Blue Seed

I must always say, when dealing with anime, that it's an acquired taste. Not everyone enjoys it; some folks down right despise it. But if you enjoy it, well, this is a high quality piece of action/sci-fi. The american dub is pretty horrendous at spots, and it's a touch gory, but if you can haul through 26 episodes (and that doesn't count the movies), you'll have experienced quite a story line. It'd be a cardinal sin to spoil it here. ;) Oh, and hang on at the end of each tape for the Omake Theatre. A series what spoofs itself...amazin' stuff!

Blue Seed is a revisionist updating of the Susano-Oh/Yamato-no-Orochi tale, and it is in some ways like Neon Genesis Evangelion (for instance, a main character in each is played by the incredible Megumi Hayashibara). Giant monsters rampage through Japan (in this case, totally isolated to the country of Japan, unlike Neon, where the entire world is in danger), bent on recreating the world in their own plant-like image. Like Neon, teenagers are at the center of the struggle-Momiji and her older sister Kaede are the secret weapons against the plant-monster Aragami, who will be banished from the earth if either one of them dies while still a virgin (that's why the mother is safe! LOL).

If the major complaint with major complaints with Neon Genesis could be summed up with the fact that so many animation sequences are re-used over and over (I got so sick of that damned penguin eating that same fish), then Blue Seed's major fault is that it sticks to the monster-appears/introduce-new-characters/new-weapon-is-created/monster-is-defeated formula for at least ten episodes after the initial two-episode introduction. Not that they're bad episodes, but they really don't add much to the overall story (though the relationship between Momiji and Kusanagi is deepened). Neon, even when introducing more characters and sticking to the same formula, was constantly evolving every character and revealing more and more of the government conspiracy and the motivations of Shinji's father. On the other hand, Neon was much more confusing and didn't really answer all the questions it posed, whereas Blue Seed is more straightforward (this could be a bane or a blessing, depending on your tastes).

However, the one thing that Blue Seed has that Neon doesn't is the Omake (`Extra') Theater, a set of thirteen 3-minute self-parodies/music videos that were apparently made for the show when it appeared on video. Seeing Kusanagi sell semi-nude pictures of Kaede and Momiji to TAC leader Kunikida is so freaking hilarious that I almost died laughing, just as Kusanagi does in a different Omake. The Susano-Oh OH-NO short and the Jong Jong Majong were also crazy!

I remember going online and trying to find anime that I might be interested in, and coming across reviews of "Blue Seed". After reading some reviews it seemed like an anime that was up my ally, action, comedy, some romance and many reviews praised it's story. So, being excited for a new anime to get invested into, I went and bought the box set and started a weekend of anime.

I watched 4 episodes and then pulled the DVD out and went back to get a refund. This anime is GARBAGE. I just don't understand why people loved it so much.

First, let's get into the artwork. It's crap. This, somehow, looks WORSE than Dragonball. (I apologize if you're a fan of Dragonball, but really, it sucks). The characters don't look good, the animation is not fluid, and I found myself not interested in any of the artwork except the occasional Aragami. It's bland and, quite frankly, repulsive.

Second, let's look at the story. THERE ISN'T ONE. Sure there's something about monsters called Aragami and a Government agency that fights them, but seriously every episode is another monster hunt. That's it. No character development, no deep plot, no plot twists, no emotional impact. NOTHING. I have read that the story comes in at the last quarter of the series, but to get to it you need to watch the series from the beginning. Really? I have to sit through over 9 hours of crap to get any story out of this?

Let's compare this to a GOOD anime like: FullMetal Alchemist or Mai Hime. They have their episodes that are fillers, but generally the story is paced out across the entire series and the filler episodes let you get to know the characters better. Even Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, which didn't really have a central storyline, it was just a bunch of small stories while Sousuke was in school with Chidori, had better situations than this crap. (By the way, Full Metal Panic is another excellent anime series).

In this series you don't get anything more out of the characters. The main girl, Momiji, is a whiny little girl who is clumsy and always complains about her panties being shown off when she falls down, and yet she still wears ridiculously short skirts. BORING. Considering that she's supposed to be the main character in which the story hinges on, this is intolerable.

There were other characters, but in reality NONE of them were interesting enough to make them memorable, hence I already forgot about them.

Honestly I'm baffled by the reviews I've seen for this series. It's dull, boring, and it doesn't look good. I only see this as being enjoyable by all those people who love Dragonball, Pokemon, and other worthless anime series of the same like. If you want to see a GOOD anime series watch FullMetal Alchemist, FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood (which is closer to the Manga, but really just read the Manga), Full Metal Panic, Chrono Crusade, Mai Hime, Scrapped Princess, or Witch Hunter Robin and leave this crap in the garbage where it belongs.

A very good anime. Older look, cell-shaded animation style gives it a sort of "classic" look. It does start a little slow, but that's because the first half dozen or so episodes are written out to help introduce each character. It really picks up after those. The music and soundtrack is kind of hit or miss, but its there when it needs to be. But what I liked most about this series. It was well planned. It told the whole story, then ended. So many anime series go on dragging out every fight far too long and have 100+ episodes and surprisingly little content. This is a nice self contained story that lifts elements from Japanese folk tales and really hits the spot.

This anime is one of probably the main bases for the anime of today. The story was a little hard to fallow in the beginning but once you just let it go man it was interesting. I won't say a 10/10 but hey a good 7/10 is still rewatchable in my book! It had a really good start to finish as far as the story line goes. The story line is really very sweet in the end. How they ended it was very well done. The characters are interesting, though I think there could have been more work in building the bonds between them a little better. Just to make the side characters a bit more of an effect in the group as a whole, not just they individual stories.

I think this how anime should be start middle and end like Yu Yu Hakusho. Overall I really like this one!