Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Vol. 9 (a J!-ENT anime DVD Review)
December 25, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“The enchanting and beautiful anime series ‘Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~’ has come to an end with this final volume. The long awaited final battle between Akane and the eight guardians versus the Akram and the demon clan begins. A volume full of action and also an interesting ending, giving the viewers the final choice of how they would like to see the series end.”
DVD TITLE: Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Vol. 9
DURATION: Approx. 101 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: COLOR/NTSC / Japanese Audio (Dolby Digital Stereo / English subtitles
CATALOG #: 61516
COMPANY: Bandai Entertainment Inc./Honneamise
RATING: Suggested 13 and Up
DIRECTOR: Tsunaki Aki
SERIES PLANNER: Okazaki Junko
CHARACTER DESIGN: Ohnuki Kenichi, Kotani Khyoko
ART DIRECTOR: Sakamoto Nobuhito
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Arakawa Kousuke
COLOR SETTING: Ario Yukiko
SOUND DIRECTOR: Honda Yasunori
MUSIC: Hirano Yoshihisa
EDITOR: Morita Seiji
Original Story by Tohko Mizuno (serialized in LaLa and Lala DX by HAKUSENSHA)
Opening Song: “Haruka Kimi no Moto e” performed by Morimura Tenma (Seki Tomokazu), Inori (Takahashi Naozumi), Nagareyama Shimon (Miyata Kouki)
Ending Song: “flowin’ -Ukigumo-” performed by Sefle (Akikawa Yuu), Ran (Kuwashima Houko)
Animation Created by YUMETA COMPANY
VOICE ACTORS/ACTRESSES:
Motomiya Akane – Kawakami Tomoko
Minamoto-no Yorihisa – Miki Shin-Ichiro
Morimura Tenma – Seki Tomokazu
Nagareyama Shimon – Miyata Kouki
Fujiwara-no Takamichi – Nakahara Shigeru
Tachibana no Tomohmasa – Inoue Kazuhiko
Eisen – Hoshi Soichiro
Abe-no Yasuaki – Ishida Akira
Princess Fuji – Otani Ikue
Akram – Okiayu Ryotaro
Ran – Kawashima Houko
Abe-no Seimei – Matsumoto Dai
Little Tengu – Shimakta Junko
Tengu – Taniyama Kisyo
“Please, lend me your powers just one more time. I’m going to summon the Dragon God.”
Akane sets forth into the final battle in hopes of putting an end to the long struggle, the resolve to summon the Dragon God firm in her heart. Can her actions restore peace to the capital? And where will her heart lie in the battle’s end?
The final volume of “Haruka~Beyond the Stream of Time~ A Tale of the Eight Guardians” is here and the final battle between the Guardians and Akram and the demon begins!
In Episode 24 titled “The Released Four Gods”, Akram and the demon clan have tained the Four Sacred Talismans and now turning them against the Guardians. With the assistance of Ran’s power of the Black Dragon, the kingdom stars to become more evil. But the Eight Guardians are not going to let things continue without a fight and the battle between the Guardians and the Demon clan begins.
In episode 25 titled “The Parting of Clouds”, the war now begins and to make matters worse as a few of the Guardians are pit against a demon and a tainted Talisman. Yasuaki has no choice but to free Little Tengu to help fight against the the demon controlled Tiger talisman. As for Akane, she calls upon the Dragon God within her and begs for its help. But the Dragon God answers back with a decision Akane must make. She can save the capital, if only she will sacrifice her life.
In episode 26 titled “Into the Distance, into Your Heart”, the battle now concludes with the battle against Akram. Akram sacrifices his body and unleashes the black dragon and Akane decides to call upon the Dragon God to save the capital.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
Video is presented in anamorphic 16:9:LB and presented in 1:71:1 aspect ratio. I watched this DVD twice now on my 52″ inch television and on my 24″ iMac. And as I have mentioned before in my reviews, “HARUKA” has beautiful conceptual art when it comes to the backgrounds and just overall, how the whole land just looks lush. The video is quite soft, and has a cloudy feel to it. Which is more intentional.
As for the audio, audio is provided in Dolby Digital Stereo.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The “HARUKA” DVD’s do not really come with many special features. Mainly featured on each volume is bonus footage titled “The Demon’s Soliloquy” which is more or less Akram’s voice and his rendition of the teaser trailers.
But this volume is special in that the final episode is tied into the DVD. Right when the story of Episode 26 ends, Akane is seen waiting for someone in her current reality. Suddenly, you are taken to a screen in which you are given a chance to choose one of the Guardians and thus giving you an ending of your choosing. After selecting the Guardian and watching the storyline end, you are taken to the final credits.
You can access the character selection through the menu titled “The Romance of the Eight Guardians”.
I’m not quite sure if the TV series ended with that cliffhanger but on this DVD, the final decision of how the series ends is left to the viewer and by choosing one of the Guardians, you get a separate storyline for each.
And as with each volume, there is a four fold, double paged booklet which features episode synopsis, images, character profiles of Princess Fuji and Little Tengu and Tengu. Also, included is a final interview with Director Aki Tsunaki, and a few of the voice actors/actresses and an Anthology of the Eight Guardians – Poems Unraveled.
With the final volume comes the close of the “Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time” anime series. For 26 episodes, we watched the long journey of the introduction of each character, meeting new characters as they evolved to a guardian or those demons who wreaked havok against Akane and friends. But most of all, what I will miss is the journey of Akane and these characters.
I often wonder how difficult it was to come up with an ending because the manga series continues to be ongoing. The series had 26 episodes but you get this feeling that there is still quite a bit more story to tell and that the series could have gone on even longer.
But in the end, we do get a conclusion to the series that ended but you are left with wanting more. I guess you can say that the series ended but you are left without the closure. Fortunately, the creators of the series allowed for an ending that the viewer can choose on their own.
In this final volume, we have each of the Guardians each being touched by Akane and wanting to express their emotions to her. Suffice to say, most of them have fallen for her. So, depending on the viewer, they can choose the ending that would suit their taste. Akane finding love and the viewer having control of who Akane will be in love with.
So, it was an interesting way to end the series by giving the viewer the final choice. But all in all, this enchanting and beautiful anime series has come to an end. The final battles were good but where anime series can really drag out a battle between good vs. evil for several episodes, the battles between let’s say a Yorihisa and Icktidarl or Shimon and Sefle end quickly in a single episode. But granted, I understand that episode wise, the creators only had these final three episodes to conclude this series and what they were able to accomplish does work. But again, an interesting way to end the series by giving the viewer the final choice.
Overall, the final volume of “Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time” and the entire series in general featured a lot of heart, action and beautiful scenery. I’ll definitely miss this series and its characters!
Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Vol. 8 (a J!-ENT anime DVD Review)
October 26, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“The eighth volume of ‘Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~: A Tale of the Eight Guaridans’ continues the storyline of the Eight Guardians searching for the last two Sacred Talismans, more revelations of one of the demons and much more!”
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DVD INFORMATION:
DVD TITLE: Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Vol. 8
DURATION: Approx. 74 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: COLOR/NTSC / Japanese Audio (Dolby Digital 5.1 ch and Dolby Digital Stereo / English subtitles
CATALOG #: 61509
COMPANY: Bandai Entertainment Inc./Honneamise
RATING: Suggested 13 and Up
STAFF INFORMATION:
DIRECTOR: Tsunaki Aki
SERIES PLANNER: Okazaki Junko
CHARACTER DESIGN: Ohnuki Kenichi, Kotani Khyoko
ART DIRECTOR: Sakamoto Nobuhito
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Arakawa Kousuke
COLOR SETTING: Ario Yukiko
SOUND DIRECTOR: Honda Yasunori
MUSIC: Hirano Yoshihisa
EDITOR: Morita Seiji
Original Story by Tohko Mizuno (serialized in LaLa and Lala DX by HAKUSENSHA)
Opening Song: “Haruka Kimi no Moto e” performed by Morimura Tenma (Seki Tomokazu), Inori (Takahashi Naozumi), Nagareyama Shimon (Miyata Kouki)
Ending Song: “flowin’ -Ukigumo-” performed by Sefle (Akikawa Yuu), Ran (Kuwashima Houko)
Animation Created by YUMETA COMPANY
VOICE ACTORS/ACTRESSES:
Motomiya Akane – Kawakami Tomoko
Minamoto-no Yorihisa – Miki Shin-Ichiro
Morimura Tenma – Seki Tomokazu
Nagareyama Shimon – Miyata Kouki
Fujiwara-no Takamichi – Nakahara Shigeru
Tachibana no Tomohmasa – Inoue Kazuhiko
Eisen – Hoshi Soichiro
Abe-no Yasuaki – Ishida Akira
Princess Fuji – Otani Ikue
Akram – Okiayu Ryotaro
Ran – Kawashima Houko
Abe-no Seimei – Matsumoto Dai
Little Tengu – Shimakta Junko
Tengu – Taniyama Kisyo
“The meaning of those words you said when we first met… I now understand.”
Can the demons and humankind ever understand one another? Where does the final Sacred Talisman, the Talisman of the North, lie? The power of the Dragon God that dwells within Akane grows stronger with each passing day, while the thoughts of the Eight Guardians weave and clash…
The eighth volume of “Haruka~Beyond the Stream of Time~ A Tale of the Eight Guardians” brings us closer to the group accumulating all Sacred Talismans but also an interesting reveal on the side of the demons.
In Episode 21 titled “Demons and People”, the story focuses on Inori and dwelves deep into finding out why he has a hatred towards demons and also his relationship with his sister. Especially how his sister has a strong connection to demon Akram’s right hand man Ickiditarl. Inori, protective of his sister decides to take matters in his own hands to fight the demon. Also, the curse that Akram has put over the villages have made life much worse with a major drought and no food being produced.
In episode 22 titled “When Demons Appear”, Tenma’s sister Ran wants to know what happened to them and why they are in another land. Not having remembered that she was summoned by Akram and having worked with the demons, Guardian/android Yasuaki who has no emotions, tells Ran everything. This sets everything in a tale spin as Ran leaves the compound and makes herself vulnerable to Akram. Akram’s plan to take the Talismans away from the Eight Guardians begins.
In episode 23 titled “Dusk”, Akram succeeds in his mission in obtaining Ran and also stealing the Sacred Talismans. But one is still left and that leaves Yasuaki and Eisen the only Guardians who have not obtained a talisman. When one of the demons tells Yasuaki that there is no chance of getting the final Talisman, Yasuaki feels that because he is an android and lacks any emotion, he serves no purpose. So, Yasuaki tries to understand his worthiness to help Akane.
VIDEO:
Video is presented in anamorphic 16:9:LB and presented in 1:71:1 aspect ratio. I watched this DVD twice now on my 52″ inch television and on my 24″ iMac. And as I have mentioned before in my reviews, “HARUKA” has beautiful conceptual art when it comes to the backgrounds and just overall, how the whole land just looks lush. Colors galore! And I also enjoy the character designs. The men of course are quite Bishonen but the overall costumes to the colorful settings of the backgrounds mesh well with each other. Beautiful anime.
AUDIO:
As most of Honneamise releases, there is no English dub track and as most Honneamise releases, the encoding of audio for their DVD’s are top notch as audio is encoded at 448 kbps and clear audio. As for voice acting, I have been so far, very pleased with the Japanese voice acting for the characters.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The “HARUKA” DVD’s do not really come with many special features. Mainly featured on each volume is bonus footage titled “The Demon’s Soliloquy” which is more or less Akram’s voice and his rendition of the teaser trailers.
And as with each volume, there is a four fold, double paged booklet which features episode synopsis, images, character profiles, super deformed characters images, staff interview with Ritsuko Hayasaka (scriptwriter), cast interview after the recording the series part 1 and a section titled “Anthology of the Eight Guardians – Poems Unraveled” which features the poetry shown at the end of each episode.
With volume 8, the series continues with the adventures of the group trying to get the Sacred Talismans but if anything, more background stories that explains a few things such as Inori and his sister and his hatred for demons. Also, we learn the true nature of the demon Ickiditarl. Also, a storyline that focuses on Tenma’s sister Ran and of course, a Yasuaki episode that deals with him being an android.
So, volume 8 does focus on character development for Inori and Yasuaki but also a volume setting things up for a major confrontation between the eight guardians versus Akram and the demons.
The series has focused so much on character development and has had its share of action scenes but it’s been a stable ride so far. No major deaths or consequences but it seems that things are now getting revved up for possibly a major battle between the Eight Guardians and the demons. So, definitely look forward to volume 9.
+ Beautiful artwork and character designs and continuing Bandai Visual/Honneamise quality for audio and video encoding.
+ Really entertaining storyline so far. I really dig the character development for the series.
+ Really good voice acting from top talent from Japan and easy to ready English subtitles
- Unfortunately no English dub for those that need their anime with that option.
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Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Vol. 3 (a J!-ENT anime DVD Review)
June 18, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“The third volume of “HARUKA ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ continues to draw me in with its beautiful, lush settings, beautiful animation, interesting characters and whimsical storytelling.”
DVD INFORMATION:
DVD TITLE: Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Vol. 3
DURATION: Approx. 74 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: COLOR/NTSC / Japanese Audio (Dolby Digital 5.1 ch and Dolby Digital Stereo / English subtitles
CATALOG #: BUDH0145
COMPANY: Bandai Visual/Honneamise
RATING: Suggested 13 and Up
Release Date: June 24th
STAFF INFORMATION:
DIRECTOR: Tsunaki Aki
SERIES PLANNER: Okazaki Junko
CHARACTER DESIGN: Ohnuki Kenichi, Kotani Khyoko
ART DIRECTOR: Sakamoto Nobuhito
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Arakawa Kousuke
COLOR SETTING: Ario Yukiko
SOUND DIRECTOR: Honda Yasunori
MUSIC: Hirano Yoshihisa
EDITOR: Morita Seiji
Original Story by Tohko Mizuno (serialized in LaLa and Lala DX by HAKUSENSHA)
Opening Song: “Haruka Kimi no Moto e” performed by Morimura Tenma (Seki Tomokazu), Inori (Takahashi Naozumi), Nagareyama Shimon (Miyata Kouki)
Ending Song: “flowin’ -Ukigumo-” performed by Sefle (Akikawa Yuu), Ran (Kuwashima Houko)
Animation Created by YUMETA COMPANY
VOICE ACTORS/ACTRESSES:
Motomiya Akane – Kawakami Tomoko
Minamoto-no Yorihisa – Miki Shin-Ichiro
Morimura Tenma – Seki Tomokazu
Nagareyama Shimon – Miyata Kouki
Fujiwara-no Takamichi – Nakahara Shigeru
Tachibana no Tomohmasa – Inoue Kazuhiko
Eisen – Hoshi Soichiro
Abe-no Yasuaki – Ishida Akira
Princess Fuji – Otani Ikue
Akram – Okiayu Ryotaro
Ran – Kawashima Houko
Abe-no Seimei – Matsumoto Dai
Little Tengu – Shimakta Junko
Tengu – Taniyama Kisyo
“I’m sorry but please don’t look at me for a moment…”
Akane takes her first steps as the Priestess of the Dragon God, while Akram and his Demon clan plot to stop her!
The third volume of “HARUKA ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ A Tale of the Eight Guardians” continues as the search for the remaining guardians continues.
The sixth episode titled “The Vice Minister and the Imperial Palace Demon”, we are introduced to Vice Minister of Civl Affairs Fujiwara-no-Takamichi who meets a dancer named Shirin.
All the nobleman are intoxicated by her beautiful figure and graceful performance (with the exception of Fujiwara-no Takamichi) but of course, it is all part of Akram’s plan as Shirin is a demon who will try to infiltrate the Imperial Palace.
While Akane is granted an audience with the Emperor, she overhears the hypnotized nobles talking about assassinating the Emperor. Will Akane be able to get help in time or will she be caught by Shirin?
Episode 7 is titled “The Night Cry of the Nue”, a white-winged vengeful spirit has appeared at Daimonji Mountain and threatening people there. For Yorihisa, he knows the “Nue” too well. The Nue, since as a child, has been Yorihisa’s target to kill but at the same time, because of their battles, he has looked at him as a friend. But the last living member of the Nue has never been violent? Why is it threatening humans?
Nevertheless, Akane and the vengeful spirit are sent to drive out the Nue and for Yorihisa, a last encounter with his friend/rival.
Episode 8 is titled “The Flame of Demon Hatred” and the storyline focuses on Inori (a character introduced in the first episode). We learn that Inori lives a tough life as an apprentice for a blacksmith and protects his sick elder sister. While delivering a sword to a samurai, Inori meets Akane for the first time but their meeting is interrupted when the demon Shirin returns.
The third volume of “HARUKA” continues to be enjoyable so far. The search for the remaining guardians continues and for this volume, two more are found.
If anything, the focal point in this volume is more on three of the guardians. Fujiwara-no-Takamichi, Yorihisa and Inori.
One of the things I wondered is how much character development can be done, with so many characters involved in the actual storyline. For episode 6, it was good to know Fujiwara-no-Takamichi’s side. Not necessarily a boring character but a character that seems dedicated to his work and keen on logic.
As for Yorihisa, again we see a sensitive side of the character. A dedicated warrior and guardian but obviously a man who very much wants to protect Akane.
As for Inori, he has witnessed countless murders of villagers by the demons that he is literally bent on ridding them.
But in episode 8, it was interesting when Shimon (Akane’s blonde and blue-eyed friend) is accused of being a demon. Reason being is that in Japan, a person with blonde hair and blue eyes is completely different from the norm and also the only person with blonde and blue eyes so far in the series outside of Shimon is the main demon himself, Akram. So, it is going to be interesting to see how Shimon deals with the prejudice towards him, as everyone is going to think he is a demon but also, how he is going to defend himself and even Akane since he is pretty much the weakest of the Guardians due to his fear and his emotions.
VIDEO:
Video is presented in anamorphic 16:9:LB and presented in 1:71:1 aspect ratio. I watched this DVD twice now on my 52″ inch television and on my 24″ iMac. And as I have mentioned before in my reviews, “HARUKA” has beautiful conceptual art when it comes to the backgrounds and just overall, how the whole land just looks lush. Colors galore! And I also enjoy the character designs. The men of course are quite Bishonen but the overall costumes to the colorful settings of the backgrounds mesh well with each other. Beautiful anime.
AUDIO:
As most of Bandai Visual releases, there is no English dub track and as most Bandai Visual releases, the encoding of audio for their DVD’s are top notch as audio is encoded at 448 kbps and clear audio. As for voice acting, I have been so far, very pleased with the Japanese voice acting for the characters.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The “HARUKA” DVD’s do not really come with many special features. Mainly featured on each volume is bonus footage titled “The Demon’s Soliloquy” which is more or less Akram’s voice and his rendition of the teaser trailers.
And as with each volume, there is a four fold, double paged booklet which features episode synopsis, images, character profiles, staff interview with Honda Yasunori (sound director) and a section titled “Anthology of the Eight Guardians – Poems Unraveled” which features the poetry shown at the end of an episode.
“HARUKA ~Beyond the Stream of Time~” continues to be anime series that has not disappointed me at all.
So, far the first three volumes have featured the search for the remaining guardians, if anything, the only thing we didn’t see on this volume, which I don’t mind so much at all, is Akram and Akane together.
What we do see is the demon Shirin who is dedicated to her master but jealous because he has so much interest towards the Priestess.
But it’s good to see how each episode has had some spacing, in terms of the search for the remaining guardians and in this case, more character development for Yorihisa.
All in all, “HARUKA ~Beyond the Stream of Time~” continues to be a beautiful, well-acted and enjoyable series to follow so far and look forward to how it’s leading up to the possible battle between the forces of good and evil. Not sure how it’s going to play out but I look forward to how the series is progressing so far.
A series worth checking out!
+ Beautiful artwork and character designs and continuing Bandai Visual/Honneamise quality for audio
+ Really entertaining storyline so far. I really dig the character development for the series.
+ Really good voice acting from top talent from Japan and easy to ready English subtitles
- Unfortunately no English dub for those that need their anime with that option.
Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Vol. 2 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)
May 11, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“The second volume of “HARUKA ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ continues to draw me in with its beautiful, lush settings, beautiful animation, interesting characters and whimsical storytelling.”
DVD INFORMATION:
DVD TITLE: Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Vol. 2
DURATION: Approx. 74 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: COLOR/NTSC / Japanese Audio (Dolby Digital 5.1 ch and Dolby Digital Stereo / English subtitles
CATALOG #: BUDH0144
COMPANY: Bandai Visual/Honneamise
STAFF INFORMATION:
DIRECTOR: Tsunaki Aki
SERIES PLANNER: Okazaki Junko
CHARACTER DESIGN: Ohnuki Kenichi, Kotani Khyoko
ART DIRECTOR: Sakamoto Nobuhito
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Arakawa Kousuke
COLOR SETTING: Ario Yukiko
SOUND DIRECTOR: Honda Yasunori
MUSIC: Hirano Yoshihisa
EDITOR: Morita Seiji
Original Story by Tohko Mizuno (serialized in LaLa and Lala DX by HAKUSENSHA)
Opening Song: “Haruka Kimi no Moto e” performed by Morimura Tenma (Seki Tomokazu), Inori (Takahashi Naozumi), Nagareyama Shimon (Miyata Kouki)
Ending Song: “flowin’ -Ukigumo-” performed by Sefle (Akikawa Yuu), Ran (Kuwashima Houko)
Animation Created by YUMETA COMPANY
VOICE ACTORS/ACTRESSES:
Motomiya Akane – Kawakami Tomoko
Minamoto-no Yorihisa – Miki Shin-Ichiro
Morimura Tenma – Seki Tomokazu
Nagareyama Shimon – Miyata Kouki
Fujiwara-no Takamichi – Nakahara Shigeru
Tachibana no Tomohmasa – Inoue Kazuhiko
Eisen – Hoshi Soichiro
Abe-no Yasuaki – Ishida Akira
Princess Fuji – Otani Ikue
Akram – Okiayu Ryotaro
Ran – Kawashima Houko
Abe-no Seimei – Matsumoto Dai
Little Tengu – Shimakta Junko
Tengu – Taniyama Kisyo
“You can’t just go around hurting others… That’s unforgivable behavior for anyone!”
Chose as the Priestess of the Dragon God and transported to the capital of an alternate world, Akane now finds herself overwhelmed by the power bestowed upon her by the Dragon God. Until all of the Eight Guardians fated to protect her are assembled, she remains stranded with now way to return to her home world. As if seeing right through Akane’s anxiety ridden heart, Akram head of the Demon clan, lets out a smile…”
The second volume of “HARUKA ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ A Tale of the Eight Guardians” continues with its whimsical storyline as Akane, Tenma and Shimon are reluctant about their new found powers and their desire to return back to their own reality.
The third episode titled “The Sorcerer” features the appeal by the princess to please save their capital but the trio just want to return back to their reality. Akane is unwilling to accept that she is the Priestess of the Dragon and Tenma just think everyone is trying to make them stay in their reality.
During the argument, Akane suddenly feels ill and during her sleep, she is somehow whisked back in the area where she met the demon known as Akram.
But this time, she meets a sorcerer named Yasuaki. Who is Yasuaki and why is Akane dreaming about him? Or is it a dream? And also, a fourth guardian is revealed.
The fourth episode titled “The Flower Purifying Ceremony” is where you learn about the ominously red-stained cherry blossoms. The impurities of the capital are contained in those red cherry blossoms and if by any chance the petals would flow through the city, it would be lead to pure chaos. Thus a flower purifying ceremony must take place and in this ceremony, Yasuaki and Akane will take part, but a mysterious figure awaits them.
The fifth episode titled “The Dewdrop Lodge” is where you learn more about Tenma and his love for Akane. You learn about Tenma’s past and how he and Akane became friends and why Tenma will do whatever to protect her.
I found the second volume equally entertaining as the first volume. With three episodes, really to learn more about the characters and almost similar to anime such as “Fushigi Yugi” and “Hakkenden”, you have a curiosity to how Akane will meet the remaining guardians.
But unlike the two anime, one thing that you get a glimpse of is the devotion of towards Akane, as well as the jealousy of Tenmon. And the devotion by the guardians of wanting to protect Akane, is it because its their duty or perhaps they are also falling for her. That is something that I look forward in seeing played out as the storylines continues.
But most importantly, Akane and her feeling towards Akram. Can the Priestess of the Dragon be falling for the demon? That would be interesting.
Similar to the first volume, I’ve found the animation and the art of the scenery of that period to be breathtaking and vibrant and for a television show, I have been pleased so far with the overall production for this anime. There is a darkness with episode 3 and 4, which I found the animation very cool in covering that atmosphere. It’s not a horror anime but it was well captured in the scenes where darkness and evil emerge. Also, the anime is presented in 16:9LB Anamorphic.
As for the sound, Bandai Visual/Honneamise releases have continued to release their DVD’s in a high bitrate and are setting the standard for quality and thus, everything sounds great. The dialogue is clear and well heard and there are quite a good number of battle sequences for this second volume.
And the Japanese voice acting is well done with Kawakami Tomoko doing a spectacular job as capturing the emotions of Akane. Especially Tomokazu Seki who does the voice for Morimura Tenma and capturing that jealous rage but yet a tender, admiration for Akane. And of course, Okiayu Ryotaro for his voice work as the demon Akram. Well done!
As for special features, included is “The Demon’s Soliloquy” which features Akram doing the teasers for the next episode.
And what is becoming my favorite part of a Bandai Visual DVD is the inclusion of a booklet. The booklet or in this case, more of a double sided, quad fold piece that features a synopsis of the three episodes, character profiles, staff interview with producer Yamaguchi Satoshi and series planner Junko Okazaki and an anthology of the Eight Guardians – Poems Unraveled.
“HARUKA ~Beyond the Stream of Time~” is an enjoyable anime with a storyline that manages to be straightforward and definitely doesn’t skimp on the character development.
Volume 2 definitely shows new sides of the characters that were introduced in the first two episodes and the camaraderie of the group and how they play out like a dysfunctional family. Willing to protect each other but at the same time, watching their emotions get the best of them.
If you enjoyed anime series such as “Fushigi Yugi” or “Escaflowne”, this is one of those anime that has its similarities to those series but yet is very different.
All in all, I found volume two to be entertainingly addicting and I can’t wait for volume 3!
+ Beautiful artwork and character designs and continuing Bandai Visual/Honneamise quality for audio
+ Really entertaining storyline so far. I Dig the character development.
+ Really good voice acting from top talent from Japan and easy to ready English subtitles
- Unfortunately no English dub for those that need their anime with that option.
