Dâkusaido burûsu

One expects great things of anime. Though the quality is sometimes variable, far more than not one can rely on Japanese animation for beautifully detailed backgrounds and landscapes, realistic and expressive character designs and animation, marvelously imaginative designs for creatures, effects, and other active elements, and superb texture, lighting, shading, and more. Ranging from on-par with to being vastly superior to animation from the United States or elsewhere, I'd hedge my bets with Japanese studios any day alongside or over the likes of Disney or Pixar. And so it is here, as 'Darkside blues' treats us to a veritable wonderland of visuals. Even with the gloom, grit, and violence of a dystopian sci-fi world it's impossible not to be dazzled with what J. C. Staff whipped up based on Ashibe Yuhuo's manga illustrations: alluring characters, gorgeous (if often grim) settings, fluid and exciting action and effects, and so on. It's everything we hope for out of anime, and if to any degree we might say it's "lesser than," it's only in comparison to how the medium has continued to advance in all the time since.

Yes, the creativity in the visuals stuns, and the hard work, skill, and intelligence that went into them. But that's just one part of the equation. Gratifyingly, the remainder is broadly just as excellent. Screenwriter Sekijima Mayori and filmmaker Furukawa Nobuyasu tread in familiar narrative spaces in adapting Kikuchi Hideyuki's manga: a ruined world under almost complete the control of immensely powerful corporate interests, cruel and amoral dynastic leadership of that corruption, a small resistance movement - and naturally, additional elements of science fiction and fantasy, including high-tech weapons, monsters, superhuman abilities, other dimensions, and more. For any comparisons we may draw, though, the doing is very capably well written entirely on its own merits, and in turn engaging and compelling as the story focuses on a few select figures, including a mysterious man who enters the scenario seemingly from out of nowhere. I can't claim any knowledge of the manga, admittedly, but that puts me in a position to judge its adaptation purely on its own merits, and I find it to be actively fascinating and very entertaining, with flavorful plot and scene writing, and some sharp character builds. Really, what more could we ask for?

Well, maybe this: I'll grant that some of the dialogue is a bit clunky, and the storytelling isn't always perfectly focused. Moreover, while not necessarily an abject fault, it's well worth observing that the scenes and overall narrative are written in a manner that throws us headlong into their world, as if viewers are anticipated to already be familiar with concepts herein. Case in point, we never specifically find out who or what "Darkside" is, and the resolution of the plot in the last minutes, such as it is, feels like a curiously inchoate half measure. Maybe that means that one would be well-served by reading the manga first, or maybe it simply means that the anime is a little less sure-footed than it should be on its own legs as we have to just take some ideas and beats at face value. Still, all these are a lot of scrutinizing words that belie the fact that 'Darkside blues' is a terrific genre blast, with touches of horror spicing up the sci-fi and fantasy. To whatever extent we may reasonably critique some facets, more than not the feature is a lot of fun, and fabulously well made. This includes some nice music on the side - some blues, some prog rock, some more subtle and atmospheric pieces, and so on - and adept voice acting that ably meets the needs of any given scene. The movie only wants to provide a good time, and it definitely does just that.

It may not wholly demand viewership, yet with outstanding animation, earnestly engrossing writing, and bigger themes and notions that are all too despairingly relevant to real life, there is much to love in these eighty-odd minutes. Even if we say that the writing could have been tightened - and it absolutely could have, the one most discernible shortcoming here - the sum total is handily absorbing, enjoyable, and satisfying, and it didn't have to be flawless to otherwise be thusly worthwhile. Don't go out of your way for 'Darkside blues,' but if you like anime, and the composite of action, sci-fi, and fantasy, then this deserves a look if you have the chance.

Viewers preferring a straightforward story and/or closure may find this movie tough to take. Conversely, those who dig hidden meanings and symbolism might enjoy rooting through this film's convoluted nature.

Being a lover of both when done well I found Darkside Blues yo-yoed from obvious imagery to ridiculous obscurity. One viewing was enough to tell me I lacked the patience to sit through another attempt to clear up some minor confusion. This film tries hard to be profound and almost hits, but something within the deliberate obscurity falls short. The one saving grace to this film is its support characters. While protagonist Darkside is an empty focal point who is easily disregarded following his first few lines, the growth and depth of Mai, Selia, and Tatsuya is relatively decent given the plot's short time span and this almost balances the story's lackluster qualities.

In the end many plot holes are evident. Most questions are left unanswered. And, there's no true conclusion in sight. What one is offered is the turning point for a new era, not a resolution.

Being a huge fan of an anime and always desperate to watch as much of it as possible, I must say that this one was lame. I didn't like animation, didn't like the plot and didn't like the characters either.

The plot is a one enormous hole: you can figure that something is definitely happening, but you cannot say what and for what reason. The characters are one-dimensional and have absolutely no development along the movie. The initial conflict is somewhat interesting and even intriguing (a huge corporation controlling 90 percent of the Earth and a bunch of free-thinking teenagers opposed to it - plus some mysterious Darkside planning some 'renewal'), but it leads to nowhere: the protagonists talk a lot, but in the end you get none explanation.

So, I was left utterly confused and therefore irritated. They could at least have made some cool blues soundtrack (for which you could hope having read the title), but in fact the soundtrack was colourless and boring as well.

I don't think that this one deserves to be called an anime. A really frustrating disappointment. If you want to watch something really exciting about some Utopian city and its dwellers made in an anime style, go for Necropolis.

This is going on my list of movies that I want people to avoid. No way am I ever going to recommend it.

Basically, this character called Darkside comes in to a 1984-style Tokyo through a hole in the ground, causing...umm...errm.....ahh...ummm....some things to happen. None of it is fully explained. However, unlike 2001 and Blair Witch 2, where some of the appeal comes from the unexplained, this movie is a confusing waste of time.

We are given potentially interesting stuff that just sits there inert for the whole movie. Never once do we hear a basic explanation of the impact that bad dreams have on our life. And we'd like to. And what on earth does it have to do with the movie? Nobody knows, and by the end of the movie, nobody cares.

Watch Evangelion instead. At least that can be explained.

This anime has a lot going for itself. Great character design(darkside is uber cool), atmosphere and it's pretty stylish altogether. There is only one problem. It isn't finished. Yes the main characters awaken to their part/role in the world but they should have expanded on that and finished the whole Persona Century story. Now we see great revolutionaries awaken to their task yet there it ends.

I liked this movie a lot. I honestly did but I just wish that they would tell a more complete story and not a small section of it.