks beautiful especially when you see the oranges and reds, lush green plants looking quite vibrant.  Painted backgrounds and homes look very detailed and beautiful.

The negative in terms of picture quality is that this series has its share of compression artifacts and also it has some coloration problems that is quite evident from episode-to-episode.   For example, you can see someone’s clothing that is purple or blue but then see this glob of dark green showing up and I know for HD videophiles, this is unacceptable.

As for anime fans, many see this as a problem that will happen with an older anime TV series that was meant for DVD and problems that are more evident when upconverted to Blu-ray.  Granted, those who will see the artifacting are those who watch these anime series with a larger screen.

With that being said, the series does has its share of moments where PQ is just really, nice and colorful but in terms of this coloration problem, it was evident on the “Tsubasa” Blu-ray release from FUNimation but this time around, it’s much more noticeable.

As for audio, “Samurai Champloo” is a series that is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English and Japanese.   The fact that we get the lossless Japanese audio track is actually pretty big considering the recent prior FUNimation Entertainment Blu-ray anime TV series have only featured a 2.0 track.

For both lossless audio soundtrack, the series is front and center channel driven.  Dialogue is clear and the music comes out of the front and surround channels with nice bass.  There is some surround channel usage with crowd ambiance and special effects that fill up each channel at times but it is important to note that this is a samurai action series and is mostly swordplay.  Also, there is action at the end of nearly each episode, the series is primarily front and center channel driven, especially when you reach the final episodes.

Optional subtitles are available in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series” comes with the following special features:

• “Battlecry” (Opening) Promo Video – (1:44) The opening theme promo video.
• Promo Video – (:60) A promo for the second season of “Samurai Champloo” (which was aired on television).
• Teaser Trailer – (:49) Two animated teaser trailers featuring all three characters.  Very artistic, stylish and cool!
• Conceptual Art – Using your remote, you can cycle through various conceptual art of the characters and several designs.
• Bumper Gallery - Using your remote, you can cycle through various bumper gallery artwork.
• Textless Opening and Closing Songs
• Trailers - FUNimation Entertainment trailers

“Samurai Champloo” was an anime series that really came with a lot of hype because of Shinichiro Watanabe’s involvement.  Questions many people had was how can he follow up from “Cowboy Bebop”.  Will it be a smart anime?  Will it be a stylish anime?  And similar to CB, would “Samurai Champloo” feature an awesome musical soundtrack?

When I first saw the anime series, I was very impressed with the animation and character designs.  First, for a samurai anime series, you get all the action but also this combination with slapstick comedy which was pretty awesome!  But also, this gorgeous, fresh looking anime series that was really different from any samurai-related anime that came before it (and there have been many).

The character designs were pretty cool but it’s the characters that are different than previous series.  For example, Mugen…sports a wild hair cut and steel-soled geta.  Definitely not your typical looking samurai!   And where “Cowboy Bebop” went a more jazz route, “Samurai Champloo” goes for a more Japanese hip-hop route.

But the series also had a touch of historical information such as the Shimabara Rebellion, Van Gogh’s appreciation for Ukiyo-e paintings and fictionalized versions of Mariya Enshirou and Miyamoto Musashi.

But of course, the series doesn’t take itself too seriously as a period-driven samurai series such as a “Hakkenden” or even “Rurouni Kenshin” as the group encounters bandits that beat box and blue-eyed Europeans who can pretend they are Japanese. Sure, the series is a bit farfetched if one is expecting a serious storyline but that’s what makes this series a bit unique from it’s look, music and its overall presentation.  The series although is action and comedy driven, definitely gets serious as the series approaches its final three episodes.

As for the Blu-ray release, its unfortunate that the series is not one of FUNimation Entertainments better looking anime series on Blu-ray but considering that this is a TV series and it’s an older 2004 anime series, it all comes down to if the PQ is good enough for the viewer, their setup (especially how large their monitor/screen is) and if you want to watch the series with a lossless soundtrack.

But overall, “Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series” was a fun and entertaining series which I really enjoyed even before it came out on Blu-ray.  It was a unique style of anime series (and sure enough, the hip hop and samurai style was revisted with “Afro Samurai” a few years later) at the time and although not as deep as “Hakkenden”, nor does it feature a large cast such as a “Samurai 7″ but it manages to captivate you with its quirkiness, action, its hip style and bass-driven hip hop music in the background.

Overall, for those with their original DVD’s, you’re probably good with those and may want to upgrade to Blu-ray for the lossless audio.   But If you are a fan of Shinichiro Watanabe’s work or if you are looking for an entertaining anime series to have on Blu-ray, “Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series” is worth having in your collection.

The Story of SAIUNKOKU – The Complete Season One DVD Box (A J!-Ent Anime DVD Review)

“The Story of Saiunkoku” is a beautiful, piece of work about love, dreams, and that anything is possible with perseverance.

Image courtesy of © Sai Yukino, Kadokawashoten/NHK, SOGOVISION. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: The Story of SAIUNKOKU – The Complete Season One Box Set

DURATION: 975 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN, BILINGUAL DOLBY DIGITAL 2.0 (ENGLISH & JAPANESE)

COMPANY: GENEON/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: 13+

Release Date: October 9th, 2009

Based on the Original Story by Sai Yukino

Directed by Jun Shishido

Music by Kunihiko Ryo

Music Director by Fusanobu Fujiyama

Character Design by Miwa Oshima

Produced by Yuji Shibata

Featuring the following voice talent:

Houko Kuwashima/ Kelly Sheridan as Shurei Hong

Tomokazu Seki/ Brad Swaile as Ryuki Shi

Hikaru Midorikawa/ Andrew Francis as Seiran Si

Shuichi Ikeda/Michael Kopsa as Shoka Hong

Toshiyuki Morikawa/ Michael Adamthwaite as Shuei Ran

Nobuyuki Hiyama/Andy Toth as Koyu Ri

Akemi Okamura/ Nicole Oliver as Shusui

Koji Ishii/ John Novak as Adviser Sho

Naoki Bandō/ Trever Devall as Enjun Sa

Mitsuru Ogata/ Dale Wilson as So Taifu

Eri Sendai/ Chantal Strand as Korin

Kentarou Itou/ Jason Simpson as Ensei Rō

Mitsuaki Madono/ Louis Chirillo as Reishin Hong

Kazuhiro Nakata/ Mark Oliver as Kijin Ko

Daisuke Namikura/ Reece Thompson as Eigetsu/Yogetsu To

Hidenobu Kiuchi/ Matthew Erickson as Ryuren Ran

Takehito Koyasu/ John Payne as Sakujun Sa

Kousuke Toriumi/ Kyle Rideout as Kokujun Sa

Rumi Shishido/ Natalie Walters as Shunki Sa

Saiunkoku is a country with eight powerful houses governed by one emperor. However the new leader Ryuki Shi cares not for his new role and is rumored to spend his days chasing after noblemen in his court. Enter Shurei Hong, a princess whose family has fallen upon hard times. Her dreams of becoming a government official are unattainable since she is a woman, but a twist of fate gives her the chance of a lifetime. If she agrees to become the emperor’s consort and turn him into a respectable ruler, she will be greatly rewarded…

The Story of Saiunkoku by Sai Yukino centers around Shurei Hong, a young princess whose life long dream to become a government official is unattainable because she is a girl. To add insult to injury, despite being a princess, her household is rather poor so she does quite a few odd jobs to help out the family.

She lives with her father Shoka and Seiran, a young man that her family adopted when she was a child. One day, her household is visited by one of the Elders of the Kingdom, Adviser Sho and he has an offer for her: if she can make the current emperor a worthy emperor that can do his job, her and her family would be greatly rewarded. She accepts, but then realizes the other part of the deal was for her to become his consort. Nonetheless, she works hard to make Ryuki Shi, the current emperor all he can be and a worthy ruler.

Ryuki Shi is the young, somewhat naive, carefree emperor that doesn’t really try to do his duties as emperor. To Shurei’s surprise, in truth he’s rather smart and skilled but lacked motivation. He meets Shurei and decides to become a bit more serious about his role emperor and in the meantime, falls in love with Shurei.

Another reason Shurei took up the offer is because she felt that this was a way to get closer to her unattainable dream: to become a government official. Even though she is more than qualified to become a government official, she cannot because of the laws of the land saying that girls may not take the exams to become government officials.

Her perseverance, intelligence, and passion for her dream gain the attention of not only the emperor, but the officials surrounding him including Koyu Ri, Shuei Ran, Kijin Kou and many others. Ryuki Shi makes it his priority to help her achieve her dream… and hopefully one day marry her as well.

The Story of Saiunkoku is a beautiful, sophisticated anime dealing with various important themes such as love, equality, trust, politics and perseverance.

“The Story of Saiunkoku” focuses on the following main characters:

Shurei Hong – Shurei Hong is the only daughter of Shoka Hong. Despite being a princess, her family is rather poor so she has been performing random jobs ever since she was very young. She is beautiful, intelligent, and says exactly what’s on her mind. Because of her upbringing, she is also rather humbled despite being a princess and tries not to rely on others for too much help. One day, Adviser Sho appears at her home and makes her an offer: if she can help turn around the lazy emperor and make him into the great emperor he should be, her and her family will be financially rewarded. She doesn’t hesitate to take the offer but then realizes that the role calls for her to be the emperor’s consort. Despite that, she keeps that same attitude even when she is at the palace and that might be one of the major reasons that Ryuki really falls for her. Despite Ryuki falling for her, she doesn’t really return his feelings, especially at first because she has so many responsibilities. Despite her not being able to attain her dream because of being a woman, it doesn’t stop her from studying every day and doing her absolute best to help out the kingdom, even if it has to be through Ryuki.

Ryuki Shi – The young emperor of the kingdom. Shurei is sent to the palace as his consort and he falls in love with her. He seems rather helpless and rather unintelligent but in reality, he is rather strong and rather intelligent when he wants to be. He had a rough childhood being the youngest of six brothers and was the last in line to be considered to be the next emperor. He was constantly bullied by four of them, but one of his brothers, Seien, was always there to help him and be there by his side whenever he needed him and constantly saved him from his other brothers. One day, Seien was exiled and eventually, his other brothers fought each other for the throne and perished, leaving only Ryuki to become emperor. One of the major reasons he didn’t want to become emperor was because he was hoping that one day that Seien would return and become the emperor because he thought he was much more worthy than him. When he meets Shurei, he feels drawn to her and becomes inspired to become a worthy emperor for his kingdom when he hears about her dreams to better the kingdom herself despite her limitations.

Seiran Si – Seiran is the adopted son of the Hong household that has been living with Shoka and Shurei ever since she was a child. He is like an older brother to Shurei and is there for her whenever she needs him. Because he was taken in so generously by the Hong family, he has made it his life long duty to repay their kindness by serving them. He is intelligent and is also a strong and skilled fighter. He has a mysterious past that is somehow tied with Ryuki.

Shuei Ran – Shuei Ran is the general of the Shaorin army. He is extremely skilled as a swordsman and has a smart mouth but a calm demeanor. He claims to be Koyu’s best friend, but Koyu angrily denies it and he loves to tease him. Despite being a ladies man and having a rather care free attitude, he is very responsible when it comes to his duties as the emperor’s guard.

Koyu Ri – Koyu Ri is the very young, yet highly intelligent government official who holds the title of Assistant Secretary of Civil Affairs. He was the youngest person to pass the official exams, passing at the age of sixteen. He is rather short tempered and the emperor infuriates him because he keeps wandering off without doing his duties. When he finally gets assigned to the emperor, he lays down the law and keeps on the emperor and makes sure his studies and his duties are done. Shuei is another person who gets on his nerve because he also doesn’t seem to take his job seriously and he is always teased by Shuei because of his seriousness. Despite being a genius, he has absolutely no sense of direction and frequently gets lost in the palace and anywhere else when there’s no one with him.

Shoka Hong – Shoka is Shurei’s father and works in the archives at the palace. He is kind and seems rather mild mannered and a bit clutzy, but he has a secret side to him that even his daughter doesn’t know.

Secondary Characters

Eigetsu/Yogetsu To – Eigetsu is a kind and sweet 13 year old boy that comes to the capital to take the final exams to become a government official. Despite his very young age, he is very smart and is able to place first in the national exams. Along with Shurei, they both overcome obstacles that come their way because of who they are and become close. Eigetsu cannot drink sake or even stand the smell of it. However, if he is forced to drink sake, he turns into a different person named Yogetsu, who is pretty much the very opposite of him…

Ensei Rō – Ensei first appears as a starving man outside of Shurei’s house. It is later revealed that he has a shared past with Seiran and despite his shaggy looks, he has is quite intelligent and is involved with the government. He admires Shurei and helps her out in any way he can.

Ryuren Ran – Ryuren is the very eccentric younger brother of Shuei and is very strange. He wears very flashy clothes and sometimes tries to talk to people using his flute. His actions are sporadic and random for the most part which confuses and annoys everyone around him but he is a genius.

Advisor Sho – One of the three Elders of the kingdom who offers Shurei a reward if she is able to better the emperor. He is very wise and seems to be pulling the strings behind the scenes quite often. He holds a secret that no one knows about…

Enjun Sa – The second of the three Elders of the kingdom. He is very wise but has a secret agenda…

Sō-Taifū – The third of the three Elders of the kingdom. He is a war hero and is responsible for training Ryuki and Seinan in the art of the sword.

Shusui – Shusui is one of Shurei’s ladies in waiting. She is very beautiful and does her job very well (besides sewing), but seems to be very skilled in other ways despite being a lady in waiting…

Korin – Korin is another one of Shurei’s ladies in waiting. She seems very shy and loyal but is also very loyal to her adoptive father, Enjun Sa and would do anything for him…

Reishin Hong – Reishin Hong is the younger brother of Shoka and Shurei’s uncle that she doesn’t know about. He is in charge of the Civil/Public Administration Department and is Koyu’s adoptive father. He is also very close friends with fellow official Kijin Ko and makes him all of his interesting masks…

Kijin Ko – Kijin Ko is the somewhat strange chief minister of the Department of Treasury and Finances. He is usually very strict, but shows a much kinder side when it comes to Shurei. He is never caught without a mask on his face which everyone assumes that he wears because he is horribly ugly but there seems to be more to him than he lets on…

Sakujun Sa – Sakujun Sa is the middle son of the three brothers who are of the royal family of the Sa province. He shares a past with Seiran and can be rather ruthless considering some of the actions he has taken…

Kokujun Sa – Kokujun Sa is the kind-hearted youngest brother out of the three brothers who are of the royal family of the Sa province. However, because he is so kind, he is viewed as weak from some.

Shunki Sa – Shunki is Enjun Sa’s granddaughter. Because she has a direct relation to Enjun, she is hidden away to protect her from those who may go after her life. She lost her parents when she was young and they were killed from a seemingly unlikely source…

“The Story of Saiunkoku” features a total of 39 episodes on nine DVDs. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 1- Every Good Deal Has a Catch – Shurei is offered a job worth 500 gold coins, but it’s the last thing she expected…
• EPISODE 2- A Frog in the Well Knows Not About the Ocean – Shurei tells Ryuki of the painful events from 8 years ago and tries to get him to know more about the world.
• EPISODE 3- The Capable Falcon Hides Its Talons – Shurei finds out that Ryuki is not as stupid as he acts.
• EPISODE 4- Treasure Buried is Treasure Wasted – Ryuki finds out a secret about Seiran.
• EPISODE 5- A Genius Can’t Better a Hardworking Man – Everyone meets Shuei’s awkward brother, Ryuren.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 6- Lacking the Finishing Touch – Ryuki becomes more of a responsible emperor but Shurei is kidnapped.
• EPISODE 7- He Who Swims a Lot Will Drown – Ryuki is desperate and will do anything to save Shurei.
• EPISODE 8- To Borrow a Cat’s Paw – Someone mysterious appears from Seiran’s past.
• EPISODE 9- A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step – Shurei starts work in the outer courts but disguised as a boy.
• EPISODE 10- Good Things Come to Those Who Wait – Everyone finds out who Ensei really is.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 11- There’s No Medicine For Lovesickness – Shurei falls ill after falling into a cold river and people from the palace come to help.
• EPISODE 12- Discretion is the Better Part of Valor – Shurei meets a shy young man named Eigetsu who seems to hold some secret.
• EPISODE 13- An Unexpected Surprise – Eigetsu’s secret is revealed and Shurei, Eigetsu, and Ryuren take the national exams.
• EPISODE 14- Three Years on a Rock – Shurei and Eigetsu start their jobs as government officials but they face a lot of trials from the other new officials out of spite.
• EPISODE 15- A Child Knows Not of His Parent’s Feelings – Despite all of his success, there’s still something Koyu longs for.

DISC 4:

• EPISODE 16- There Are No Demons in this World – Shurei and Eigetsu’s troubles keep mounting but they keep doing their best. Meanwhile a plan to get rid of Shurei and her sponser, Reishin go into effect.
• EPISODE 17- Let Sleeping Dogs Lie – Kuro Hong sets his own plan into effect after hearing of Shurei’s treatment.
• EPISODE 18- Hiding One’s Head But Not One’s Bottom – Shurei is finally able to prove that she is truly worthy of being a government official.
• EPISODE 19- Send Your Child on a Voyage – All of the new officials are given their new positions. Shurei and Eigetsu are both assigned to the Sa province.

DISC 5:

• EPISODE 20- Flowers Blooming From Dead Trees – Seiran recalls his past and how he ended up with the Hong family.
• EPISODE 21- The Wise Man Does Not Court Danger – Shurei finds out who was behind her kidnapping a year ago.
• EPISODE 22- While There is Life, There is Hope – Korin joins Shurei and Eigetsu on their journey to the Sa province and they have 3 months to get there.
• EPISODE 23- Companionship in Travel, Compassion in Life – Just when they are about to reach the Sa province, everyone but Shurei gets captured and Shurei must find a way to free them.

DISC 6:

• EPISODE 24- Bolt Out of the Blue – The mastermind behind the kidnapping is revealed and the party is able to escape with the help of someone linked to the kidnapping.
• EPISODE 25- An Accidental Resemblance – Everyone heads to Kinka without knowing about the others. Seiran and Ensei confront someone from their past.
• EPISODE 26- Crows in a Moonless Night – Sojun finds out that Korin was captured instead of Shurei and is enraged.
• EPISODE 27- The Prettier the Flower, the Higher the Branch – Shurei is finally reunited with the rest of her friends.

DISC 7:

• EPISODE 28- It’s Always Darkest Before the Dawn – Shurei and her party try to clear out the bandits in Kinka.
• EPISODE 29- 1000 Years’ Worth of Thoughts in a Single Day – Shurei and the others learn of a blockade on the Sa province capital, Koren and hurry over there.
• EPISODE 30- Women Are Brave – Shurei is determined to get through the blockade no matter what to meet the 3 month deadline.
• EPISODE 31- A Diamond in the Rough – Shurei decides to go to the selection ceremony despite the dangers that await her.

DISC 8:

• EPISODE 32- A Woman’s Word Is Her Bond – Shurei searches for Eiki and Kokujun in the Sa Palace.
• EPISODE 33- No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk – The day of the Selection Ceremony for the new head of the Sa family finally arrives.
• EPISODE 34- Fight Poison With Poison – Shurei and Shunki go to find Kokujun while Seiran confronts Sakujun.
• EPISODE 35- Every Meeting Ends in Parting – Kokujun is officially named as head of the Sa family.

DISC 9:

• EPISODE 36- All is Right in the World – Shurei and Eigetsu meet their assistant governer, Yushun Tei.
• EPISODE 37- Tears From Eyes and Rain From Heaven – Shurei and Eigetsu finally safely become the governers of the Sa Province. Shurei dives into her work to get her mind off of something and Shurei and Seiran head back to Kiyo.
• EPISODE 38- There Is No Today After Today – Shurei along with Seiran, Yushun, Kokujun, and Rin Sai get to Kiyo to attend New Year’s Greetings to the Emperor celebration.
• EPISODE 39- Fate is a Mysterious Yet Fascinating Thing – Shurei tries to hold a get together to reunite with all of her loved ones, but Ryuki isn’t anywhere in sight…

VIDEO & AUDIO

“The Story of Saiunkoku” is presented in 16:9. The animation is high quality and the atmosphere as well as the character designs are very pretty.

For audio you have the option of either Japanese or English.  Both are in Japanese and English 2.0.

There are only English subtitles available.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are textless opening and textless ending options on disc 1 and 2. Otherwise there are Geneon previews available on each disc.

When watching the first episode of this series, I believe that some may get the idea that it is going to end up being an anime solely about a love story between Shurei and Ryuki… however the actual series strays far from that. Of course, the possible love story between Shurei and Ryuki are indeed a factor in this whole series, but most of the series centers around Shurei and her dream to become a government official and all of her trials and tribulations to attain that dream.

This anime surprisingly deals with alot of heavy issues such as discrimination because of age or sex. In fact, each episode corresponds with the proverb mentioned in the episode title, so each episode has some moral theme discussed. I think that was one of the parts of this anime that I enjoyed the most because I love kotowazas or proverbs. I thought that was smartly put together and entertaining.

This anime is for the most part is pretty serious, but blends in humor and action. The humor in this series can be silly, but is never too over the top. As for the action, the action is a bit more subtle so for those looking for a series full of fighting and action throughout, this series may not be for them. There is also romance involved in this series as well, but that is once again not the prominent theme of the series. However, I think the relationship between Shurei and Ryuki is absolutely charming. This is also a very character heavy series, but thankfully despite the many characters, it’s not too overwhelming. Although somewhat remeniscient of “Fushigi Yuugi”, the stories are very different and the only similarities might be that there are many important male characters surrounding one female lead character and that the stories take place in kingdoms with a lot of Chinese influences. Also, Shurei and Miaka are nothing alike.

This series mostly concentrates on Shurei’s perseverance on attaining her dream: to become a government official and helping everyone that she can. Throughout the series, she keeps overcoming various obstacles and is able to make the impossible possible. Of course, she has assistance from those around her, but the reason many of them even help her out is because they are inspired by how hard she works on her own.

This series has an all-star Japanese cast including Houko Fukushima, Tomokazu Seki, Hikaru Midorikawa, Nobuyuki Hiyama, Toshiyuki Morikawa and Shuichi Ikeda just to name a few. The English cast did a great job in the dub as well.

I believe this would be a great series for a variety of audiences. This series is smart, charming, and has bits of humor mixed in. I believe that some female fans will look forward to seeing all of the nicely drawn male characters that surround Shurei in the series. Even though action is not one of the most prominent factors of this series, there is enough of it considering this story is about politics and war as well.

However, because this is such a sophisticated story and deals with alot of politics, it may be hard for younger audiences to understand everything. I believe the humor is enough that it can keep their attention if they were to watch it.

As you watch the series, you find yourself cheering Shurei on because of everything she has to go through and what she’s willing to do just to attain her dream. Throughout the series she is able to make the impossible possible and even though the circumstances may be different in our lives, I know most of us can relate to wanting to attain an assumingly impossible dream.

I highly recommend this series and hope that others are able to enjoy it as much as I did.

When They Cry (A J!-Ent Anime DVD Review)

“When They Cry” is an exciting and shocking psychological horror anime that will leave the audience breathless. An amazing piece of work!

Image courtesy of © Ryuishi07/07th Expansion, Studio Deen. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: When They Cry – Complete Box Set

DURATION: 650 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9, ENGLISH DOLBY DIGITAL 2.0, JAPANESE DOLBY DIGITAL 2.0

COMPANY: Studio Deen/GENEON/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: 16+

Release Date: July 21, 2009

Based on the Original Story by Ryukishi 07/07th Expansion

Directed by Chiaki Kon

Sound Design by Hozumi Goda

Character Design by Kyuta Sakai

Anime Production by Studio Deen

Featuring the following voice talent:

Souichiro Hoshi/ Grant George as Keiichi Maebara

Mai Nakahara/ Mela Lee as Rena Ryugu

Satsuki Yukino/ Kelli Kassidi as Mion Sonozaki

Satsuki Yukino/ Kelli Kassidi as Shion Sonozaki

Mika Kanai/ Minx Lee as Satoko Hojo

Yukari Tamura/ Reba West as Rika Furude

Yuu Kobayashi/ Darrel Guilbeau as Satoshi Hojo

Chafurin/ Joe Dimucci as Kuraudo Oishi

Toru Ookawa/ Kyle Herbert as Jirou Tomitake

Miki Itou/ Karen Strassman as Miyo Takano

Toshihiko Seki/ Dave Mallow as Kyosuke Irie

Daisuke Ono/ Patrick Seitz as Mamoru Akasaka

Summer 1983… Hinamizawa is a tranquil village, but its inhabitants have been plagued by strange deaths and unexplained disappearances seemingly every year. Some say it’s the terrifying curse of Hinamizawa’s legendary deity, Oyashiro-sama, causing victims to be spirited away by monsters, but is this town harboring dark, horrifying secrets even more sinister than any superstition or myth?

When They Cry is an anime based on a computer game series of the same name. The game and anime are both by Ryukishi07/07th Expansion.

The story centers on Keiichi Maebara and his group of friends who live in the small town of Hinamizawa. On the outside, it seems to be a very quiet, peaceful town but once you get past the exterior, you find out there is something much more dark and sinister going on in this town.

Murders, curses, disappearances, conspiracies, betrayals, and paranoia surround everyone who lives in this town. For the last four years, there have been mysterious deaths and disappearances after the night of the Cotton Drifting Festival and the latest festival is about to happen and the deaths and disappearances seem right behind once again.

The residents of the town believe that all these occurrences are the work of Oyashiro-sama, a local deity that is believed to curse those that betray him or those who try to hurt the land surrounding Hinamizawa.

Keiichi doesn’t think much of this so called curse until he is surrounded by the deaths and disappearances of people first hand. He starts to suspect his friends and suddenly he feels like someone may be after him…

Could someone really be after him or could it just be paranoia? Is he indeed the one being chased or is he the one going after the people around him without knowing? Are there villains using the curse of Oyashiro-sama as a decoy to commit murders and other crimes… Or does the curse actually exist?

“When They Cry” focuses on the following main characters:

Keiichi Maebara – Keiichi Maebara is one of the main characters of the series. He just moved to Hinamizawa, but because of his friendly personality it didn’t take long for him to make friends. He starts learning about the various things that go on in Hinamizawa and quickly starts learning that not everything is as peaceful as it looks…

Rena Ryugyu – Rena Ryuugu is one of the girls in the group of friends. She had just moved to Hinamizawa a year ago and firmly believes in the curse of Oyashiro-sama even though she is new to town. She is in love with cute things that no one else finds cute… and often goes to the town dump to find more treasures.

Mion Sonozaki – Mion Sonozaki is the leader of the group of friends and is quite the tomboy. She is the heir to the Sonozaki family, one of the great families of Hinamizawa as well as being a yakuza family. She is definitely confident, strong, and is very caring about her friends. Because of her lineage, she has an insight of everything going on in Hinamizawa. She has a twin sister named Shion.

Satoko Hojo – Satoko Hojo is another one in the group of friends and is one of the younger girls. She lives with Rika and has had quite a hard life despite her young age. Her parents were killed a few years before and her older brother Satoshi disappeared mysteriously. She was living with her abusive aunt and uncle but now lives with Rika and tries her best to live a normal life.

Rika Furude – Rika Furude is another girl in the group of friends and is at first look, a very cute little girl but in the end is one of the most complex characters of the whole series. She is the head of the Furude Shrine and has an active part at the yearly Cotton Drifting Festival. She lives with Satoko and most of her conversations consist of just saying “Mii~”.

Shion Sonozaki – Shion Sonozaki is Mion’s twin sister that is sort of separated from the main Sonozaki family because it was a bad omen for their family to have twins. She and her sister get along very well and actually switch places randomly without people knowing. For the most part she is more girly than her sister and works as a waitress at Angel Mort. She enjoys the fact that she doesn’t have to take on the responsibilities of being the heir to the household, but she holds a dark secret…

Secondary Characters

Satoshi Hojo – At first, we don’t see Satoshi at all and just keep hearing about him. He finally appears toward the end of the series. He is Satoko’s older brother who is very protective of her. One day, he mysteriously disappears…

Kuraudo Oishi – Kuraudo Oishi is the head detective at Okinomiya Police station that wants to figure out the serial murders also known as Oyashirosama’s curse.

Jirou Tomitake – A mysterious cameraman that shows up to town one day and seems to be a friend of Miyo Takano.

Miyo Takano – Miyo Takano is the head nurse at the local hospital and is also very knowledgeable about the Oyashiro-sama legend.

Kyosuke Irie – Kyosuke Irie is a doctor that works at the local hospital and he is also the head coach of the little league team. He has a weird Lolita complex.

Mamoru Akasaka – Mamoru Akasaka is a police officer from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department that shows up to Hinamizawa to find clues on a missing grandson of a high-ranking official. When he gets there, he encounters Rika Furude.

“When They Cry” features a total of 26 episodes on six DVDs. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 1 (“Spirited Away by the Demon” Chapter ep 1)- THE BEGINNING – Keiichi is new to Hinamizawa and is enjoying the life in a small town with his great new friends… but then he finds out about a murder that happened…
• EPISODE 2 (“Spirited Away by the Demon” Chapter ep 2)- THE SECRET – Keiichi asks his friends about the murders that happened but they tell him they know nothing. However, he finds out otherwise…
• EPISODE 3 (“Spirited Away by the Demon” Chapter ep 3)- SUSPICION – After realizing that someone is after his life, Keiichi becomes suspicious of his friends, but the feeling is mutual…
• EPISODE 4 (“Spirited Away by the Demon” Chapter ep 4)- DISTURBANCE – Keiichi finds himself not being able to trust his close friends anymore, but the result is something no one expected…
• EPISODE 5 (“Cotton Drifting” Chapter ep 1)- JEALOUSY – Keiichi meets Mion’s twin sister, Fashion

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 6 (“Cotton Drifting” Chapter ep 2)- TAKANO – Keiichi and Shion go with Miyo and Tomitake to sneak into a shrine on the night of the Cotton Drifting festival.
• EPISODE 7 (“Cotton Drifting” Chapter ep 3)- LIES – Keiichi admits to sneaking into the shrine… but then Satoko and Rika mysteriously go missing.
• EPISODE 8 (“Cotton Drifting” Chapter ep 4)- WISH – Keiichi and Rena confront Mion about the disappearances of their friends, but the result is something neither of them expected.
• EPISODE 9 (“Curse Killing Chapter ep 1)- OLDER BROTHER – Keiichi finds out that Satoshi, Satoko’s older brother, mysteriously disappeared but he keeps hearing different reasons.
• EPISODE 10 (“Curse Killing Chapter ep 2)- BOND – Satoko misses a few days of school and her violent uncle is back in town. Keiichi goes to check on her and is horrified at what he finds.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 11 (“Curse Killing” Chapter ep 3)- BORDERLINE – Keiichi decides to save Satoko from her uncle, no matter what it takes….
• EPISODE 12 (“Curse Killing” Chapter ep 4- LOST ITEM – Keiichi is now unsure if he did what he did the other night because his friends say he was elsewhere…
• EPISODE 13 (“Curse Killing” Chapter ep 5)- APOLOGY – Losing his grip on reality, he goes to check on Satoko who needs medical attention. Later on, he finds horrific scene that leads to a big misunderstanding…
• EPISODE 14 (“Time Wasting” Chapter ep 1)- HINAMIZAWA – Mamoru Akasaka comes to Hinamizawa to investigate the kidnapping of the grandson of a high-ranking official.

DISC 4:

• EPISODE 15 (“Time Wasting” Chapter ep 2)- SIGN – Akasaka and Oishi find the missing child, but Akasaka soon finds out the ominous meaning of Rika’s warning.
• EPISODE 16 (“Eye Opening” Chapter ep 1)- FIRST LOVE – Shion takes Mion’s place and falls in love with Satoshi.
• EPISODE 17 (“Eye Opening” Chapter ep 2)- RESPONSIBILITY – Satoshi apologizes to Shion, thinking she is Mion so she reveals that she is Shion. Satoshi’s aunt goes missing and the two get questioned by the police. After being released, Shion must face something worse: her family.
• EPISODE 18 (“Eye Opening” Chapter ep 3)- ONI’S BLOOD LINE – Shion finds out that Satoshi goes missing and she investigates the history of the murders. She then expreiences dejavu when she meets Keiichi.

DISC 5:

• EPISODE 19 (“Eye Opening” Chapter ep 4)- REVENGE – Shion suspects her family is behind the mysterious deaths and disappearances including Satoshi’s and decides to take things into her own hands.
• EPISODE 20 (“Eye Opening” Chapter ep 5)- COLD HANDS – Shion keeps exacting her revenge on everyone who she thinks is responsible for Satoshi’s disappearance.
• EPISODE 21 (“Eye Opening” Chapter ep 6)- CONDEMNATION – Shion’s revenge takes a turn for the worst and for a second she realizes she might have gone too far, but it’s too late.
• EPISODE 22 (“Atonement” Chapter ep 1)- HAPPINESS – Rena meets her father’s girlfriend, Rina. She seems nice but she finds out that she’s not what she seems.

DISC 6:

• EPISODE 23 (“Atonement” Chapter ep 2)- PLACE TO RETURN – Rena confronts Rina and Rina tries to kill Rena.
• EPISODE 24 (“Atonement” Chapter ep 3)- DOCUMENT 34 – Rena studies Takano’s notes about Oyashiro and finds out the truth…
• EPISODE 25 (“Atonement” Chapter ep 4)- EARTH INVASION – Rena has become totally untrusting of her friends, and has found out the truth behind Oyashiro-sama’s curse… aliens! …What?
• EPISODE 26 (“Atonement” Chapter ep 5)- RETAKE – Rena takes the school hostage to get her point across. This is the final showdown to hopefully get out of the curse of Oyashiro-sama.

VIDEO & AUDIO

When They Cry is presented in 16:9. The animation is high quality and does a great job of switching back and forth between a light comedic mood to a dark scary mood. The character designs lean more toward shojo manga but looks great. For audio you have the option of either Japanese or English. There are only English subtitles available.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are no special features on the discs, however there are Geneon previews available on each disc.

For audiences watching this anime with no prior knowledge of this series, it will most likely be rather confusing. But I hope that detract everyone. I know it confused me quite a bit. One of the main reasons is because this series is not linear. There are story arcs in this anime and the story resets itself after almost each arc and restarts with a slightly different story with the most of the same exact characters and some similar events such as the Cotton Drifting Festival and the story of the dam construction. Pretty much, each arc there is a different killer and a different outcome.

Each arc starts out light-hearted and funny, revolving around the main characters: Keiichi, Rena, Mion, Satoko, Rika, and some arcs Shion as well. After each arc, you see a different side to each character for better or for worse.

After you figure out what’s going on in the series, you realize the whole series is a serious mind trip. After the first 4 episodes, I was utterly confused and in shock at what happened. Then the series goes on as if nothing happened. Actually, it resets.

I don’t recommend this anime for the faint of heart. The art and humor of this series is very cute, but pretty much after the first episode of each arc, the story turns rather dark and scary. Don’t let the art fool you, this series is rather dark. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s actually rather intriguing. What’s also intriguing is how quickly some of the characters turn psychotic and dark so quickly when the second before they were being cute and bubbly. The characters in this series are absolutely fascinating.

The art and character designs go from cute and bright to psychotic and scary in a second depending on the scenario. Despite the drastic change, I think that it’s pulled off rather well. The seiyuus in the Japanese cast are superb and the English cast does a wonderful job too. The various roles call for diverse acting just within individual characters. Certain characters go from being super cute to psychotic in an instant. Some of the notable Japanese cast includes Souichiro Hoshi, Satsuki Yukino, Mika Kanai, Miki Itou, just to name a few.

This series is suspenseful, entertaining and keeps the viewer guessing what’s going to happen next. It reminds me of Boogie-Pop Phantom because of the suspense and mystery as well as the darkness of the characters.

This series is like a puzzle, after each arc, you learn different things about each character that you didn’t know before and you put all the pieces together. The last two arcs act as answer arcs to two of the previous arcs and we get to see more of what happened and some previous questions are answered.

Bottomline: After getting over the initial shock of the first four episodes, I was intrigued on what could possibly happen next. This series definitely keeps the audience in their toes and constantly wanting to know what happens next. For Those who enjoy psychological thrillers, this is definitely a series they will enjoy.

This is a great series for those looking for something suspenseful and rather different from anything else you’ve seen before.