Ranked #2463

Amatsuki

I'll start by telling you that the manga this thirteen-episode series is based on, has been running for over three years now. From this alone, you can deduce that it's too short, and doesn't end properly. That's very true, and these thirteen episodes seem like an introduction arc to something much more grand. But despite being too short, it showed so much potential that I'm gonna read the manga. And hope for a second season.

Read the sumamry, and you'll have the basic premise of this show. Rikugou Tokidoki gets trapped in an alternate world, where demons and the like isn't an unsual thing. After getting trapped here, he is suddenly confronted with a lot of things; he has to change the way he thinks about and lives life, and he's the one person in that world who doesn't have a fate, which has resulted in him possessing a special power. Amatsuki also begins to explore the relations between demons and humans: are either good or evil? Is there something else behind it all?

As I said, it sets the base for one helluva great show, and then stops. Fortunately, they didn't try to resolve things that much during the course of the thirteen episodes. I say fortunately because this definitely leaves room for a new season to continue the show, something they might not have been able to if they tried to close up the ending.

The characters are all okay, with some great supporting characters and a new kind of main character in Tokidoki. He's not the completely laid-back type, and he's definitely not the overly rash type of guy. He's just a kind guy who cares for those around him without having to show it by killing everyone around him.

Studio DEEN did a great job on the animation. The coloring is good, shading effects are good too, backgrounds are great, and characters designs are fine, with the exception of their eyes; the pupils are a bit large compared to the size of the eyes. I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of it. Nevertheless, the animation's great.

The soundtrack is really great, though a bit unvaried; it was the same few background songs that played during the series, and I noticed that one of them was just an instrumental version of the ED theme, which in its original vesion is astounding. The OP theme's good too. The soundtrack did a decent job for this series, but it lacked a few things to become truly awesome.

One more thing to note is that things may happen a bit quickly at times; this is most likely a product of its short length. I've noticed other people complaining about this, and true enough, I didn't quite catch what was happening without pausing and/or rewinding a few times to think over things.

All in all Amatsuki is a series that may leave you a bit confused, and it'll make you long for a second season, but it's definitely good, and it holds the potential to become truly great. It just needs a second season!

To 'Not Helpful' voters (and you 'Helpful' voters too): Feedback greatly appreciated =) read more

Amatsuki is an interesting show. It has all the elements that should make it great - interesting show mythology, intriguing moral dilemmas, some interesting and cool characters, an interesting and unique setting, and some supernatural stuff at play. The first couple episodes really draw you in a promise a good story. What the show gives falls somewhat short of that. Throughout the show, all manner of hints are teased out about what the large plot of the story is and where it is going, who the characters are and why they are important and all that manner of thing. However, while the show builds up all the main plot, it actually focuses on a much smaller plot, a single story piece. While this enjoyable, and does occasionally illuminate the larger scope of the show, it merely only hints at what could be truly great. In the end, the show does resolve its story properly but leaves you wondering about the larger, overarching plot and really feels like the first part of an epic continuous story. While I did appreciate how the smaller plot was handled, over several episodes - so it didn't feel like useless filler, the larger plot elements were not elaborated on enough and the show really left you wanting much more. To that end, a continuation is hopefully in the works because the story just seems to getting started (The Manga itself is still ongoing). I, for one, was very interested in the plot and enjoyed all the supernatural elements. This is definitely a series I'd be watching the second part of. The art is exceptional, very nice to look at and there are some very interesting and skillful artistic effects. Otherwise, it serves its purpose well as it deals with ghostly entities and monsters. The character designs are interesting. Some of them are very unique and interesting to see. The most interesting looking characters are also the most interesting in terms of plot and are actually characters worth watching. Heihachi is one that surprised me in the end. His character, for an ordinary person in such a strange world, plays out very well. The music is also particularly appealing. The opening theme is wonderful but all the internal music is appropriate and compelling as well. Overall, I'd say this is a wonderful show that has much story to deal with yet, hopefully in a sequel series. read more

Story (7.0) - For me, the story is a decent one. In my opinion, the story started very well in the first episodes, but as the anime came close to the end, it started to look a little confusing, with some episodes with almost no advance in the storyline.
The last episode was not bad, but could also have been better.
The story itself has some interest, also has some action, but there are some flaws like slow progress, confusing aspects,...
Interesting, but no more than a 7 here.

Art (6.3) - in a short sentence: Not impressive! Design and animations doesnt look that good as they should, so just a 6 here.

Sound (6.0) - Although it isnt bad, i didnt like it very much. The opening is acceptable, the ed i didnt like it, the background music and voices aspect are not fantastic, this aspect is just an average aspect, that´s why i give it a 6.

Characther (5.0) - This aspect is not good. During the anime, i cant understand the role of many of the characters. Some vanish after 1 or 2 appearences, others rarely appear, even the main ones almost do nothing during the series except for tokidoki.
In my opinion, this aspect was not develloped as it should be, and this makes a big impact in the anime. After watching amatsuki, i dont know a thing about most of the characters, and i can say for sure that all of them are far far away for having chances to be in my favourites.

Enjoyment (6.2) - It could be interesting indeed, but it has major flaws. The lack of action in some moments, some confusing aspects in the story, episodes that come out of nowhere and lack of logical sequence is what i can point this show as mistakes. So, the show turned out to be just an mediocre show.

overall (6.0) - I could say for sure that this show had potential to be better. The first 2 episodes were interesting, but then it started to miss in some important aspects and turned out to be confusing, boring in some moments and slow.
with a better organization could have been much better, as it is i cant give it more than a 6.


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Story:
The first two episodes caught my attention a decent bit, but after that it slowly died down. Episode 7 was the peak of the series where a decent cliffhanger was left and we finally got some action, but that slowly whittled away with episodes 8, 9, and 10 failing to advance the story. Only in the final episode, 13, do we begin to understand the purpose and direction of this series...a bit late don't you think? Nevertheless, the final episode shot up the story rating for me since it opens up the possibility of a second season where the story will hopefully begin to make sense and get interesting (as depicted by episode 13 ending credits). The ending of the series was clearly better than anything I had anticipated for this train-wreck series. As for what else that hinders the story rating, it's not "noob" friendly since from what I've seen, manga readers have thoroughly understood the series quite well despite all the chaos and mess whereas non-manga readers clearly do not: 7/10

Art:
It is most likely the raw quality, but the art didn't really stick out to me. There were also several shots where the characters looked ridiculously distorted from their original image throughout the series, so the artwork definetely was not top notch in this series nor did it seem like a priority (though this may change once DVDs are out): 3/10

Sound:
I like the ending theme. The op theme is also okay (not fantastic though). The rest of the music and bgms throughout the series was just average: 7/10.

Character:
With the constant removal/disappearence of several characters like Shinshu, Tsuruume, Ginshu, Kon, Shamon, and eventually Kuchiha (lack of dialogue in final episode), it's rather annoying. At one point it was dwelling on Kuchiha's character, but it then shifted rather suddenly to Toki's character and then leaving everyone in the dust. Episode 8 was noteworthy in particular where Kuchiha's past was all explained out of the blue. So character development was clearly not a strong point in this series: 4/10

Enjoyment:
As said before, I like the first two episodes, and episode 7 and 13, but for the most part it was rather boring as I had no clue what was going on. In addition, the story was moving far too slow for a 13 episode series, especially with no announcement of a second season at the moment: 4/10

Overall:
This series could have been much better in so many different ways: had it made better use of the episodes in between the series, or expanded it to a 26 episode series, or explained some of the terminology or point of story sooner, or organized the chronology of the series better. There are far too many weaknesses ins this series, so this is really just a mediocre/average series: 5/10 read more

Passed during a mysterious parallel thought of Edo period, Amatsuki is a very interesting anime that explores the relationship between the basic religious classes of Shinto: Demons, Humans, Kami and the Heaven.

The first thing we have to remember to be able to fully enjoy this is that these "classes" are completely unrelated to anything you may find in the montheist Western religions we're used to. Demons, Humans and Kami (the spirits of things, if I am allowed to simplify) live in unrelated worlds, bounded by thin bridges, while the Heaven is a higher place where everything belongs. It is in Heaven (Ten) that the destiny is forged and inserted in matter. Everything is ok in Amatsuki, the Edo mirror, until this young man Toki appears. Happens that young Toki also has the ability to forge destiny! Which dwells into the desire to change it.

The story is absolutely interesting because of this setting. Some of the characters know what the destiny will be and will want to change it, while the main character is driven through a madness of a world that he does not know, trying to fit himself, please everyone and keep up with the people he loves.

The art is not refined, but appropriate, and the portrays of demons are very amusing. It fits well the characters: an assortment of hot guys (for my fangirl pleasure), original designs for the paranormal beings and delicacy of clothes for the girls. The personalities of the characters are also very interesting, from the lazy demon boss to the shy and short tempered possessed girl. However, the main character fails them. A boy that never had any problem, has no reason for being kind, accepts everything just because... Too ideal.

A beautiful world surrounded by a beautiful musical score, with the great defect of being too short. The secondary story (heart-taking and inspiring, for what matters) took all the time, while the primary was left open with a declaration of war to the Heavens. This outrageous ending makes Amatsuki deserve its fair score. All we can hope is that a second season is written in our destiny. read more

I'll start this out by saying that I was extremely disappointed in this series. As others have mentioned, it's a 13 episode anime based on a long running manga. After completing the anime I view it as a prequel to the manga (that captures the first volume or so of the manga).

Other series have done the prequel thing much better (such as Ga-Rei Zero), where they explain everything properly and don't expect you to have insider knowledge of the story. Unfortunately, this isn't the case in Amatsuki. It starts out slow with plenty of time to get to know the characters, then picks up in a frenzy of effort to shove story and meaning into only a handful of episodes. Not only that, but many things are dropped in and forgotten about.

For example, what the heck is a nue and yakou and what do that have to do with the story? The nue appears a whopping twice and yakou runs around acting important but never really explained. The main character wants to solve a priestess's curse, but never does. In fact, he seems to have forgotten about his mission by the end of the anime. And why is he in Edo anyway? He started out in a virtual Edo, then suddenly is sucked into a real Edo where he finds his friend Kon as well, yet he never returns home nor puts any effort into finding out why he's there.

I suspect all the loose ends are tied up in the manga, but without a second season this anime falls seriously flat. read more

I have to say i really really like this anime. I usually don't watch shonen, but this one really intrigued me. So, shoujo lovers ~ give it a try!
Story:
The storyline has its ups and its downs. It can be really exciting at times and intriguing (makes you think...moral-wise at least). However, sometimes its hard to see where the plot is exactly heading...especially since there are only 13 episodes and I'm still not sure how everything is going to come together in one episode...but we'll see lol (and hope for a second season).
I really like the art style! There're plenty of bishies for those who like 'em and monster-types for others :) The arts pretty easy on the eyes and flows well ~ I don't really have any complaints, it's just not...overly-amazing, i guess?
Sound-wise - the opening/endings weren't my favorite, but they weren't bad either. I really do like the background music however, it's traditional and sounds really pretty and fits too!
Characterization was pretty good, you see some growth in some of the main characters, but not all. Some of the characters are a little flat BUT others are amazing and memorable! You can really get attached to them <3
Overall enjoyment I went ahead and put an 8 - I'm not really sure what it is about this anime, but I just really do enjoy it - the art, the plot, the characters ~ I really would like to see it continue so that it can continue to develop more thoroughly - it feels like it's going to just be cut off if it ends now...but give it a try. It's not just the same anime, it's got some different and the same (of course) aspects. So give it a try! ^-^


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I really enjoyed Amatsuki and was extremely disappointed when I got to episode 13 and it ended. Just to let you all know, this anime was never completed. One of the staff members went to jail for a drug related issue and production was halted. I have no idea when the show will continue... or if it will even continue at all.

That said, the manga is still on-going. The anime covers the first 24 chapters of the manga if you want to know where to pick up from if you liked this and want an ending. I know that I personally will continue this through the manga and hope for the show to be continued at some point in the near future.


The art is fantastic and the story is fairly original (there is only on other anime I can think of that has a similar story and that is .hack//sign)

If you've already started watching this, it won't hurt to finish it then pick up the manga at chapter 25. If you haven't started wathing this, I would not recommend the anime (at least until you are finished with the manga.) read more

Sit down. Press play. Watch the song and the opening credits. Press pause when it finishes. Congratulations, you just watched the summary of Amatsuki.

As weird as it sounds, the plot of this anime is so small you can actually see all of it in the intro song. And I don’t even mean it repeats on every episode either. It really is just what the intro will show you and nothing more in terms of plot. There is of course a lot more story than just that but it will be nothing but talking and talking and talking some more. And it’s not like talking alone is not enough to make a good series but the nature of the story by default is supposed to include more.

Let me be more analytical (as I always am). First of all the premise of the story is cliché as frakk so don’t mind it if you want to have hopes of enjoying the anime. And since it is revealed right away, it is no spoiler to mention that it’s about an indecisive lead magically taken back in a time full of mysticism, ugly monsters, and beautiful warriors. Because he has this broken power in his left eye that can surpass the Gods and thus becomes the epicenter of the story. The premise is indeed overused these days if you look around. People taken to magical lands and having magic eyes or transform to demons is no longer as rare as funky as it used to be.

But it still sounds like a great premise for a story despite the cheese, doesn’t it? Sure it does; I mean it has demons and miko priestesses and demon-morphing samurai women and talking dolls. Well I’m afraid in practice it is presented in the dullest way imaginable so don’t get you hoped up. It could work despite its cheese if it was just shown nice. Like, with great action, or great characters, or great animation. Which it didn’t… somewhat. Production values are rather high and the allusions to mythology and mysticism are great but the feeling of excitement lacks completely. If a magician wants to pull a rabbit out of a hat, he doesn’t need to worry on how to do it right but also how to do it in a fancy way. Something that this anime lacks like water in the desert.

Here is what happens in each episode more or less in a non-spoiler way. The lead goes somewhere, sees something, talks with someone. Some supernatural thing appears, says some weird mystical words, a few slashes are exchanged and the episode ends. That’s it.

As much as I want to give it some credit for the effort given in making the world look nice or the story to appear mysterious, it still feels like having your grandmother reading you a bed time story. It is supposed to make you be interested in what happens but in practice you just fall asleep. There are no WOW moments in it to wake you up either. I mean there is a scene with battling a Nue monster, a scene with a woman turning demon and a scene with a talking doll blasting weird stuff out of its mouth. All the above are done in the simplest and driest way possible, thus losing any impact on you.

In a way, the plot of this anime is the opposite of a heavy brainless action anime like Bleach. Where Amatsuki has the method of telling important things in a dull way, Bleach tells you useless things in an exciting one. And unfortunately, anime are supposed to be entertainment and not a school essay on feudal mysticism, thus the second method wins in this case. Thus all the charm of this anime is lost because of wrong implementation.

As I said earlier, the production values are rather high as the sceneries have very good variety, the characters nice looks and the visual effects look mystical enough to fit properly in the story’s themes. At the same time, all these are just… dull. There is not much choreography during body movements and the fact most of the duration is talking, feels like they are standing still. The jaws move a bit, which is always a good extra but the way the limbs move is like they are bored to move or stiff from too much sitting idle. And the eyes of the cute characters, well, they look stupid. Like watching Mickey Mouse or something; they don’t fit with the setting. Nor do the bijin characters fit in either. What is this, all the main characters are like top models. Fan pleasing or not, there are still no connection points. And no, not even bijins were enough to make the plot more interesting.

Now about the characters. Besides the fact they have stupid eyes or are date-sim material, each one has a distinctive role in the story. They are definitely not cardboards and each adds something to the whole. The whole in this case is the lead finding out what is going on with his eye and the power to see monsters. That practically means the universe revolves around one character with all others being just allies or adversaries. And since the main character is a spineless wuss with zero battle experience and no idea what’s going on, you can just imagine how terrible it feels. Powerful mystics swarm him and talk and talk and talk and… don’t do anything else. Where is some action dammit? Why this magical world full of monsters and swords and stuff is like that but nothing happens? Why not just having a normal setting if you don’t plan to use them?

So you see, this anime has its way to not only fail to excite you with what is going on but also to disappoint and even enrage you with what never happens. At first it makes you think it will be a mystical journey in far away lands through caves and dungeons, filled with traps and monsters, where in the end the secret to enlightenment awaits. Well forget it, not only there are no traps and monsters but also the only journey you see is walking around in a temple and talking with various people throughout the series. Not only that, but the ending does not even offer anything. Because it doesn’t exist! It just stops in the middle of it in the most dull and uneventful way possible. Such joy.

Down to it, the main idea of the anime is good in terms of story and characters but the presentation is damn dull and unfinished. If you happen to have watched a few episodes of 12 Kingdoms, Inu Yasha, or Full metal Alchemist then Amatsuki has no reason for you to even bother with it. Not only that, but even if you are new to the field and give it a try, it will most likely still feel duller than an average Hollywood action film; thus you still won’t enjoy it.

Well, I warned you and that’s it. The rest is up to you. Maybe you will see it differently and like it for its other merits. I definitely had a nice nap with it playing on the tely. read more

Short review:

I really enjoyed the first episode. The story was much promising and i kinda liked the characters. However after the first episode the story doesn't really go anywhere and lacks any kind of twists. The ending was also random. I got bored as hell, and was disappointed in the end. 4 story, 8 art (art was quite good actualy), Sound 7 (nothing special), character 7 (nothing special), Enjoyment 3 (there was nothing to enjoy since nothing was special). Overall 4. Don't get swain away because you liked the the first episode.

Interesting characters, well drawn and generally enjoyable but the show it self doesn't really get past the introduction stage and ends without really starting anything. I'd only recommend this to you if you intend to read the manga after your done.

I tried to watch this, but it just didn't catch my attention. The characters were pretty bland, and the storyline did not seem to go anywhere to me. I dropped it after a couple of episodes. Even if it picks up later I do not think that I will watch it. An show has to give me something to keep me interested; if it is bland the first 10 episodes and picks up the last 15, I won't be there to see it through.

Ok so first let me start off by saying this anime was truly promising. Tokidoki a character who was very anxious and stressed after failing has to do a project and gets stuck in this museum based on the edo era. He immediately gets attacked, a girl saves him and from there he figures out that he isn't imagining or wearing those glasses that projected him into the edo era anymore! I was loving this anime, but it slowly fizzled out with a not so appealing ending with absolutely no resolution. I wasn't impressed.

The story could've been amazing! It could have brought you into the edo era and gave you gold giving a story like no other! However that's just not how it went. The story went well and followed through until finale. Then it fizzled out with every other anime that had no resolution like Umineko no Naku Koro ni, or deadman's wonderland.

So in overall because it built me up to let me down I sadly gave it the rating of a 3. read more