TheTacticianMusician

(77.75%) THIS SHOW SUCKS:

I really love fantasy-romance anime. In fact, most of my all-time favorites are within that genre, but what I like even more are anime that focus mostly on the drama. I generally feel like, whenever I watch a romance anime, no matter what the secondary genre is, I always feel more engaged and connected with the story and characters to the point where I have to continue watching without interuptions. This is also why I like shows like "Fate/Stay Night" and "My-Hime". Even though they are real heavy on the action, plot twists, or psychology, the inclusion of a real engaging or high-stakes romance makes the show multiple times more interesting. Dusk Maiden of Amnesia is an interesting case. It's sort of a gothic show, which I kind of like because they usually get really creative when making gothic designs, for example, Ryuk from "Death Note". Let's go a little deeper into this, shall we?

(34.20%) STORY: (7.6/10)

"Dusk Maiden" takes place in, wouldn't you know it, a school. There is a legend of a ghost named Yuuko that haunts the school. Well, it's more like a true story that spawned a bunch of supernatural rumors. The focus of the show is none other than Teiichi Generic Main Character, who can, for some reason, see Yuuko. Yuuko is unable to remember her past, so since Teiichi is the only person who can see and hear her, he decided to start up a "Paranormal Investigations Club" to help find out more about her past. Shortly after, Yuuko and Teiichi become good friends. There are also two other girls, Momoe Okonogi and Kirie Kanoe, who are the only other members of the club who really don't contribute much to the story. About halfway through the anime, since Teiichi is the only person that she is able to interact with for 60 years, Teiichi and Yuuko gradually fall in love with each other.

The romance in this show has to me one of the most engaging ones I've ever watched. The drama in it is great and the atmosphere compliments everything regarding the romance perfectly. They put just enough obstacles in the way of Teiichi and Yuuko's relatonship to make the romance engaging. They also don't use most of the common cliches that romances tend to have. I think it's also a pretty original set-up, at least the fact that the love interest is a ghost.

Thi first half of the story is the problem with this anime. It's not really bad, but there really isn't much focus at all. The first six episodes were basically just a slice-of-life or romantic-comedy. All these few episodes consisted of were just scenes of comic relief that weren't that funny, characters that weren't that interesting, and many scenes of the characters just goofing around or not really doing anything. It wasn't until, like I said, about half way through that it got, not only better, it got infinitely better. It was almost like watching a completely different show or like a completely different team took over the rest of the story. The second half was the show I was waiting for and was definitely worth sitting through the first half. So, if you are reading this and have watched only the first couple episodes and are wondering if you should continue watching the anime, then if you take my word for it, it does get a lot better.

(34.20%) CHARACTERS: (7.6/10)

There aren't any bad characters, and considering that there are really only four characters, that isn't hard to think about. The best and most interesting character is obviously Yuuko. Why? Well, she's a ghost. The part where they show Yuuko's past is actuallu kind of tragic and the supernatural things she goes through in the show make her really sympathetic. I like the way her emotions and personality kind of change throughout the anime. And, it's not like her personality changes because the writers couldn't think of what personality to give her. There is actually a plot point worth keeping secret that is the main cause of her personality changing. The rest of the characters are "OK". Teiichi is the text book definition of a generic main character, who's only interest comes from his interactions with Yuuko. Okanagi is the generic comic relief character. She has a crush on Teiichi that doesn't really go anywhere. She just likes Teiichi and that's pretty much it. She dos have a couple of pretty funny scenes out of the rest of not very funny ones. The other character is Kirie, who is basically the generic tomboy character. She does reveal a plot point here and there, so she isn't a completely wasted character, but that's really all ther is to her.

(9.35%) ATMOSPHERE: (9.35/10)

The music and visual effects for this anime are some of the most beautiful and stunning I have ever seen and heard in an anime. Considering that I've sat through "Attack on titan", "Fate/Zero", "My-Hime", and "Ef - A Tale of Memories", that is saying a lot. The opening theme for this anime is one of my favorites of all time now. The song is incredible, but the funny thing is that I'm not sure how they got that hard rock to work well with those visuals, but good God, the music and effects somehow go very well together, especially with all the colors and lighting they have with those visuals. This is also a very minor thing but had to be adressed because I love it when they do it, but I always like when they have an opening where the one of the characters are shown singing the song. The soundtrack is also really great. There aren't that many outstanding ones, but the ones I did hear were beautiful, like Requiem, which is actually quite popular. I also like th short piano sounds that play during the commercial pauses and the episode name scenes. Even the ending from what I heard was great as well. Now, let's talk about the real stunning stuff, the visuals. I've never seen an anime that combined the elements of so many visual styles I've seen in other anime into one anime. The incredible lighting and beautiful sunsets, skys, etc. are breathtaking and are reminicent of "Fate/Zero". It also uses distinct imagery to express a lot of things, very similar to "Ef - A Tale of Memories", but here, not only do they do this for the emotions, but there are some parts that felt like I was watching something as dark as "Higurashi" or "Future Diary" because of the creepy visuals, which didn't just look creepy, but there were actual moments where I was getting scared. The fact that they were able to do this made the whole anime basically eye-candy in a non-fan-servicy way. It's something I was definitely be able to get sucked in by.

OVERALL: (7.775/10)

While I would say that the beginning of the show is a bit of a chore to get through, the res of the anime is worth watching. If you are a fan of romance and visual effect, then this is definitely worth checking, and you might find yourself enjoying it as much or maybe more than I did.