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Aoi Bungaku Series is six works of Japanese literature packed into twelve episodes. Perhaps that sounds dull—I mean, old literature always seems kinda boring, but this series presents themes of human morality and emotions in a very different way. Think of this as six different psychological, very short anime if you will, each one with a different topic to make you think about.

Firstly: The narrator at the beginning. He's great, and there's this eerie background music playing in the beginning as he asks us to please watch. The way he introduces the authors' lives (...All of them seem to be very sad. I'm not sure ... why.) and the topics is much better than any OP that could have been used. Unfortunately, the ED is really, really bad. It has a gloomy tone to it which does fit the series, but I dislike it a lot. The voice acting was stellar for each arc.

Now I'll review each arc separately.

1. No Longer Human — This, along with Hashire Melos, were my favorite arcs. The artwork is by Takeshi Obata, clearly seen by the way the protagonist (or antagonist?) resembles Light Yagami. No wonder that the art was great! Yozo's struggles with fitting into human society and the ghost that haunts him are all portrayed spectacularly. The music was gloomy to fit with the tone. I really enjoyed this one even though it gave me this weird feeling of helplessness after I finished it. 10/10

2. In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom — The major problem here is the art. Don't get me wrong, it's great, but it didn't sit well with me after sitting through No Longer Human's realistic arc. The chibis come in at totally wrong time. But perhaps that makes the shock value even better; everything's so cute you never see the horror coming. Regardless, I give this 7/10.

3. Kokoro — Different point of views, that's what this is about. On one hand you have Sensei who has had a cheerful life and looks at things in a different way, then you have K, a pessimistic man who has a different story to tell. First episode's from Sensei's POV, the second one's from K's. Really shocking to hear both sides of the story. Artwork is again by Takeshi Obata and very good. 8/10.

4. Run, Melos! — How far would you go for a friend? Is it worse to wait, or to be the one that makes others wait? Run, Melos asks us these questions. This arc has the best artwork in the entire series, everyone's hair is gorgeous, and this arc was my favorite along with No Longer Human. Really sad.

5. The Spider's Thread — Not as serious as the others but ultimately gives us a great ending. It only needed one episode to get the point across. Art was great and fit the tone of the story, as well as the music. 9/10.

6. Hell Screen — ...Messed up, that's all I can say. It seems that the city is the same as the one from The Spider's Thread. And hell is indeed horrifying. 9/10.

Though In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom is not as well done as the others, Aoi Bungaku provides us with a different approach to seinen. It could even get you interested in Japanese literature. If you like stories that make you think, here are 6 of them in one series. Definitely worth watching.