Genji Monogatari

I read 源氏物語 (Genji Monogatari) last semester for school, and absolutely fell in love with Murasaki Shikibu's work. Naturally, when I discovered an anime based off the tale, I had to watch it. (It can be found on YouTube)

The anime adds a very unique twist to the tale, focusing most on Lady Rokujo's venegeful spirit. With that slightly horror-esque environment, Genji's liaisons have a whole new element, and Genji himself seems more dimensional than in some translations of the tale. If you don't know what I'm talking about, this anime may not make a whole lot of sense to you. The story is vastly ... enriched from allusions to the text, which is why I can give the enjoyment a 9 and the story only an 8. The anime does not go into the arc with Niou and Kaoru.

Overall, my recommendation is:

If you've read the Tale of Genji and enjoyed it: WATCH!
If you haven't read the Tale: Get some background info on his various lovers and then watch. You'll want to focus on Lady of the Evening Faces (Yugao), his wife (Aoi), Lady of the Plum Blossoms (Murasaki), The Empress (Fujitsubo) and Lady Rokujo (subtitled differently in the anime).

this could of been good but its to focus on visuals which are good but everything else ends up a mess

story 3
there needed to be more narration. while normally with movies and shows it should try tell things more with showing. do to the history and connections there needed to be more telling. to help the viewer to understand the connections and characters. the main character and the emperor are the only connections and place in the story that is clear. when it comes to the women it is pretty hard to follow and becomes incoherent. which is bad as in a ... way there connections to the main character is the most important things.this means so much of the value of watching this tail is lost .

art 8
like i said this part is very good. which it better be as the movie gets so distracted by the visuals and art it takes over everything. the art decided to make things closer to old japenese art which it pulls off wonderfully. this is maybe the only reason it might be worth it for some people to watch it. as those who love art and culture will get something unique. this anime loves to have long scenes to try and engulf the viewer in it. the it does over indulge in this to much were it risks you getting bored as a result do to how drawn out they can be.

sound 6
the music is good often using that soothing melody you might of heard if you watched other historic set anime. the sadly as good as it is and its really good specially helping establishing setting . this is the only praise i can give the sound as the voice acting has no emotions. i think this might be a result of the studio trying to do this to help ease the viewer in the setting. the issue is it might be fine with some scenes but the scenes showing the character getting ready for passionate sex. should have a different voice tone then him having a casual conversation . The voice acting should of had more life to them but it basically all characters sound like there talking about boring office stuff.

characters 2
the main character really is the only one who has the slight bit of character. the problem is all there is is he is the the son of the emperor who over time had personal attachments to different women. the movie decided the art should do all the work. so while it might looks absolutely beautiful it badly fails to establish much about these women. the art takes so much control it gets downright incoherent and confusing that narration would of fix a number of issues.

overall 4
in the end this gets so carried away with using music and art to artistically tell this story it sadly fails to let the focus go anywhere else . while it might be interesting to analyze if you love to see something unique and whats parts succeed and fail. this anime might be like a beautifully produced painting but forgets that unlike paintings were you analyze them and enjoy the beauty and make your own meaning base on what your seeing. with anime and shows the reason it is more then just one image is to give a more clear view and give a story. sure for some anime interpretation may play somewhat of a important part but they still need to be establish properly set up and so many other things that make it completely different to looking at art. i want to like this more i really do but unless you have a soft spot for art and culture this is really hard to recommend and i would recommend watching Genji Monogatari Sennenki instead as with a little narration it ends up being so much better at setting things up

Two points of view in one for your entertainment:

1- Me, who didn't know anything about Genji Monogatari prior to seeing this movie. Conclusion: it's boring like hell, slow, the story makes little sense (it does make sense, but is uninteresting), with too many "artistic" slooooow parts.

2- Japanese girlfriend, who is a big fan of Genji Monogatari. Conclusion: This movie is, I quote, "an insult to Genji Monogatari" and the director is "heta kuso" (let's say it means he's shitty weak). Main reason: the story doesn't make much sense even if you have read the story several times in the past, lots of parts are missing.