Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Vol. 7 (a J!-ENT anime DVD Review)
October 21, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“The seventh volume of “Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~” continues the adventurous storyline of the eight guardians searching for the Sacred Talisman and this time storylines focused on guardians Eisen and Takamichi.”
DVD INFORMATION:
DVD TITLE: Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Vol. 7
DURATION: Approx. 74 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: COLOR/NTSC / Japanese Audio (Dolby Digital 5.1 ch and Dolby Digital Stereo / English subtitles
CATALOG #: 61493
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
“I’m glad that you are the princess.”
The Eight Guardians continue to hunt for clues to the Sacred Talismans’ locations, while the demons mock their determination with an unending onslaught of curses. The only force capable of bolserin their spirits remains Akane’s heartfelt smile.
With volume seven of “Haruka -Beyond the Stream of Time”-, the storyline continues with the adventures of Akane, the Dragon Priestess and the Eight Guardians as they try to search for the Sacred Talismans.
In the last volume, one was found but three more are out there.
In Episode 18 titled “The Chamberlain and Maiden Akane”, I admit that I was surprised to see this episode because with so many of the previous episodes explaining the histories of each of the Eight Guardians, we get an episode that really seems more of a filler episode.
The storyline is that the Chamberlain of the Fourth Order is in love with Maiden Akane (who bares a resemblance to Akane and has the same name). Because of his nobility and that she is not high in the social class, they don’t have a relationship and for Maiden Akane, she needs to marry another man that her uncle has setup.
Of course, the Eight Guardians must help the Chamberlain and Maid Akane and sure enough, the Akane hatches a plan to get the couple together and the Chamberlain to tell her his true feelings for her.
This episode was so odd, because personally I can see it happening earlier on in the series but so late, with so many episodes focus on the talismans and the fight between the Eight Guardians and the Demon Clan, this episode was out of place.
Granted, it’s fun to get an episode light-hearted and humorous but with its current pacing, just seemed odd to have this episode so late when things are getting more serious.
In episode 19 titled “Unstoppable Feelings”, Eisen who has studied a life focusing on Bhuddism and now part of the Eight Guardians is fighting his feelings. Eisen doesn’t understand these emotions that he has for Akane. And discovering that he may be truly in love with her. While the Demon Clan now determined to cause more problems and their goal is to put a curse on the whole village.
While the others fight the demon, Eisen must protect Akane from danger.
In episode 20 titled “Light Endowed by a Lady”, the demon Shirin appears before Takamichi and shows him that she has captured the spirit of his foster mother. The Guardian is conflicted. Save his step mother’s spirit or protect Akane. Akane is determinted to help Takamichi, the best that she can in order for him to save his foster mother.
A very good episode and finally an episode that covers part of Takamichi’s life growing up and a cool battle betwen Takamichi and Shirin.
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, staff interview with episode director and storyboard creator Hiroshi Haraguchi and a section titled “Anthology of the Eight Guardians – Poems Unraveled” which features the poetry shown at the end of each episode. Also, included is an illustration by Tohko Mizuno (original manga creator) with comments on the Chamberlain of the Fourth Order.
I really enjoy the adventure with the Eight Guardians pursuing the Sacred Talismans. I definitely would like to see the Eight Guardians work as a team and we do get that with episode 18.
But not in a way that I was expecting. With the episodes now getting darker and focusing on the guardians trying to protect Akane, find the Talismans and do battle with the demons, for this episode, the storyline was too lighthearted and again, I would have pictured this storyline before the Talisman storylines.
With episode 19, finally we get a story based on Eisen and it’s great to see him feel these emotions of love for the first time. Problem is that many of the guardians it seems are developing something towards Akane. So, not sure if we will see any romantic drama from that or everone will just bite their lip and do their job to protect her. I guess we would have to wait and find out.
With episode 20, definitely a good story as we learn more about Takamichi (yes, finally!). And how he and Shirin go one-on-one.
All in all, a good volume but episode 18, seemed a bit off on pacing. But nevertheless, it was a fun-lighthearted episode. The other two were what I expected and look forward to watching more episodes based on the histories of the other guardians.
All in all, not the strongest volume but the episodes are still entertaining and as much as episode 18 was questionable for its lighthearted episodes, the other two were great to watch as we saw more character development for Eisen and Takamichi and their relationship with Akane.
If you have been watching this far into “Haruka – Beyond the Streams of Time”, then like me, you are staying it for the long run and just enjoy and watch the adventures of Akane and the Eight Guardians.
With only a few volumes left in the series and so many solo-based storylines, it will be interesting to see how everything plays out in the upcoming episodes.
+ 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.
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.
