Ranked #1089

Ayashi no Ceres

Ayashi no Ceres presents a beautiful love story, which intertwined with great action and characters makes for a sad, yet heartwarming story that can grip your heart.

It starts off very peacefully, with Aya Mikage and her twin brother Aki spending time with their friends, celebrating the twins' 16th birthday. However, this peaceful day is interrupted by Aya falling off a bridge, down on the highway underneath. Miraculously, she lands without getting a scratch, and she's saved from cars on a collision course by a mysterious, red-headed man. And that day marks the end of the happy days for the two.

They are summoned to the family mansion to celebrate their 16th birthday, but instead, they end up being the victims of the Mikage family's gruesome rite of killing off female descendants with strong tennyo powers in them. Said powers suddenly awaken, preventing her from getting killed.

From here on, the story goes darker, deeper and angstier as we're thrown into the mess that Aya suddenly finds herself in, being hunted by her own family all of a sudden. She has to deal with the fact that her twin brother has turned into a reincarnation of an evil man from the past, and she has to make sure Ceres doesn't take over her body completely. This leads to some great action scenes, as Ceres emerges to fight the Mikage family from time to time, with her astounding powers.

And then there's the love, the beautiful, yet sad love that is Aya's and Toya's love - Toya is the guy who saved her, but also a Mikage henchman, which means he's out to get her. However, he slowly falls in love with her, and her with him, despite the two of them being enemies. Now they must find a way to live out their love without the Mikage family or Ceres, who has a vendetta against the Mikages, getting in the way. Of course, there's Yuhi, and there's actually some mutual love between Yuhi and Aya as well, creating a love triangle that can rip Aya apart.

The characters in the anime are all very realistically portrayed. From Toya's quest to find his place in this world to Aya's struggles to remain herself through all that happens around her. The love that slowly develops between Toya and Aya is never forced, and their relationship progresses nicely over the course of the series.

The side characters are all good too, and despite not having so major roles, they fulfill them excellently, and they are portrayed very well too. Most of the characters you will see have some depth to them, which causes your heart to be with them as well, and not only Aya and Toya.

I'm also fond of the character development that takes place during the course of the series - at the end I could see how much they had matured, obviously having learned a few things about life and love during the events that took place during the course of the series.

Studio Pierrot did a nice job on the animation, and despite it being a bit old, it's very good. The lighting effects are very well done, though the same can't always be said about the special effects - they had their moments they too, though. The overall detail is very good, but there's one thing that bugged me, and that was the fact that their hair seemed transparent when in front of their eyes. You can't see your eyes through a layer of hair >_ read more

Ayashi no Ceres:

Story:
A very original plot line, immersing a young woman on her 16th birthday, into a world of danger and constant threat while those who are around her and those who she loves are hurt. With love triangles that are sometimes heart wrenching and at other times very sweet. And with a very important message which you will be blatantly told if you haven't already figured it out by the end of the series.

Characters:
Characters that are simply amazing, follow them all through their pain and trials that they have to overcome. All are excellently portrayed and their feelings really reach you. The romance between some of the characters is just grand, it really gives and shows you the true feeling of love.

Sound:
Soundtrack is just amazing, opening song: Scarlet, must be hands down one of the best openings for an anime. The background played throughout the anime is outstanding with beautiful instrumental and piano music. The voice actors, just wow, their acting, the feeling they put in each character, it is just outstanding, some scenes I actually think in the recording studio the voice actor actually cried.

What is so good about this anime?
For an anime that was released in 2000 the art is simply amazing. The plot line is so intricate and very original. The romance between various characters that really portray their anguish, sadness, happiness, confusion, and love. An amazing soundtrack that completely fits the mood and just makes you want to listen to the songs over and over again. I have to say, this is one of the best romance anime's out there. Enjoy this series. read more

Story: Ayashi no Ceres starts out like an average shojo anime with a mysterious, aloof love interest (naturally), fantasy elements, and a love triangle, but unlike other shoujo, this is based on a Watase Yuu work, so expect a lot of drama and some darker moments (see incest). This show ends up moving in some wild and frankly implausible directions, even aside from the usual angst and drama we come to expect from a shoujo anime. It's not light, that's for sure.

Art: What can I say? It's typical Watase Yuu, but the art, especially for the male characters, is delicate and pretty. As with most shoujo, it's colorful. I imagine if the work was done today, the colors would be even more vivid and glossy and less faded, but they're not at all bad.

Sound: The theme song was awesome. :)

Character: Unfortunately, as happens with many anime that suddenly choose a villain from among the main cast, we can't really say much about the characters because their personalities change wildly when they suddenly become villains or suddenly embody the reincarnated soul of a vengeful spirit (yes, it happens). The characters become plot devices themselves. Events move this story along rather than the characters.

Overall: If you like your romance staid and centered on relationships and characters, then this anime is not for you. If you like your soap operas full of drama, unlikely plot twists, and fantasy, then this may be for you. If you're a Watase Yuu fan, go for it. read more

let me give you a warning, I didn't expect this wasn't going to be that great. Its been from my mind , "ok going to watch it because it seems very interesting and not going to be a great story just another romance plot with dramatic shocking moments for anime with pretty boy and girls" Though i do cry but sometimes force myself. I do cry on Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal, Makoto Shinkai's films for example. Thought in series just a force but for this series, I WAS WRONG!!!! This is my second series to cry so hard with Elfen Lied. If not seen that show too, you better :)
I watched this only 8 episodes yesterday and then Saturday the rest of the time till right now. I forgot that i finished the whole thing till 23 thinking, "OMG I AM in near the last episode already" let me tell you i didn't get tired one bit.

The story in the beginning begins a typical shojo high school teenager of Aya hanging with her twin brother Aki and her friends having so much fun like kareoke. Aya happens to be the best singer in her high school let me say. Then a womens bag got stolen and Aya came to grap the bag from the burglar but then fell off the cliff from the bridge when she tripped. though without her dying, she started to float with a strange ancient symbol. though she landed carefully but was about to get hit by a car but a handsome guy came to save her in time. the guy whose name is touya. Thats just the beginning. From then it was time the twins 16th birthday to celebrate but not going with their friends but to grandpa's house. What happens they didn't expect is as a gift a ancient that awakens them of the ancient fairytale. the fairy tale about a women named ceres came down to heaven and something to her precieces is taken by a man who wouldn't let her leave so beared children together. so yes mixed humen of ceres and the mans blood. Which happens was a true story. For Aya she is the awaken of CERES and AKI is the man who beared her children. So for that rule is Aya for any women that is born a CERES has to be killed from her whole family. So yeah start out cute to intense sci fi, fantasy. Yes has a bunch of love triangle soup opera going on and some cartoonie faces but you forget that. Its not just for girls, its for boys to love this show too. LOTS OF VIOLENCE AND BLOOD!!!

the characters, you might love all of them. Though be one character might hate is Touya. AT first might but then later on the series get to love him which i really did too for wondering why AYA loves them. I promise you, you will. Sadly, characters you'll get to love will die tragically. I kept screaming in my mind with tears.

The theme song "Scarlet", i loved it before found it was in the series. When it was i was surprised my favorite voice japanese voice actress sang this and is the voice of ceres :) Great theme that won't get sick of.

So its an OUTSTANDING SHOW that shouldn't be missed which is my personal favorite :)

For other stuff enjoy which is in the manga FRUITS BASKET. Made me cry more in the manga than the anime did. Enjoy that one too :) read more

Mysterious Ceres is the type of shoujo series that you can't take too seriously but you can still really enjoy it to the max. It's a story filled with a lot of drama, love triangles, teenage angst...not to mention, it's got that whole crazy sci-fi, mystical and trans-generational angle thrown into the mix as well. With all of that, it should suffice to say that we've got ourselves a pretty complex story going on with this anime series, but even so, it's really not that hard of a story to follow....and that's precisely why I'm giving this story high marks because no matter how awesome a story maybe, no matter how super smooth and modern the art might be, if the story isn't told well enough to make a connection to it's audience then it fails as a program....and ultimately it all amounts to a steaming pile of crap. So even though this show, Ceres has had it's uber-EMO moments with all these characters that are either suffering from some sort of bipolar or MPD = Multiple Personality Disorder, I still give it high marks because not once did I roll my eyes in disgust nor did I get bored with it. Mysterious Ceres does tell a good enough story that you'll be able to follow through to it's conclusion all the while being entertained the whole time.

Animation
The animation isn't the best in the world, there's a lot of freeze-frame shots during the fight scenes and sometimes you have the characters making these jumpy, erratic movements when they walk, run or fight. Plus I spotted a few inconsistencies with the coloring as well as with some characters' wardrobes and even inconsistencies with the lengths of their hair. Do I care about all this? Am I that nit-picky? No, but it might bug other viewers so I'm stating it as a matter of fact.

Overall, to me at least, all those flaws and errors made the show more unique and somewhat valiant. Also all those little imperfections in the series help to create [however unintentionally] a kind of vintage feel to it all, like it was something out of the late 80's/early 90's.That's how I was able to cope with it anyway.......


SOUND
Both the OP and 1st ED Theme songs have this very 80's retro vibe to them. The OP especially sounded like one of those cheesy 80's soap opera theme songs. It's all kinds of dramatic and melancholy. And then there's the 2nd ED Theme was more of that forgettable 90's electro-synthesizer POP sound. Was this on purpose? Who knows....but it does kind of fit the overall feel of the series since it did kind of look a lot older than it actually is.


ANIMATION
I think the most important thing to keep in mind when watching this series is that this is really a love story, even though there are tons of action scenes with lots of gunfire, explosions and bloodshed. That somehow even with all the dual personalities, back-stabbing and betrayals worthy of most soap operas, the plotline still remains incredibly basic which is that everyone wants or is somehow connected to the Aya/Ceres character.

At first while watching episode 1, I thought “GAH! What a yucky cheese-fest!” but as soon as they get to Grampa's house for their birthday “celebration” things got pretty good pretty fast.....and that's what make this show a good show to watch! It's not just a cheesy soap opera in anime form nor does it adhere to just one type of basic shtick. This series has a whole bunch of stuff to offer, of course it has the more obvious romance and drama elements, but there are tons of gritty, bloody fight scenes, suspense, shocking revelations and freaky plot twists. Though sometimes I do think they get carried away in some scenes, like for example, which government is going to allow some agency [multi-conglomerate, big business, mafioso or otherwise] to fly a helicopter around the city armed with live ammo and missiles to go around chasing civilian cars and blowing up the highway in the process?

But even with those incredulous moments, I still must say it was a very good story that will shock you and leave you questioning, “how will it all end?”


CHARACTERS
Though Mysterious Ceres isn't considered a 'bishonen' anime exclusively, in my book, it still falls in that category since it's jam packed with lots and lots of extremely good-looking, if not somewhat effeminate, pretty boys! I'm not opposed to bishounen animes...in fact, the more the merrier I say. However I do think these guys kind of looked too similar. Only their hair and eyes were colored differently but they were basically from the same mold as if they were the products of mass production not unlike a certain factory line of Ken dolls. Speaking of mass production, Ceres' face seemed to be the main template being used when drawing women's faces, tho it was rather ingeniously explained away in the story as simply being a coincidental phenomenon thru genetic heredity.

Personality-wise, the main thing I noticed was that the dudes seem to do way more crying than the girls and while it's nice to see a little male sympathy & compassion, they did seem to go a teensy bit overboard with all that bawling, but it's to be expected sometimes with female oriented shows where the girls are empowered in all sorts of ways while the guys are considerably much weaker and also much more emotional.

Also I thought that the Mikage family at times seem a bit too overwrought with all this drama with people dying all over the place it was like something out of one of those ancient Greek tragedies. Every time you met a 'family' member they had a tale of death and personal tragedy to tell, it made you wonder if anyone had a happy childhood or even a happy adulthood for that matter.



ENJOYMENT
All in all this was a pretty good series and despite it's shortcomings art-wise and music-wise, it was still a pretty compelling story that was told in a way that's enjoyable and pretty easy to follow. It's the kind of story that will get a reaction out of you. I found myself saying “Daaaaaaaamn!” out loud lots of times and there are many episodes that will end leaving you wide-eyed with shock and racing with anticipation to see what happens next in the following episode.

It's a show, I would definitely recommend to those interested in this type of show or is a fan of shows with lots of bishounen read more

If you want to experience a heart-wrenching story, filled with passion, hatred and a mystical legend you will enjoy this.
The storyline is deep and although it's fiction, you get to like the characters, you will love, hate and feel with them.

If you'd like to see my full review then leave a comment on my profile.

Characters: The relationships of the family members were the most fascinating in the series. Aya and Aki had the typical brother/sister relationship of bickering and understanding, but after their 16th birthday it became more intense. Aki now desired the maiden inside of Aya. Aya also had a lot of growth, as she fought to control Ceres and save her brother from their power-hungry family. All of the characters have inner demons that they are constantly fighting in order to protect the ones they love.

I love the idea of useing Jap legen to do a anime much like Blue seed did. THe idea that the husband is in the brother and the angel is in the sister is both sad and kind of funny. Its a great love story and not to give up. A great anime that I would recommend to any fan.