Gilgamesh

In an attempt to gather information on immortality, scientists from around the world have assembled to study "Heaven's Gate"—the tomb turned laboratory of the mythical king Gilgamesh. But soon enough, the research is deemed unethical and all planned work comes to a halt. However, a group of terrorists pay this no thought and storm into Heaven's Gate, ultimately causing an explosion that leads to the collapse of the advanced information civilization.

Many years after the incident, the siblings Tatsuya and Kiyoko Madoka are on the run from thugs. Yet this seems to be the least of their worries as they find themselves in the midst of a war between two powerful cryptic factions. With both groups claiming to fight for the betterment of society, Tatsuya and Kiyoko will have to find a way to decide who to trust.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Madoka, Tatsuya Main

Namikawa, Daisuke Japanese

Kageyama, Hiroko Main

Saiga, Mitsuki Japanese

Novem Supporting

Shibuya, Shigeru Japanese

Sex Supporting

Tamomura, Shin Japanese

Madoka, Kiyoko Supporting

Nakamura, Chie Japanese

Omuro, Fuko Supporting

Kobayashi, Sanae Japanese

Madoka, Terumichi Supporting

Namikawa, Daisuke Japanese

Yuki, Reiko Supporting

Araki, Kae Japanese

Kazmatsuri, Hayato Supporting

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Octo Supporting

Mito, Takashi Japanese

Kawando, Kenjirou Producer

Takahata, Yuuichirou Assistant Producer

Murata, Masahiko Director

Iwanami, Yoshikazu Sound Director

Reviews

Apr 22, 2008

Tsumayouji

Recommended

I can safely say that this is one of the more origianl series that I've had the fortune of seeing. Edgy, dark, and tantilizingly mysterious this series will grip your mind and emotions and squeeze them violently before letting them go. That being said, this is definetly more of an "accquired tase."

~Story~

The plot synposis does not in the least do this anime justice. I get the impression that most people who just look at the plot summary provided here will perceive the anime as being something radically different from what it actually is, not to mention it really over-simplifies matters. Let me say that the ... intricate story really drives the anime. You don't really know exactly what's going on until the very end, which keeps things exciting but can also be very aggravating. The plot, backstory, and characters themselves are all revealed bit by bit rather than all at once. Certain aspects are given in a straight-forward fashion such as Kazmatsuri's backstory but most everything dealing directly with the main conflict is shrouded in mystery. The show's tagline: "Whose side are you on?" is rather befuddling in that you don't have any concept of the true motivations and natures of the two warring sides until the very end of the anime. While everything seems to boil down to the explosive and twist filled ending, this anime is not one that I found to be end-enduring; in other words, you didn't keep watching solely due to the anticipation of some profound conclusion like you do when watching Witch Hunter Robin. The anime itself was entertaining and each episode self-sustaining.

A word of caution: this anime is extremely saturated with symbolism. As such, those with analytical perferences may enjoy it more than those who don't like to delve too deeply into metaphors or philosophy. However, the anime is still rewarding for the latter category...until the end that is. The ending is very in your face symbolic/deeper meaning, and if you're not willing to try and puzzle out what certain things mean in the grand scheme of things, you will feel cheated. I myself initially thought the ending was a total creative cop-out the first time I saw it. After spending hours scouring fan forums, reading the interpretations of fellow fans, and also reading essays on the Epic of Gilgamesh on which the show derives its name and borrows some narrative and thematical elements, I now greatly respect and appreciate the ending. So, if you are unwilling to read up on the Epic of Gilgamesh and discuss the ins and outs of the metaphors snuggled in the ending, I'd warn you to bypass this anime or else risk great disappointment.

~Art~

The art style was what originally drew me to the series because its so different from anything currently out there. I will admit that it takes some getting used to. The majority of the production is filled with dark, cool color schemes and shies away from pastels and vibrant colors with the excpetion of the color red, which is used liberally to emphasis emotion, passion, violence, and character associations. The character designs are all very distinctive, strong, and unique. They too take some getting used to what with the clumped, sharp looking hair, deep, penetrating eyes, and large lips. The one character who looks incredibly and immediately awesome in the given style is that of The Countess. I am of the opinion that the entire style was implemented just for her character.

My one beef with the art of the show is that some of the action sequences are a bit sketchy. It almost seems like certain enouncters are more implied rather than shown, which can be irritating. The degree to which the action sequences are developed fluctuates greatly with some being gorgeously choreographed and others seeming hasty and incomplete.

~Sound~

From sound effects, to background noises, to in episode music, this anime excels in its ability to sate musical desire. The only bit of music in the series that I would not call high caliber would be the ending theme. My roomie and I had a good laugh at the long standing joke that I could sing just as well as the ending theme singer, and let me just make this painfully clear: I can't sing. At all. It's akin to hearing a cat get run over at high speeds on a mile trek of broken glass. That being said, the ending theme did grow on me. Wether this was due to the immense pleasure I got out of caterwalling along with it each time it played or due to a genuine enjoyment of it, I can't really say. In any event, I recommend joyfully belting out the ending theme each time you get to it for all your neighbors to "enjoy."

~Character~

I don't really feel like commenting much on this one. I will tell you that I liked each and every character in the series. Especially Kazmatsuri. At first glance, he's a cold-hearted jerkface. But after you get to know him...he's cold-hearted jerkface. The main reason I love him is specifically for one scene towards the end of the anime. I won't tell you what happens, but look for the episode in which the kids go demand answers from him at his home. My roomie and I about died laughing because of something he does after they leave ( I suppose the humor or lack there of is purely subjective, though, but at least his action is unexpected). Look for it!

All in all, this is a delightfully wonderful series. Not for the faint of heart or young of age, mind you. It does get a wee bit violent and generally deals with things in a more mature manner. (It's nowehere near Akira, Elfen Lied, or Hellsing standards though. Meh. I'm venturing it'd be in the PG-13ish range...ish. Some scenes are gorey.). It's not for lovers of things light and fluffy although it does have some preciously fluff filled moments. But, if you're in for something original and you've got a desire to go all english essay and analysis happy, I'd say go and get this. Now! DO IT NOW!

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Nov 12, 2023

JoeStraatmann

Mixed Feelings

I can't tell you whether I love this show or hate it. I can't tell you whether it's a brilliant burst of creativity that overcomes a miniscule budget with maniacal glee towards a story nobody else would touch without cleaning up the rough edges, or a cruel and nihilistic attempt at scoring points with the pretentious crowd, name-dropping titles like "The Sheltering Sky" along the way to let them know they're buds. Did I watch an anime that is a wild ride that shows what really happens when people play God, or pointless drivel that punches down on scientists who already have enough problems being ... demonized as it is ("Peer review" is definitely everyone gathering in a Dark City-esque room where they all discuss how they should best evolve into super beings. Nailed it)?

Yes. No. I don't know.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 29, 2009

zawa113

Not Recommended

This was a horrible series, what more can I say? Well plenty, I checked this out because many anime review sites gave it overwhelmingly positive scores (I mostly check for how the ratings change on a per disc basis and Gilgamesh's scores for the most part went up from the first volume to the last). Now, I try not to let other reviews flavor my opinion of what to expect from the show, but at the very least I was expecting something actually good.

The story was just horrible, I popped in the first disc and saw the first 5 episodes and found myself with a ... reaction I'd never had before: wtf did I just watch? There have been plenty of times where I pop in the first disc and see the first 4 or 5 episodes and go "this looks promising, looks like it will improve" or "that was average and looks like it'll only get worse" or "that was great, next disc please!" or even "that was god awful, I can't believe I even finished the disc", but this was a resounding "I'm not really sure wtf this is, I can't even tell if it's going to get worse or better" and that pretty much describes what I felt during my entire viewing of the show. If I hadn't paid actual money for it, I probably would have just thrown it away after the first 10 episodes or so. See, from time to time, the series would introduce a single plot idea or point that I thought could lead on to something more interesting, which at the very least kept me watching, only to disappoint me by either just letting it trail off, explaining the plot point away with horrible writing, or just making a mess of it. And it would do this every other episode or so. The characters were slightly better if only because they had to talk to each other. But by no means could I call the characters "good", they ended up being as dull and interesting as the plot most of the time with most of the enjoyment coming from being curious about why they have psychic powers (and no, the explanation for that wasn't good either). It was nice to see the four teens act like teens from time to time and that was clearly where they were the most interesting and had some capacity to develop and watching the show didn't feel like a chore, but in the end both the characters and story just felt like an unrewarding mess. It was like being teased with a $100 bill on the end of a fishing rod and chasing it in hopes of getting it only to find out that it's a $1 when you finally get it after all that effort. The ending was clearly the $1 bill here and I've heard that the ending is love it/hate it type (although I really say that about the entire series) and in my case I didn't enjoy the hurried explanations of the plot points and the sudden introduction of characters like the writers thought the audience was actually expecting them to appear all of 10 minutes before the end of the show and deus ex machina everything to death. The series just failed at every emotional turn that could've turned out well, there was a particular incident about 3/4 of the way through the series that could have been very emotional and perhaps would have made me hate watching this less if they didn't feel the need to make what happens afterwards with it so incredibly creepy and nonsensical. Nonsensical is certainly a word I'd use to describe this, sure anime is rarely based in any sort of recognizable reality, it's just the nature of the medium and you can get all sorts of incredibly innovative and great things without having them necessarily make perfect sense when applied to the real world, but sometimes even suspending your belief won't help because it still makes no sense internally within the show itself and that is certainly one of (but by no means the only) probably with the entire script: no one checked it for logic at any given point. Now, you'll be able to follow along with this pretty well, the script isn't that over the top hard to follow, but you'll end up questioning every revelation the show makes anyway because it's honestly difficult to see where most of the conclusions come from.

I'll give credit where it is due though, sound was pretty good, meaning mostly music here. Sure, the dub was competent, but it sure didn't make me care anymore for the show. Unfortunately, the fairly catching opening (combined with good reviews for it in the A range) was what made me buy this hunk of junk in the first place so while it may be pretty good, you might as well call it false advertisement because the show will never be half as good or interesting as either its OP or its score in general. I've still heard better though and it's hardly worth watching just for that. Art's another mixed bag, I kind of hated it, you could see cheap animation cuts in every single fight, but a few things were done fairly well from time to time. Character designs just creeped me out, but I'll admit I don't watch too many shows with designs at all bishonen like. You might get more mileage out of it, but it also would have helped if everyone didn't always constantly wear the exact same facial expression at all times.

Overall, I give this a 4 out of 10. It has just enough going for it to not actually slip off into the realm of the truly horrible but at the same time it's never going to be good enough to be anything more than bad-average and it's certainly not worth rewatching. A few episodes went by pretty quickly for me, but overall, it kind of felt like getting your teeth pulled, you can always use anesthesia to help it along, but it's pretty painful all the same.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Gilgamesh Episode 3 Discussion lalaithan - Mar 13, 2009	7 replies	by Farabeuf »» Nov 21, 2:43 AM
	Poll: Gilgamesh Episode 2 Discussion lalaithan - Mar 13, 2009	7 replies	by Farabeuf »» Nov 19, 11:42 AM
	Poll: Gilgamesh Episode 26 Discussion ( 1 2 ) illdoya - Jan 6, 2009	56 replies	by Baskarite »» Sep 17, 10:17 PM
	Poll: Gilgamesh Episode 14 Discussion RafaelDeJongh - Apr 7, 2013	7 replies	by Baskarite »» Sep 15, 6:20 PM
	Poll: Gilgamesh Episode 21 Discussion PreFuturism-0 - Oct 22, 2012	5 replies	by Selesnija »» Aug 5, 3:11 PM