Full Moon wo Sagashite

Two years ago, Mitsuki Kouyama's friend, Eichi Sakurai, moved to America before she could confess her feelings to him. Though she cannot contact him, they made a promise to fulfill their respective dreams: Mitsuki wants to become a professional singer, and Eichi an astronomer. She hopes that one day her music will reach him across the world with a brilliance like that of the full moon.

There is just one catch: Mitsuki suffers from throat cancer, which makes her voice quiet and singing strenuous. Her grandmother, who has a hatred of music, insists that Mitsuki undergo surgery to remove the cancer, but she refuses due to the risk of losing her voice. One day, two shinigami—Meroko Yui and Takuto Kira—appear to tell her that she only has one year left to live. This sudden revelation spurs Mitsuki into action, and she decides that with Meroko and Takuto's help, she will become a professional singer in the time she has left.

Full Moon wo Sagashite follows the emotional story of Mitsuki and her shinigami friends as they discover what it means to sing—and ultimately, what it means to live.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kira, Takuto Main

Sakurazuka, Yakkun Japanese

Kouyama, Mitsuki Main

Myco Japanese

Yui, Meroko Main

Honda, Chieko Japanese

Rio, Izumi Supporting

Ogata, Megumi Japanese

Sakurai, Eichi Supporting

Kimura, Ryouhei Japanese

Jonathan Supporting

Mori, Norihisa Japanese

Wakamatsu, Madoka Supporting

Kana Japanese

Wakaouji, Keiichi Supporting

Ogawa, Teruaki Japanese

Ooshige, Masami Supporting

Seo, Tomomi Japanese

Koyama, Fuzuki Supporting

Sugiyama, Kazuko Japanese

Yamakawa, Norio Producer

Miyake, Masanori Assistant Producer

Katou, Toshiyuki Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Hiramitsu, Takuya Sound Director

Reviews

Jul 17, 2007

Ria-

Recommended

Full Moon wo Sagashite was one of those animes I started on a whim. I had already read the manga, and decided to give the anime a try to see how much I liked it in comparison. To my surprise, I <i>loved</i> it, possibly even more than the manga version. The changes it makes from the manga were actually ones I (for the most part) preferred.

---Story---

While Full Moon wo Sagashite may not see like much on the surface -- little girl has a life-threatening disease, wants to sing, and becomes sixteen years old with the help of two friendly shinigami -- it ... becomes so much more deeper as the series move on. This anime doesn\'t shrink away from the uncomfortable subjects of death and suicide, and that is wonderfully refreshing. While initially cutesy on the surface, Full Moon wo Sagashite has a deep, moving storyline that touches upon every human emotion. I don\'t think I\'ve ever cried so much while watching an anime, and I doubt any other can truly touch me as much as Full Moon wo Sagashite did.

Many people complain that the first half of the series is comprised of filler episodes. While this may be true when first watching them, I don\'t think the second half would come off nearly as well without those \"fillers\". They developed the characters, showed you who they really were and what they were looking for, and prepared you for the emotional roller coaster that is the second half of Full Moon wo Sagashite. So, even if you\'re bored during the first half, I implore you to see the series to the end. You won\'t regret it.

---Animation---

I initially didn\'t like the character designs all that much, particularly that of Full Moon. After a while, however, the art smoothed out and became even pleasing. So, not the best, but not the worst either.

---Sound---

There\'s only one way to describe the music of Full Moon wo Sagashite: absolutely astounding. Every song (most of which were sung by myco, Mitsuki\'s seiyuu) was wonderful in its own way. While I didn\'t particularly like the two OPs, they grew on me after a while. Still, nothing can touch the four EDs this show has. My personal favorite is New Future, although Eternal Snow is heartbreakingly beautiful.

---Character---

Another plus of Full Moon wo Sagashite are the characters. Meroko and Izumi have become two of my favorite characters, although Izumi doesn\'t really come into his own in the anime. His soft side is only shown in the last episode, but that moment is definitely worth it.

The one quibble I have concerning the characters is that their back stories aren\'t as fully explained as they were in the manga. Meroko and Izumi\'s pasts are barely brushed upon, which is a real disappointment. Still, Meroko comes off as one of the best -- if not THE best -- characters in the entire series.

---Enjoyment---

I will never forget watching Full Moon wo Sagashite. It is certainly an experience, especially for the last fifteen or so episodes.

One thing that really struck me was the ending. I\'ve never come across an anime with such a perfect ending. Everything was tied up, and the emotions that came across were just... mind-blowing. I think I actually sobbed the entire last episode.

So, as a parting note, I urge you to give Full Moon wo Sagashite a try. I did, and it became one of my top five anime.

Pros: Incredible story, characters, and music; best anime ending EVER

Cons: So-so character design at times, not enough back story

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Mar 29, 2013

angelsreview

Mixed Feelings

The story line is pretty flushed out but unfortunately, it falls into the magical girl story line. I say unfortunately because it was something I was hoping this would keep out. It didn’t need her turning into a 16-year-old to have the plot moving, just make her look somewhat 16 at the start of it! Another problem I had with the whole 12 to 16 aspect is that, how will her love actually know that its her when she is much older and her songs are pretty much generic to any girl in that age? It doesn’t magically work… like… *facepalm* you know what, all ... logic is thrown out the window in magical girl shows, don’t they?

Throughout the story, I was about ready to shout out, ‘JUST GET WITH TAKUTO ALREADY!’ I like how she is so dedicated to this one guy but not hearing from him in that freaken long time, I’m with Takuto on what he tells her. She should just get on with her life if she had not seen him in so long. There is also the fact that most of the episodes feel more like playing around then getting to the point. The show was pretty much mostly episodic and some didn’t even have a point to her actual goal.

The characters are fun and entertaining; I especially love the silliness of Meroko who is always getting in the way of most things. She’s most of the comedy that is given to the story I feel and you can tell a lot about her even if you can’t see her past. Actually, I would be very happy if I was able to see her past as well as Takuto’s a little earlier in the show, and not have to learn way late or look it up.

The Animation is really pretty, and showing the love and spirit the characters put into it. Studio Deen seems to always have a rather grainy look but it and it seems to fit this story. It keeps it feeling like a dream and touches the heart, even if it feels somewhat un-realistic how sweet and innocent it is.

The voices for the Japanese dub are done well, capturing the spirit of the characters. The English voices… well they are a little too high pitched for my ears, especially Mitsuki. When Mitsuki sings, she sounds different if you’re watching the English version. It’s because they still sing it in Japanese which… even if it’s good singing for that style, it makes it feel somewhat detached from the rest of the show. I am happy they didn’t try to get the English voice actor to sing because she probably would of broken my ears if she tried to match the Japanese voice but still, its jarring. The quality really feels like it’s from Sailor moon and so feels lack luster. The opening music is cute and I think works out nicely with the animation.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 5, 2019

BigSunnyBoy

Not Recommended

Funny

Spoiler

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!
This a precious story that moves through love, fame, life, death, cliches, annoying characters pedophilia.

Starting this review is difficult because nobody is prepared to hear the truth. When I first saw Searching For The Full Moon's common 10\10 reviews, I was so prepared to watch it. As of course, it has all the tools to make a "heartwarming" story-- an orphaned kid with cancer who has ambitions who, did I forget to mention she's orphaned and had cancer? Wow. Heartwarming and sad.

The main character's motivation is clear--which isn't so disappointing--to reunite with her orphanage love before her time ... runs up. The shinigami who help her sure did push the plot forward, but aren't that interesting characters at all. Their designs were quirky, silly, and didn't match the original myth at all. Usually I won't complain, but of them is annoying and unreasonably clingy to the other, who is chill and literally the best character in the show.

At some point at the beginning, it shows a flashback of her orphanage love, 16, confessing his love to her, at 10. I found this dispicable because according to psychology, 16 is the youngest age to be a pedophile. I believed that the character was so cooped up in that orphanage that he went crazy and couldn't help going for a child.

Throughout the show, the main character is a star as she was able to turn into a 16 year old from her 12 year old body. I found the songs quite boring if I'll have to be honest. Sure, few were catchy but none of them were about anything but love.

There were some scenarios I personally cringed at, such as when the clingy character kept trying to kiss the other one, who she is clear of, doesn't like her. This makes the character development and because she acts like she doesn't know anything. She does.

There was a scene where a teacher of kids in early elementary describes two children As "more than like brother and sister". To note, I found this messed up and cringy. Kids around that age don't have a huge idea of what relationship and romance really is. If a teacher said that in real life, she would be in a lot of trouble.

As I kept watching while wanting to know what happened, something came up that made what happened IN ALL THE EPISODES BEFORE pointless. She doesn't get together with the pedophile, thank goodness. But, spoiler alert, ends up with.... The shinigami? Seems like they were just running out of ideas here.

I found the development of the grandma towards the end quite useless. I mean, she's gone through trauma. It made her look like she was a Disney villain returning to good and finally.... Listens to music and enjoys modern pop? Wow, a miracle.

After all, I can understand why this would intrigue someone. But after all, this whole thing is a decent animated piece of garbage. I absolutely hate it's portrayals of love. The way it showed suicide was clever, then turning into shinigami after and such, but the reasoning was dull. He realises he can't sing anymore, rides off bridge, seppuku.
And then later hooks up with a 13 year old girl.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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