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Cossette no Shozo
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Animation - 9.3 |
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Sound - 8.4 |
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Story - 6.9 |
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Character - 6.8 |
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Value - 7.7 |
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Enjoyment - 7.4 |
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Average - 7.6 |
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Summoner |
(2008-01-24 10:32:19) 2008-01-24 10:19:43 |
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| Average |
6.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| "Who loves me so much that he would forsake his own dear life? If someone were to drown in the sea for me I would be released from the stone. Back to life. I would return to life. But... if someday I were to be reborn into a life that gives me what is most dear to me, then I would cry alone. I would cry alone, seeking what was my stone. Even if my blood was as ripe as fine wine what good would I be? Because I can't bring back from the depths of the sea the person who most loved me."
This quote sure sounds cooler than the whole anime is. Cossette no Shouzo likes to put up a show and if you let yourself be engulfed by that show - you will really enjoy it. Lots of surreal imagery, weirdly distorted story-telling, lots of monologues - all of these are used to tell a simple story. Of course, if that simple story would have been told in the usual, normal way it would have really sucked. Yet here, only thanks to the great story-telling, this show gets a much bigger score than the original idea is actually worth. Characters, unfortunately, can't escape the misfortunes of both short ova and surreal syndromes. Their personalities and interaction are kept to minimum. Even the two main characters lack screen time, what else to tell about the supposed "side cast". I didn't even knew who the hell most of them are.
Anyway, if you are up for a short, surreal trip - Cossette no Shouzo is made for you. Yet if you are here searching for a scary horror, mind-blasting mystery or complex love story - you are searching in the wrong place. Cossette no Shouzo is an interesting short dementia-like surreal trip and I doubt it should be viewed as something else.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
4 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| This anime is just eye candy. Horrible script, blah storyline filled with plotholes, and unmemorable characters. What makes it good though? The animation. This is a first. Second is the style. Gothic style along with beautiful animation stands over the necessary categories of anime (story, characters) for Cossette no Shozo.
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petran79 |
(2007-11-27 14:25:46) 2006-02-21 05:01:28 |
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| Average |
5.0 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
0 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| (Ani-Kraze fansub)
This OVA could have been much better if it was half the length, in only one episode of 45 minutes.
The animation was superb, the music also, but sometimes good animation does not mean a good movie. It is like tasting the one food you like but when you eat so much that you want to throw up, you'll distaste even your favorite food.
That is the main disadvantage of this OVA. Though the horror elements work well, this is only thanks to the animation and not the story or the characters. In fact the story was one of the most poorly executed I encountered. This all could have been summed up in one 45 minute episode. Instead the viewer is bombarded with eye-catching but often meaningless or riddle-ridden images hard or impossible to decipher.
The characters were almost non-existant. They had good animation but nothing more.
Since this is visually stunning I'd recommend it only for this reason. It is worth to watch once at least.
There's also the manga to read since this kind of story fits more into manga narrative.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| VISUAL STIMULATION IN A DIFFERENT KIND OF LOVE STORY...
This is a great story that, while I cannot relate to the protaganist whatsoever, thought it was a well thought out and fresh. It is better than I expected, as I am not a Goth-Lolita fan, but am quite familiar with the sub-genre with other titles like Tsukoyomi and Rozen Maiden. It is quite macabre and twisted, and while it is not necessarily a horror, it does get a bit intense. I found captivating, and that's because it is. The plot elements really stand out, and I think more people would like it better if it was four episodes as opposed to three. Either way I can recommend if the premise interests you.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| I found this anime visually stunning, but overall uninteresting. Aside from being somewhat bloody, there isn't much to be scared of, which makes me wonder why it's classified as a horror anime. The relationship between Eiri and Cosette is underdeveloped and cut short by the fact this OVA is only three eps long. There is little in way of plot as well. I wouldn't recommend this unless you were interested in watching an anime for its artistic quality.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This anime surprised me. Not becuase i expected that it wouldnt be good but because i have a habit of getting ahead of myself imagination wise when i read a small description about things and then it turns out to be either not as good as i suspected or being about something completely different than i was led to believe.
The artwork is beautiful, the storyline haunting and the musical score suiting. Some of the characters seem shallow sometimes but is made up for in atmosphere.
Highly recomended if you like "real horror" and not this slasher garbage.
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Amaya |
2005-10-07 23:42:46 |
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| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Wow... I was just blown away by the surrealness of it all. I love everything about it from the original storyline, to the animation, to the music, and to most of all the characters.
Story: Very original. Although I do want to say that it may seem confusing at first but it really isn't. The pieces will fall into place eventually.
Animation: 2 words - eye candy. The animation was hauntingly beautiful in its own sort of way. Not many people can incorporate horror and beauty in a way that is aesthetically pleasing. Also there is a lot of symbolism and metaphors that I found fascinating.
Sound: Out of all Yuki Kajiura's compositions (.hack//, Noir, Aquarian Age, Tsubasa Chronicles, Mai Hime, etc..) this is the BEST music I have listened from her. It really enhances the story and the characters' plight (contrary to her music in Tsubasa Chronicles which is very discordant)
Characters: Yes, Eiri is obsessive about Cossette and I understand that with good reason. Unlike his predecessor, Marchello, Eiri is in awe with Cossette and strives to capture her being but doesn't go as far as killing her. In the beginnig Cossette has the right to believe that Eiri is a reincarnation of Marchello but later she finds out that she was wrong and that Eiri has his own sweet personality that is different from Marchello.
The first time I watched it, it left me breathless because it had all the elements that I enjoy in one anime. I would recommend this to anyone who likes mind reeling animation, Yuki Kajiura's music, supernatural/horror, and romance.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| This anime is really...weird. Its plot sometimes seems hard to understand because of many dream-like sequences that look like nightmares or visions. But if it's ripped of all disturbing and perplexing "visual shock" scenes, it turns out to be not so complicated anime. But it's original, at least in my opinion.
The animation is stunning, beautiful and bizarre at the same time; and the music is great. I can't say much about the characters since it's a short series, but they seem to be well portrayed. Cossette is a fascinating character and I'm really impressed by Marina Inoue's dubbing. Her voice is really great for Cossette and somewhat creepy.
Well, there's nothing more to say. Just give it a try, it isn't long so I believe that you won't be bored. It's definitely an interesting anime and a real eye-candy.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
| Average |
6.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
4 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is an anime OVA that normally I would consider outside of my genre. That being said, I really didn't enjoy the series as much as I thought I would....it tends to swing into the realm of art, gothic themes and dark jolted imagery. It creates it's message well, yet I was put off by the eeriness several times. I would say that this series is much more violent than Elfen Lied in terms of it's blood and violent content, but perhaps that's a matter of personal opinion.
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Luminaria |
(2005-03-04 16:52:08) 2005-03-04 16:43:34 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Where sylish = confusing.
Cossette's terrific animation and use of sound are really incredible. It sets the mood like few other animes have, and fits in very nicly with the story. The problem, for me at least, is that I couldnt for the life of me keep up with what was going on. The bulk of the story relies on your ability to precieve things at a different level then they're presented to you. Alternate meanings, symbolisim, etc are key to understanding cossette. The sureality of it all is neat, but you should be able to reach to a wider audience then this... not knowing what is going on around you makes for a very boring 2 hours or so.
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shadowplay |
(2005-02-10 23:41:03) 2005-02-10 22:44:18 |
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is anime as an art, art as an anime. It deepens and widens anime medium the way not many other works managed to do before. It is continuation of what Shinbou Akiyuki tried to do with Soul Taker, (r)evolutionary and prophetic, but also as with all genuine things, destined to be misunderstood and devaluated by (in this case anime watching) masses in it's own time.
ANIMATION
Akiyuki's take on animation is truly one of it's kind. It's both claustrophobic and openwide; with it's constant use of different angles, unexpectable changes of focus, cryptic still frames, cut+paste techniques, everchanging color palettes and what else not, it manages both to take us deep down into characters minds and souls yet never loses complete picture of the worlds we are being presented out of it's sight.
Animation as a poetry that's both original and inspiring.
SOUND
It's typically great Kajiura soundtrack, maybe bit more airy (if not eerie) this time around. Not always melting well with the rest of the elements that make this anime brilliant, but then again maybe because of that it's sometimes giving whole different dimension to what's happening on the screen.
STORY
On the surface LPDPC's haunted love story can be told in few sentences, but deep down it's a tale about what makes the true art, art's colleration with beauty and love, and how it all can affect artist or any other individual in strangest ways.
Dialogues between two main characters are rich and poetic, and closing Eiri's words sums up nicely what writer wanted to tell us here.
CHARACTERS
Cossette is carefree and innocent, but then again there are traces of malice and vicousness in her; she IS the gothic lolita here, ok. Eiri on other hand is here for your typical otaku to identify; lateteen/twentysomething, naive and unexperienced, acting distant yet silently aching for some love and passion in his life. With Marcello they make up for almost spiritual triangle;
Eiri being the one that comes up with self-realization through the art in the end, Marcello the one that fails to do the same before him causing Cossette's curse, and in the end Cossette herself whose love and beauty is being catalyst for other two's actions.
VALUE
No matter how many times I see some of the episodes there are always new things being revealed to me. If that's the practical value you're looking for in anime, well you'll find it.
But then again as with all masterpieces, their true value cannot be measured.
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Pantha |
(2005-02-09 15:38:15) 2005-02-09 11:24:30 |
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| Average |
6.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
4 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Cossette no Shouzo is a painting. It does not tell its story through its characters or dialogue; instead, the eye-catching animation takes reign and viewers are allowed to feast their eyes. The animation is so appealing that it distracts from everything else, and this is probably fortunate since the characters are forgettable and the dialogue is nonsensical blather (i.e., “Everything should become one…. everything that is pure. Just like a bird with two wings. Just like how the sky and ocean become one in the distance.”). By the final episode, I stopped paying attention to dialogue. It wasn’t important. Burning candles, dolls bleeding from the eyes, and butterflies. Now THAT is what’s important.
Lacking any semblance of lightheartedness and with heavy doses of the gothic and ethereal, Cossette is a strange combination of Rozen Maiden and Shingetsutan Tsukihime. Like Tsukihime, this anime tries to do too many things at once. It's classified as horror, and that's fair enough. There's a creepy young lady and it's fairly heavy on gore. But it's also a twisted love story. Because many questions are left answered (i.e., Why is Cossette forcing Hurahashi to atone for something he probably didn't do? Why did Marchello do what he did in the first place?), the relationship between the two main characters is nothing more than superficial. Furthermore, this anime makes the annoying error of trying to be more complex than it is. Apparently, this is only about a ghost who haunts a young painter. The painter may have inherited the soul of the ghost's lover, who murdered her. Why they decided to add in the laughable dialogue and nonsensical imagery (check out the first episode) is beyond me.
The main characters, Cossette and Kurahashi, are flat and unmemorable. Seriously. The best character is the strangely colored drinking glass that appears sporadically in the first two episodes. Unfortunately, the drinking glass doesn't have enough screen time. It doesn't have any lines, either. :( The protagonists talk a lot about demons, love, drinking blood, paintings, but it adds up to nil. The animation is the only true character in this. ...Cossette no Shouzo is imcomplete. I do not blame this on the length. Rurouni Kenshin: Reminiscence is my measuring stick when judging short OVAs; it's a high measuring stick, but it proves that a short OVA can be complete. Despite the shallowness of the characters, the anime does have semi-satisfying conclusion. In any case, this is an ambitious show. Perhaps too much so.
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Ridian |
(2005-07-27 15:18:41) 2005-02-05 18:58:10 |
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Whereas Rozen Maiden may have represented Elegant Gothic Lolita, Le Portrait De Petit Cossette does it in a far different way; it removes the trendiness and stylism of the fad and shoots straight for its dark, insidious roots. Sweeping, beautiful and haunting in numerous aspects, Cossette cuts no corners about its origin; in fact, in one scene you can see 'gothic lolita' written in red graffiti on a wall. Despite its stylistic atmosphere, Cossette is also pervaded by a very pressing and uncomfortable sense of insecurity, mounting to fear and distrust of the things that occur in Eiri's little dreamworld.
Animation is a huge part of Cossette; most likely, it is also the primary one. On basically every level, the 3-episode OVA does not disappoint at all. The settings as a whole are the most impressive, incredibly well thought out and imaginative, and rife with a shadowy sort of bleakness that goes hand in hand with the tone of the anime. The 8 is awarded because of one resounding issue: the CG. It looks, frankly, like crap. And it's not just used occasionally...it fills the anime at least once every few minutes, and it does absolutely nothing to enhance the visual feel. It just drags it down quite a bit. Also, the characters' faces do tend to look a little strange at times, though simply by virtue of the art style.
Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is very confusing at first, but in truth the plot is actually quite simple. It's just trying to be a lot more complicated than it actually is...a tactic that only works sometimes and only works when it ties itself together a little better (Lain did this quite well). Cossette takes its primary plot full circle, yes, but does not really realize itself completely. I would kill to see this as a 13-episode series, because between the atmosphere and the promising ideas it would be solid gold. I waited with great excitement to learn more about the D'Auvergne family, about the painter Marcello, about little Cossette herself. Unfortunately, we're not told enough about Cossette or a majority of her backstory, about the sporadic references to 'sixth senses' that some characters seem to have, and about symbols such as the mysterious clock and glass. Mostly just fringe stuff that served its purpose as the anime went on...which in itself was another issue. The first episode almost turned me off to the OVA completely, because it is the one with the most surrealism and senseless imagery. I was immediately taken with its incredible visual style; even the dialogue was captivating in a very sensual sort of way. Unfortunately, the plot was very covert at that point and hiding in favor of the animation. The second episode, however, really picks things up. In addition to being the best of the three, a great deal of the plot is elucidated for the thankful viewer in this episode. We now understand Cossette's circumstances, Eiri's part in the whole thing and even the involvement of some side characters. Definitely a very valuable episode, but the third does not follow it up quite as well. Personally, this was a letdown after the second, because the suspense and intrigue had been mounting for quite some time and the episode meanders a lot. Though I initially disliked the first episode the most, after a second viewing I realized that it was actually a well-constructed episode. You are not liable to like it on your first playthrough either. The third episode, however, was unspectacular either way.
I did really like how the anime ended, though. Quiet and very powerful, it concluded very much the same way the anime ran.
Generally the characters are just placeholders for the plot itself, since they're all just static characters. There's only so much you can do within an hour and a half of footage with a character's nature; instead the OVA opts to use what already exists than to build on it. It mostly works. None of the characters except the chillingly innocent Cossette are very memorable.
Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is a very, very enjoyable OVA series, certainly one of my favorites of the medium. Brooding and splendid elegance faulted by some quirks in the plot and a fairly dry cast of characters. I'll probably buy this when it comes stateside too, simply because it's something really nice that I think I'd like to own...and I rarely buy anime.
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| I'm not big fan of horror animation... actaully I hate horror anime, but this series was a exception since it include strong romance within.
Even thou the oav have 3 ep. but it bring out every detail it could have, not goofing acutally they don't have time to bring out all the support chars since they want to concentrate about the weird admosepear for horror fan. As you expect in J-Horror style, it got load of blood and yuucky stuff pouring out like a leaking hydrant. The thing that I liked most about is the camara shaking thou, it keep shaking almost made feel like holding a ps2 gamepad with vibration on. It's got bit of twist at the end... and yet of coruse what you can't miss in every horror movie, a open-eye like the dead is going come back for more. Hehe I wish she come back though >_< such beauty.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This is a very good Anime, but it is defently not for everybody. Its elements of horror are based a lot on the imagination of the viewer, and it is not so full of blood, demons and gore where most horror anime are full with.
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Ross |
(2004-07-07 19:39:46) 2004-06-17 12:46:44 |
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| Average |
5.7 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| I don't really think Yuji Kajiura's musical style really fits in this anime as well as you'd expect it to. There are situations where tension builds and you might feel a little creeped out, then Kajiura's music comes in and it kinda kills the mood. When I hear it i associate it with Hack Sign and Noir, and there's nothing "scary" about those animes, because it hardly sounds any different despite what anime she's writing music for, its all really the same score. No matter how much you liked Canta Par Me the first time you heard it, if you actually sat through all of Noir and heard that song on many flashbacks, you'd be pretty sick of that style of music. Even for people who aren't just plain tired of it, it still doesn't fit the mood, it evokes more of an adventurous feeling, more suited to HackSign.
Aside from the music there's the whole lolita obsession thing, which is kind of weird, and all this convoluted Catholic talk about "sin" and "suffering" that reminds me of why i hated Noir.
Aside from this the art is decent, and the mystery element keeps you entertained from start to finish of this 1 oav episode (with more to come). Just don't expect anything mind blowing to come out of all the convolution. I view it mainly as eye candy.
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Last Exile |
(2008-04-25 09:23:45) 2004-06-03 08:28:54 |
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Yes, quite a weird experience, but what a ride! I'm not usually into horror, but this was just so damn intriguing! The way events flow is a bit confusing as first, but gradually it string together, and once it does, it's quite intrgiung. Detailed animation, eeire music, dark characters. Heck, Eiri is quite intriguing for his morbid fasciation which seems certain to lead him to destruction. Well, will probably say more once more eps come out. But for now, so far, not bad.
EDIT: Seen the 2nd episode now! Bloody hell, this doesn't hold back! Horror fans are gonna love this to pieces. The story and character development jumped a couple of notches here too, and that gorgoues/insane alternate world has appeared again. This is addictive stuff this is. Shame it only lasts for 3 episodes. Hopefully the last one is a corker.
3rd Episode comments: Over now, great finish. The twist was bloody delicious...literally! :) Nice to see things resolved in an interesting and not so expected way. Nice to think this series can surprise even at the end. The blood painting was incredibly well done, as was the even more surreal world explroed in this final episode. Ah, if only such innovation was more widespread. I haven't felt like this in ages.
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RagNa |
2004-05-24 00:57:06 |
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| Before this anime get some BIAS review i will review this anime FAIRLY
Havn't seen such nice animation in a while... it is just TOP NOTCH as expected from aniplex(they are known for Read or Die the TV series which the action is very good) the MUSIC is very themematic and fits the mood perfectly (like ROD TV) though the anime is rather confusing.. if u wathc through it u will begin to understand the story structure. Please Read the detail Review of each category!!! enjoy my review :)
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