Alternative TitlesEnglish: Lunar Legend Tsukihime Synonyms: Tsukihime - Lunar Legend, Lunar Legend Moon Princess, Moon Princess, True Lunar Chronicle Tsukihime, Lunar Legends Japanese: 真月譚 月姫
Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 12
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Oct 10, 2003 to Dec 26, 2003
Duration:
24 min. per episode Rating:
R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 7.551 (scored by 11697 users)
Ranked: #8972
Popularity: #151
Members: 19,455
Favorites: 267 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
drama romance supernatural vampire |
SynopsisShiki Tohno sustained a life threatening injury as a child, and due to that incident he was sent away from the Tohno household and was given to a relative to be raised. Years later, when Shiki is in high school, the head of the Tohno household--his father--dies, and he is ordered to move back in by his sister Akiha, who is the new head of the household. However, Shiki holds a huge secret. Ever since that injury, he has been seeing lines on objects, and only with a special pair of glasses is he able to stop seeing them. Also he is unable to remember anything well from the time before his accident. The day he moves back to the Tohno household is the day he stumbles upon a woman named Arcueid Brunstud and decapitates her with one stab of his knife in a temporary fit of insanity. When she suddenly showed up beside him later alive and well, and ask him to be her bodyguard, Shiki's journey to unravel the mysteries of his past begins.
from ann |
Related AnimeAdaptation: Tsukihime
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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kaminakun
35 of 57 people found this review helpful
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12 of 12 episodes seen
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
*It is almost criminal to not watch this anime.*
"... fans ... treat the anime as ... an in depth synopsis of the visual novel and the manga."
I stumbled across this hidden treasure while watching the Kara no Kyoukai (KnK) movie series. If you have not seen the KnK movies, please feel free to skip to the next paragraph. For those who have seen the movies, perhaps the first thing that will capture your interest is the name Shiki and the "Mystic Eyes of Anime Death Perception" as both of these are also in Shingetsutan Tsukihime. As you get further into the story, you will realize there are more similarities than meet the eyes, but for the purpose of this review I will not get into those details.
The general concept of the story, much like the KnK series which this anime is based upon, revolves around mysterious supernatural forces like vampires or human with special abilities. The anime is a direct adaptation of the Tsukihime visual novel that was released in 2000 by TYPE-MOON, who is most famous for their work on Fate/stay night. At around the same time when the anime started to broadcast, its manga also got serialized and began to publish.
Although both the anime and manga follow the same route from the game (there are 2 routes in the game with multiple endings), most fans tend to treat the anime as nothing more than an in depth synopsis of the visual novel and the manga. It will become apparent as you watch deeper into the show that many events and battles happen too quickly an could have been better explained. So for those who are confused about the events in the anime, I recommend trying to read the manga or play the game if you can get your hands on it (there is a revised 2009 edition of the visual novel coming out later this year with improved artwork and story so you may choose to wait for that).
For a pre-HD era anime, the animation level is extremely high with some nice CG effects and character designs (even by today's standard). Perhaps the most appealing aspect of Shingetsutan Tsukihime is the soundtrack. From the OP to in battle musical theme, the instrumental music (ie. violins) really brings out the uniqueness of the show especially during combats.
But what bugs me about Shingetsutan Tsukihime is that the show did not put enough time and effort into developing the supporting casts. While the main characters have decent character traits, the minor characters lacked any form of realism and background. For instance, Yumizuka (although appeared in almost every single episodes) lacked a certain persona to make her feel like a real person. All we know is she loves Shiki, but she did not play much of a role in the anime. The maid twins is another good example of a lack of character growth (they started and ended the show without any change). Anyhow, with that said, it is worth mentioning that we do get a fair bit of screen time seeing the main characters develop themselves and their relationships with one another.
Overall, the show managed to maintain the structural, core components of the original game story but at the expense of a very much condensed action scenes and somewhat ignored support characters. Highly recommend this to KnK fans (since Tsukihime takes place in the same universe and there are direct relations between the two). read more
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dataznmaverick
65 of 107 people found this review helpful
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12 of 12 episodes seen
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| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
You might be wondering. I gave all the rest of the criteria 10's. But why is the overall a 6?
It started a long time ago, when I got word of a highly acclaimed, super popular doujin game called Tsukihime. Although I was never a fan of the 'point & click' type of anime games, this game caught my interest, because of how several rave reviewers were praising this game's depth, plot and amazing characters.
So I got it and played it. Boy, did it have all of the aforementioned stuff plus a whole lot more. By the end, I was hooked. And something happened to me after going through Tsukihime that rarely happens; I fell in love with the characters and the story...particularly with Arcueid. It is one of those stories that touch your heart and inspire you to become a different and better person. And change me for the better it did.
And several years later, when I heard that TYPE-MOON were releasing an anime adaptation, I became as one might say, a giddy little schoolboy.
And when I first saw the teaser trailers, I got even more pumped. It seemed as if the anime was going to be magical. Finally, an adaptation where they were going to get it right...at least that's what I thought so initially.
And after finishing the anime for the first time, I was grateful that they made a lot of changes. They did kept the dark tone. And the soundtrack was amazing too. Again, it was dark and low-key. The opening song was particularly of interest. I often find myself repeating the minute-long song over and over again in my iPod.
However, much to my relief, they removed all the cheesy gadgets of the plot that were there in the original game. No longer, were there mentions about Marble Phantasm (an attack name in the original game) or any other cheesy vampire jargon like that. I was glad, because those elements made the game like a shonen (and anyone who knows me knows that I hate shonens).
So I finished watching the entire anime the first time. I was impressed by how well they kept true to the original story. The 'physical anime' interpretation of the last episode was perhaps the best. It overjoyed me to the point of tears. The way they brought Arcueid to life was also a joy. Her design in my opinion, was also superior to the original's, because here, she looks more mature, beautiful and elegant.
I wanted more. Seeing as how there are no sequels (something which I am actually grateful of), I decided to re watch the series again to relive the experience. And here's where things began to go wrong.
Mistake #1:
I began to realized that, although the story was brilliant, that it worked under the assumption that the viewer had played the game before. As a result, the brilliant story wouldn't be as appreciated by someone who hadn't played the game. No wonder there were many reviews that criticized the storyline for being incoherent and leaving a lot of loose ends. I understood the story only because I had played the game. Most people haven't.
Mistake #2
The story also meanders...a lot. There is a lot of filler segments where everything moves so slowly. Meaningless pauses during conversations also ruin the mood. These pauses would've worked so much better if the camera was shaky, or at least was doing something dynamic to compensate for the lack of action. Perhaps the writers were trying to create a certain ambiance to suit the dark story. Even as someone who appreciates silence as a means of tension, I did not like it. They try to create tension, but there is not enough release to compensate.
For instance, in one segment where the main character tries to look for a door to match the key he found earlier, the scene goes on for too long without any dynamics. Two minutes are wasted on one still angle of him going from door to door, looking for one that will match his key. That scene made me sick.
Mistake #3
Removing certain plot elements which could've actually helped. On one hand, they managed to simplify the story so that all the unnecessary mystic terminology was removed, and that really helped keep the dark tones of the story. However, on the other hand, a subplot involving Hisui and Yumizuka could've seriously added more impact to the story and the ending would've been much more tragic (and subsequently, so much better).
Wrapping it up, it seems apparent to me that the biggest mistake of this anime, was whoever the person who was directing this anime. He is no Miyazaki. A lot of his storyboards and camera angles simply were not effective and brought the anime's pacing to the equivalent of a drone.
It was evident that he had too much funds to waste. In the beginning, where the plot wandered the most, everything was slow and unorganized. However, according to the news, the studio had run low on money at the end of the series. And coincidentally, that was when the story started to become tighter and focused. The final episode is still the best episode. It was perhaps the one episode I can watch from start to finish without skipping parts.
I am sure that if the studio responsible was given less money, the anime would've been much better because the studio would've been much more focused. And, if there were less episodes, who knows that it might have been better.
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Make no mistake. This is an exceptional anime. It is way superior to a lot of animes that have been released over the years. And as an anime adaptation, it stands out by being superior to the original in many ways.
And I will still continue to watch this anime into the future to relive scenes from the game which would normally take hours to do (considering that the game was all text and that I had to spend an hour reading a scene).
However, I am disappointed in the creators for not making the anime the masterpiece it should have been, simply because it is not organized. It had the music, the characters, the design and feel. The 10's I gave were technically not for this anime. Since this is not an adaptation, not a original story, these points are actually for the game.
It should not have gone wrong. Shame on you Geneon. read more
Recommendations
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Both series originaly derive from visual novels by Type-Moon.
The stories are also somewhat similar, both featuring a teenage boy being drawn into a conflict, supported by many female characters, and both series have strong female main characters.
If you by any chance liked the anime of the highly-celebrated eroge game Tsukihime, there's no reason for a person who played Fate/Stay Night to not see the anime. Despite lacking the in-depth story telling present in the games, any fan should at least watch it and compare it to them. Of course that for those who haven't played both games, and loved or enjoyed watching Shingetsutan Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night should be something they should watch as well. Same universe, different place, different setting. Can you make any connections between both series or their characters?
Based on one of TYPE-MOONs visual novels as well. Written by Nasu Kinoko.
When the main male char runs into the vampire princess Tsukihime one day, his life changed drastically. Together with Tsukihime he fights against the evil guy, so in this way it is similar to Fate/stay night. It has also a similar ending.
Very similar in tone and look. Involves supernatural themes in a vaguely similar way and the male protagonists are similar in their approaches as well. Definitely worth a look.
Both anime's are based on adaptions of games by Type-Moon. Each of them contains plenty of drama and supernatural events. Fate/stay night has a more fleshed out anime adaption than Tsukihime.
Both by Type-Moon. Almost everything besides the shows specific things seem the same.
Although the plot itself has nothing to do with Fate, people who liked Fate usually like more productions by Type Moon, and this is one of them.
Also Produced by Type-Moon and takes place in the same universe
In both animes the main character is a boy whose life is in danger. Then he gets involved with a girl from another world who becomes his fighting partner. Both animes have quite a sad, serious feeling. Fate/stay night might be a bit more flashy.
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Seinen animes with very dark backgrounds, you're totally into it and that's what is really interesting.
Same gore and dark mysterious plot. Very deep storyline like Elfen lied. Lots of emotion and character development on only 12 episodes.
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Opening Theme"The Sacred Moon" by Toshiyuki Oomori
Ending Theme"Rinne No Hate Ni..." by Fumiko Orikasa
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