Karas: The Prophecy

The DVD summary box says: In a futuristic Tokyo, humans and spirits are sharing the same living space without realizing it, thanks in part to the guardian raven Karas and his masters, who maintain the precarious balance between both dimensions. But when a former Karas named Eko decides to challenge the system by seizing control, it's up to the entity Yurine, who represents the will of the Japanese people, to secure the future for humanity.

This animation is a first-class piece of artwork. Visuals are stunning, and the audio (and audio options) on the DVD is as good as it can get. However if you don't know much about the anime, you WILL be lost in the first few minutes of the movie. On the plus side, you won't mind watching it again just because of all the cool CGI and fight sequences. I promise it makes more sense the second time around.

Just keep in mind that the ending of this movie leaves something to be desired because this is supposed to be a two or three part production. Hopefully there won't be too long a wait for the sequel.

This movie is sick. The animation is some of the best I've seen. That being said the first time through I missed a lot of the story so it didn't make much sense. Watch it again! The story is really good once you can see past the amazing visuals, the colors and different approach to storytelling is so good I can't speak enough about this DVD. One of the few DVD's I can watch multiple times with out ever getting bored, it's like watching art in motion, you don't have to understand it to appreciate it.

The better the system you run Karas on the more you will enjoy it. This was made to push the limits of your audio and video equipment get ready to be blown away.

Pros: This movie will blow your socks off in terms of visuals. Karas: The Prophecy is very fast paced and the character designs are very unique and nothing like anything you've seen stateside. The story is coherent enough for the viewer to understand and the dubbing is far better than expected. The music and sound effects are spectacular and coupled with the great visuals, it is a feast for the eyes and ears.

Cons: Unfortunately, this animated feature flows more like a TV show than a movie and the pace of this feature can get a little broken at times. Secondly, my 2nd gripe about Karas is that the visuals are so mind-blowing and fast, it's sometimes hard to follow the animation. You almost have to watch some of the fights in slow-mo to see exactly how the fight progresses.

This is a great movie to rent or to buy for anime lovers, and as a comic fan, this movie feels like it jumped out of a graphic novel. A new Hero is born!

This explanation is my culmination based on my 3 viewings of "Karas: the Prophecy", and four website explanations: Netflix, IMDb.com, and a quoted DVD text, and the official (English) website. Please note that this explanation is based on the English texts I have read and the English translation of the movie. It may not be 100% accurate, which if I have done this correctly, a more accurate explanation would really require knowing Japanese. E.g. "Eko" is actually Eku, and Yurine, is really "Yuri" and from the little Japanese I know, a single letter can drastically change the entire meaning of a word. OK, enough said.

= THE PROPHECY = It was once foretold, that the battle for the future world will start and end - with Karas.

= THE PLOT = The worlds of humans and demons have overlapped since time immemorial, and a spirit named Yurine (who represents the will of the people in the city) and her servant, Karas, have long maintained order and balance between the worlds. But humans have finally lost their beliefs of the demons and spirits. Disgusted by human arrogance, Karas turns his back on his role as guardian of the city, taking the name Eko, and plans an attack against the humans in the city. His goal is to have the humans once again believe in, and fear, demons.

Eko and his followers live in the material realm in human form, but to continue doing so they must feed on the fluids of human bodies. Their periodic feasts result in massacres that leave only a single traumatized survivor. (There is no explanation given for this - it might be part of Eko's plan to re-instill fear into the hearts of humans.)

Opposing Eko is the once demon Nue, who also lives in the material world in human form but refuses to drink blood. He wants to kill Eko b/c Eko trapped Nue's younger brother to help complete his evil plan. Also opposing Eko is Otoha, a human, who called out from his heart to Yurine - while he lies in a hospital bed in a coma. They make a contract and he becomes the new Karas.

= THE KARAS = The "Karas", which means "crow" in Japanese, is their nom de plume as well as their title. There are others called Karas as well, Eko and Otoha are just the two most current and powerful. They can transform into any of various heavily armed vehicles. (There is much about "crows" but a lesson in ancient Japanese culture may explain that thread.)

= The Humans = These "inexplicable" tragedies are the obsession of a marginalized police inspector whose daughter was the survivor of one such massacre. A young Leutenant is assigned to this "department". Beyond this simple role, they hardly have anything to do with the plot.

Final comment: the first one is: "Karas: the Prohpecy" which has phenomenal CGI and action. 5/5* the second one is: "Karas: the Revelation" which has a cheaper version of the first CGI and typical anime action. 3/5*

-LD

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my faith: http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/jbc33/

I chanced upon this anime when aimlessly browsing through the internet and it has totally changed how I look at animes. So far, no anime has ever managed to surpass Karas in terms of visuals, action or storyline. The storyline unfolds as you watch the movie. Nothing is explained to you beforehand. You are brought straight into the midst of action. The visuals are simply astounding. Never have I seen an anime which places so much emphasis on detail. The visuals are even artistic and abstract to a certain extent. Truly a work of art. The action is truly breathtaking. Watch this anime and immediately every other anime you've watched will pale in comparison. This is like The Matrix of animes. A definite must-watch. The cool factor alone will keep you watching this over and over. I've watched this over ten times.