Lunar Legend Tsukihime

[sothis]

Lunar Legend Tsukihime
(a.k.a. Shingetsutan Tsukihime, Tsukihime)

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Story/Summary:
(Taken from the Anime Rec. DB)
With a past shrouded in mystery and a blank memory, Shiki Tohno seems to be just another "average high school student". That is, until he nearly kills a female vampire with his secret deadly ability to "see the lines". His journey to unlock the secrets of the Tohno family and unbury his own lost memories has only just begun, and now he must also help the woman, Aluceid Bruenstadt, find a lethal phantom named Roa, and kill it using his ability.

I feel I should be perfectly clear with something before continuing. THIS IS NOT A HACK N SLASH VAMPIRE SERIES. If you are expecting a good typical vampire series, turn around, and go get some Hellsing or VHD. If anything, I would call Tsukihime a mystery show (not happy fluffy like Spiral... but more in the darker vein of St. Luminous Mission High, or Ayatsuri Sakon). A mystery show which happens to have a vampire as one of the main characters, but still primarily mystery, not demons/supernatural stuff.

In fact, if you are expecting something fast paced, Tsukihime is also definitely not for you. A LARGE majority of the series is slow character development.. and (pardon the use of this word again) is slow, even for "slow paced". Several episodes will go by and you will know nothing else of the plot, but instead, saw more character development.

So again, to be clear, Tsukihime is not a vampire show... it is a mystery show of sorts, which happens to have the plot revolve around the supernatural, vampires, cursed family secrets, etc.. and has twists and plot secrets which will continue to reveal themselves until the very end of the show.

Animation:
Tsukihime has beautiful animation. It is definitely on the dark side (kind of a pseudo-WHR style), but also tends to be typical bright colors for scenes such as school. Much of the series is foggy or fuzzy, especially in night scenes. The few times blood or violence is shown, it is vivid and disturbing. As far as I can remember, there was no prominent use of CGI. I really enjoy this kind of animation, where it is always dark, but certain colors always can shine through, like the bright red of blood, the cold yellow of Arcuied's eyes, etc.

Music:
Like other series in the past, Tsukihime's music is mostly orchestral. One of the main tunes is a piano melody. Sweeping violin tracks are played during dramatic parts. I personally enjoy when orchestral tracks are used for the majority of a series.. I feel it gives it character, and a bit of class. And Tsukihime, definitely has class.

Overall: 8/10
Although I felt this series was way too stretched out (too much character development that just wasn't interesting like a more upbeat series such as Stellvia), it still gets a good mark from me. Why? The animation was beautiful, the story was compelling, and all in all, it was a great show. The plot will keep you guessing, and once the pieces are finally fit together in the last 2 episodes, you wont have much to be confused about. Also, the ending didn't *suck*. Granted, I wasn't terribly happy with it, but it wasn't like, say, Berserk, or other really "bad" endings. ^_^ The verdict? Check this one out. Just heed my words, and don't start watching it on the premise that it is a vampire series.

[sothis]

*bump*

previously, this was just my review of episode 1. i have changed it to reflect the entire series.

[Halcyon]

Here's my version of the story :P

Shingetsutan Tsukihime - TV - 12 Episodes

Story/Setting:
The story is about Tohno Shili, an apparently normal boy. When he was a lot younger, he was involved in a terrible accident (Probably when he was ten), and everybody thought he was going to die. But this little kid survived the accident. Due to certain circumstances, he was sent away from home, to live with a distant relative.

Something strange happened to Tohno after this accident though, he can see the lines. See what lines? Well, let's just say he can see some lines. That's for sure. But what do they do? Why can he see them?

Since tohno hates this ability, and is severely troubled with it, he is given a pair of glasses by a unknown woman. These help him to block those lines out. After he got those glasses, everything became "normal" and it had been up until now.

Tohno suddenly receives a letter. his father has died, and he has to move back home with his sister to become head of the large Tohno mansion. Suddenly, he has weird dreams, and people all over the city are being killed. And of course, Shiki has to wiggle his nose into this buisness. Now the action starts..

I found Moon princess extremely entertaining. At first, it seemed like something normal, but as the episodes passed, i understood that this was something extremely original, and also very good. I couldn't have guessed the story line whatsoever. Not a chance. I just sat in front of the screen from 1 through 12, and then i wrote this :) I would reccomend every hellsing and Vampire series fan to watch this. You're up for something really good, i promise. And yeah, for once, you get a REALLY detailed background story for each of the important characters. WONDERFUL :)

Animation :
This is great. I must really say that it is one of the best i've seen. Dark and filled with detalis, and also really sharp, so it fits the series perfectly. And one thing that freaked me out (has nothing much to do with the animation though) was that each episode were about 100mb, and the quality must be the best i've seen for a while. It's razor sharp. nothing to complain about.

Music :
Ahh, wonderful music pieces. It's nothing you haven't heard before though, but am little different from whatever you're used to hear in an anime series. It's really great, and it suits the series perfectly. Couldn't been ebtter,a ctually.

Overall : 9,5
I would really love to give it more thatn 9,5 , but since it's only 12 episodes, and i was not very fond of the way it ended, i must give it 9,5. It is one of the best i've seen though, but i wish it was longer. It's something out of the ordinarty, sort of speak. Not many series are something i would compare to this beauty. Watch it.

[XMrNiceguyX]

The good point with this series is that is it's unpredictable and original in some ways. This is something we should cheer to,since there are quite some series have such grade of predictability (I don't even know that word excist, but hey :x) that you can tell what's gonna happen in the next episode as you start one.

It being to short is something I definately disagree too. OK. it was a great seires, but for a 12 episodes series I think the character was more well done than lots of 26 episodes series. Making it any long than maybe 1 or 2 eps would probably have giving Tsukihim a repetive character, since this series was at it's end after 12 and therefore some new character must have been introduced if they continued at 13.

I agree thatthe Tsukihime music is one of the best I've seen. I really like that kind of music eh ;)

T_____________T WAAAAAAAAAAAH, I just did my first review and post and i forgot to log in... NOW IT'S ALL GONE T_T

I gave it a 9.4, even higher if I could figure out why the heck he did what he did to Arcueid in the 1st episode. Why did he do what he did? Why was his glasses off? Why did he take them off then?

A scene I want to talk about real quick. That part where they talk about why they do what they do if it could become useless in the future... It hit me hard (recovering from a break-up(i am)), why DO we do the things we do if in the end we just die and rot? I found half the answer of that for me, what it is to you I'll leave it to you to find out.

Also, I was glad it was 12 episodes. I couldn't think of how much they could far'fetch it if it was any longer, and I wouldn't want it to be any longer. It was simply beautiful the way it was. I thought "NO!!!" to the ending, but the ending after the first part of the credit showed up, I loved it. I thought, "a last view would be beautiful," and it was.

[jamesesz]

Tsukihime

Story - 5

Tsukihime starts off with a brilliant and very evocative opening episode that creates a very high level of expectation at the start of the series. The story begins with a perfect blend between revelation and mystery that builds up a good level of anticipation and suspense that I feel (on stand alone basis) deserves a genuine five star rating. Unfortunately, Tsukihime runs out of gas soon after the first few episodes, and that initial sky-high expectation disappears quickly into thin air.

I feel that the main reason that pulls down the rating for Tsukihime is its storytelling pace. The way the plot of the story unfolds at snail-pace really, REALLY frustrates me. Instead of spending the precious time in the twelve episodes to foster good character development and a cohesive plot, Tsukihime fills itself with a lot of very meaningless interactions between Shiki and Arcuied that did not help to augment the general development of its storyline.

While Tsukihime belongs without doubt in the vampire genre, it really isn’t the common story of how a super indestructible, blood-sucking, and limb-hacking vampire goes around killing its foes on sight (if that is what you are looking for, try Hellsing, Trinity Blood or Blood +). In contrast to the vampire genre norm, Tsukihime focuses more on how a ‘forbidden love’ kind of relationship (between a vampire and a human) develops between Arcueid and Shiki.

Animation - 9

In terms of animation, Tsukihime deserved the top-notch ratings I have given it. The urban environmental setting in the series had a very good level of detail with the presence of people and objects (in the background) that were drawn in proportion to its surrounding and with great vividness. On top of that, J.C. Staff also managed to masterfully manipulate the use of dark and dull colors to create a very depressing atmosphere that really runs parallel to the intended melancholic mood in the anime.

Character designs also served to justify the high score for Tsukihime’s animation. I felt that the way the characters were portrayed and animated really brought out the true emotions they were feeling. One could accurately decipher whether characters like Shiki’s sister, Akiha was feeling anxious, afraid, or annoyed by a good look at their facial expressions. Furthermore, there were no annoyingly common facial distortions of characters when seen from different angles.

Another aspect I noted was how the transition from scene to scene and the movement of objects and characters flowed smoothly throughout the series. I felt that these factors of sharpness and smooth transitions really enriched the experience and satisfaction gained when watching Tsukihime.

Sound - 7

Tsukihime had a wide array of string intensive audio (in particular the violin) that blended well into the series. I felt that the gothic and choral opening theme, “The Sacred Moon” was really compatible with the general sorrowful mood setting in Tsukihime. Similarly, other musical pieces like La Sola and the ending theme, Rinne no Hate Ni was also compatible with the show and would make an excellent addition to anyone’s anime soundtrack collection.

Voice acting was very appropriate with the absence of abnormally high, glass-shattering, and overly energetic voices that would have totally devastated the mellowness gained from the dark atmosphere of the series. Voice actors like Hitomi Nabatame (who played Margery Daw in Shakugan no Shana and Nanao in Bleach) did an excellent job in maintaining the proper voice timbre and tone required and expected in an anime such as like Tsukihime.

The only minor letdown in sound was one of the background music piece normally played when Arcueid was fighting. This particular music piece was so very out of place and inappropriate that I felt it severely reduces the rating for sound from a higher score to its lower present level. It is really very odd that a song that was meant to be played during a fight should sound like the trumpeting entrance of a grand medieval King.

Characters – 3

To be honest, Tsukihime had a collection of very interesting characters that really stimulated a lot of curiosity and excitement the first time they appear in the show. Characters like Akiha and Ciel both had some mysterious aura and background that I felt was the reason I was glued to my computer screen for hours without end.

The fact that I had to Google up each character after the end of this twelve episode series gives you a glimpse of the terrible character development in Tsukihime. Putting aside Shiki and Arcueid, the rest of the characters had virtually nothing revealed on their backgrounds, experiences, and motives. This was extremely evident in the character Ciel that came out of no where and integrated into the show with hopes that viewers would completely ignore her ambiguous nature (fat chance!).

Yet another unacceptable and unforgivable flaw in Tsukihime was the absence of a highly developed antagonist character needed as a counterweight to provide a real challenge to the protagonist. The antagonist of Tsukihime lacked revelations concerning his real motives and devious intentions on why he acted as he did and ended up being just another character that only served to ensure the continuation of the story.

Overall - 6

Generally, I felt that Tsukihime was a great big disappointment. Present in Tsukihime were all the elements (in terms of plot, characters, visual arts, and music) required for an extremely beautiful anime masterpiece. Unfortunately, the lack of character development, poor execution of its storyline (storytelling pace), and lack of clarity ultimately led to its downfall. In the end, the whole mumbo jumbo of a story was forced to wrap itself up prematurely which left viewers like me very dissatisfied and lost.

[Gallarn]

Originally Posted by jamesesz

Generally, I felt that Tsukihime was a great big disappointment. Present in Tsukihime were all the elements (in terms of plot, characters, visual arts, and music) required for an extremely beautiful anime masterpiece. Unfortunately, the lack of character development, poor execution of its storyline (storytelling pace), and lack of clarity ultimately led to its downfall. In the end, the whole mumbo jumbo of a story was forced to wrap itself up prematurely which left viewers like me very dissatisfied and lost.

Couldnt aggree more.It should have been a longer series.

[TohnoShiki]

It would have been great if they could have included somehow more of the back stories of the other characters, In an ideal world they should have made 9 different anime series for each ending, just like the visual novel...... hmmm, prob a long wait for that to happen....

[sloggerK]

I've heard that tsukihime is somehow related to garden of sinners, but I sure haven't figured out how yet. (Of course there are still like 3 or 4 more movies or ovas are whatever they are in garden of sinners.) All I can figure is

they both have people who can kill pretty much anything with a knife and bizarre families raising their kid weird?

[purplemo]

I'll say this since Tsukihime is one of the more well known h-game adaptations that wasn't outright harem that I didn't find TOO bad. Unlike FSN, Higurashi (oh man could I rant on this one forever and ever), and others Tsukihime did not COMPLETELY destroy/ruin the original story. It is rather enjoyable for someone who doesn't know the story, but quite disappointing to someone who does.