Kinnara

• Visual:            7 – slightly jumpy and crude, difficult to follow at first
• Music:             10 – superb musical background
• Characters:     9 – although typical, quite interesting with proper backgrounds
• Story:              8 – good but a bit ethereal, needs more substance
• Experience:     9 – realistic, parts make a whole and mood-lifting

Usually when I receive a recommendation to watch an anime I first look at some pictures from it and make up my mind whether I want to see it or not. The first picture I saw from Cowboy Bebop was of Ed and it gave out the impression of a total nonsense, maybe only suitable to especially unsqueamish children. However, since this anime was said to have an excellent soundtrack I decided to watch it. My first impression got changed quite a bit...

The story is of space bounty hunters so fighting and explosions were to be expected. I did not, however, expect such reality from the show. If we had hyperspace travel and futuristic societies on Mars I would expect them to influence life like they did in Cowboy Bebop. Being a bounty hunter does not mean endless cash flow and pretty things, even the most supportive and caring man bay be dumped by a woman due to different reasons, war and crime never stop and an unfortunate man may be turned into a woman (half way at the very least...). Moreover, all of evil in the world does not take on the form of one bad-ass guy that the heroes have to defeat at all costs. Nope. In this anime every person more or less has his or her own evil to fight and past to overcome. How much more real can you get?

All in all if you prefer a sensible storyline (combined with really good music and parts that make you laugh, swear or sigh) to all hyper-heroic stories, this one is for you.