| Average |
6.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Shikabane Hime: Aka, an action series about a dead girl (Shikabane Hime = corpse princess) and her various affliates hunting down 108 corpses so she can gain entrance into heaven.
Animation:
Usually high quality, and since it is animated by GAINAX very flashy, quick and with jerky, music-video style movements during the fight scenes. Action scenes were extensively animated, but the quality slouched during non-action scenes. Liking the action scenes - and with it a lot of the whole point of watching a show such as this - is dependant on liking the style. The art is dark and colorless for a shounen show, and a lot of the scenes takes place at night. This conforms with the gritty (within the definition of a shounen show) aspirations of the general mood.
Sound:
Music and voice acting is fairly weak; in particular, the female leads seiyuu voices her character a little flat, and lacks an extra inch of emotion in her tone. This is saved to a degree by the OP, which is very good and also features some fascinating animations (and some blatant stills). The ED is less spectacular.
Story:
Not much happens in terms of an actual storyline except for a monster of the episode being tracked down while the general setting is being explained obnoxiously slowly. The only real developments concern just who is really a member of the permant secondary cast, and slow development of the male and female leads relation to each other. I wonder if finding Makina attractive counts as necrophilia. Toward the end of the 13-episode run the climax falls from the clear sky, but a thirsty person will drink even dirty water so I was glad that something was happening.
Characters:
Typical fare on this count. The main character is slightly enigmatic, but not in a positive sense since it doesn't stem from his unusual actions, but more from his extensive inactivity (not a Shinji style wimp, though ... he just isn't present usually when a decision has to be made). What he thinks about a topic at hand, or his general motivations & beliefs for that matter, remains untackled. Makina is slightly better, as she has desire for vengeance and self-loathing for having wound up as a sentient zombie. Secondary cast is cloned.
Value:
I doubt I would rewatch this show, but I can't deny it with 100% certainty. It does make a good demonstration object for different animation styles. Seeing as the show was not very taxing for my mind, the quality of the subs is not very relevant.
Enjoyment:
Not a waste of time, but I can't say it was a memorable experience. Characters and Story are weak, simple and predictable, but this is offset to a degree by the genre this show is in (which just so happens to be known for these exact same flaws usually). Positive points include the action scenes which show great care and coreography, but require a liking of the style. The atmosphere was well implemented, but not terribly creative. All in all, I can recommend this show to those that prowl the shounen action genre and would like something which tries to take a darker approach to this field. Few others need bother.
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