If you are a fan of 90s anime, then I'd recommend taking a look at Darkside Blues. If you haven't seen many anime from this time period, then this is a fairly good example of the visual styles of the 90s. However, most people will probably find the story somewhat mediocre and maybe even confusing.
Darkside Blues is a nice little gem from the 90s based on a manga by Hideyuki Kikucho who is one of the most respected horror writers in Japan. Often called the Stephen King of Japan, many of Hideyuki's novels have been adapted to anime such as Vampire Hunter D, Wicked City,
...
and Demon City Shinjuku.
Animation - 8
I'll go ahead and draw attention to the elephant in the room: this is an old anime. The art and animation styles likewise reflect the 90s. Whether you enjoy 90s style or not is your choice, but compared to other works of the time, Darkside Blues fares very well. The art and animation themselves are slightly above average, but I don't think many people can deny the style this show brings to the table. While there's nothing too progressive as far as the direction or choreography at work here, I still can't help but be impressed at how easy everything seems. By this I mean that it seems the style just flows off the screen naturally and can be seen in the fluid movements of the characters in many scenes. While there are many action sequences, they aren't so much edge-of-your seat and jaw dropping as they are seamless and fluid which is very pleasing to the eye.
Sound - 9
While maybe a handful of people out there won't like the music here, I think the sound is perfectly done. The melancholy music does a great job setting the mood and enhances the feel of Kabuki-cho as a city.
The Japanese voice actors do a good job and are obviously cast well for their roles. Natsuki Sakan is a great fit as Darkside and this is one of those times when a female voice actor really does seem more appropriate for a male character.
Story - 8
Set sometime in the future, Darkside Blues depicts a world almost completely owned by the Persona Corporation. One of the few free areas is the slums of Kabuki-cho, often called the dark side of Tokyo. There are various 'enhanced' humans running around who boast supernatural powers, though it's never explained whether this is actually magic or achieved with technology. Taking place in the future, there is quite a bit of technology around in the form of watches that fire lasers, robotic attack drones, and even a massive quantum cannon.
Something interesting I noticed was how similar this movie is to the Clint Eastwood movie Pale Rider (which was in turn a retelling of the classic western Shane). The reason I say they are similar is that, just like Pale Rider, Darkside Blues follows a small group of people (Messiah) whom are resisting oppression at the hands of a wealthy group (Persona Corporation) and then inserts a mysterious stranger (Darkside) who has a score to settle. While Darkside may seem to be the main character, the movie really seems to focus more on the effect his presence has on the members of Messiah.
Unfortunately, the movie seems like a small part of a whole that the viewer is never fully aware of and some things are left unexplained. Despite that, the sub-plot involving the escape of an Anti-Persona resistance fighter is covered well. The main confusion involves the backstories of many characters.
Character - 7
There are a lot of good things here, unfortunately most of the characters are undeveloped with only hints given regarding their past. The only characters really explored are the resistance fighter Tatsuya and Selia, an acquaintance of the Messiah members.
Darkside himself is almost a walking cheat code as time and time again various Persona assassins run across him only to find their attacks have no effect. Darkside only bothers to take his hands from his pockets on a couple of occasions and really he never seems worried no matter what attacks are being thrown at him. Darkside's past is only ambiguously explained, but really his character is in the movie to bring about change in others.
Through a process he calls 'renewal', he enables various characters to overcome hurdles formed when they were emotionally scarred in the past. Though for some people, this renewal simply brings about their death.
Enjoyment - 9
I personally love 90s anime and Darkside Blues is a great one. This show walks a fine line of psychological and action so there is substance to chew on mentally, or if you just wanna sit back then there's plenty of action as well. While I wouldn't call this an action anime, I don't think more than 5 minutes ever go by before the next altercation starts.
Alternative Titles
Japanese: ダークサイド・ブルース
Information
Type:
Movie
Episodes:
1
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Oct 8, 1994
Producers:
Akita Shoten
Licensors:
None found, add some
Studios:
J.C.Staff
Source:
Manga
Theme:
Psychological
Duration:
1 hr. 23 min.
Rating:
R+ - Mild Nudity
Statistics
Ranked:
#97642
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#6142
Members:
11,057
Favorites:
25
Resources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 8 / 9
Sort
Your Feelings Categories Jun 24, 2010
If you are a fan of 90s anime, then I'd recommend taking a look at Darkside Blues. If you haven't seen many anime from this time period, then this is a fairly good example of the visual styles of the 90s. However, most people will probably find the story somewhat mediocre and maybe even confusing.
Darkside Blues is a nice little gem from the 90s based on a manga by Hideyuki Kikucho who is one of the most respected horror writers in Japan. Often called the Stephen King of Japan, many of Hideyuki's novels have been adapted to anime such as Vampire Hunter D, Wicked City, ... May 15, 2010
True to the manga, Darkside Blues is a little gem for the mid-90s with older looking art but it really goes well with the atmosphere of the story. There's a particular part my friend had pointed out to me during a fight scene when one of the men has a lit cigarette and as he's moving around there's a streak of red following the cigarette's movement. Sounds nerdy, I know, but it's things like that that makes good movies and anime REALLY good. If you like mysterious sexy men riding a horse-drawn carriage check this one out.
Aug 13, 2013
The evil Persona corporation dominates most of the earth with their iron fist, excepting small resistance movements, one of which is located in the free town of Kabuki-cho, also known as “The Dark Side of Tokyo”. Here a group of juvenile delinquents known as Messiah dwell. For a fee, they shelter and assist a terrorist who opposes Persona.
I really wanted to like this movie because it was based on a manga by Hideyuki Kikucho who also wrote Vampire Hunter D. You can see the similarities in the animation (which is superb for its time,) supernatural themes and mysterious, romanticized character of ... Oct 13, 2019
The Persona Century Corporation has purchased nearly every inch of land on earth available. Dissension is not tolerated within the corporation's borders and those who oppose Persona are dealt with swiftly. Of those few places not yet under Persona's control is the free town of Kabuki-cho, also known as "The Dark Side of Tokyo". Within the town, under the leadership of a woman named Mai, is a small resistance group called Messiah. Into this world steps a man who takes the sobriquet of Kabuki-cho: Darkside. Sealed up in another dimension eighteen years ago by Persona Century, Darkside now returns to aid Messiah using his unique
...
Aug 5, 2013
Beware for Darkside is coming to Earth. No I am not talking about the DC comic super villain who terrorizes the heroes of the DC universe. I am talking about the unnamed dark clad man who comes through a dimensional portal on a horse drawn carriage arriving in Kabuki-cho "The Dark Side of Tokyo" which is one of the last places on Earth that isn't controlled by the Persona Century Corporation. This mysterious Darkside brings a coming change and renewal to poor and disenfranchised people of Kabuki-cho, as well as the power hungry rulers of Earth that run Persona Century, and the rest of the
...
Jun 4, 2022
Darkside Blues is a product of the late 1980s to mid-1990s anime period, where seemingly half of all OVAs or series would simply tease the audience and never become a finished product. This movie follows that trend, its 80-minute running length leaving us with many unanswered questions, though it stands alone decently as an aesthetic actioner, with an expected sequel—it never came. The manga-is-better-crowd doesn't even win here, because the manga is just as unfinished—abandoned after the first two volumes were published by Vampire Hunter D writer Hideyuki Kikuchi and artist Yuuho Ashibe.
This series is tagged with words like vague, ambiguous, obtuse, etc, but ... Dec 23, 2023
NOTE: This review was originally posted on my Letterboxd account on 3/1/2022
I only remember seeing this anime once on VHS when I was a kid, and I barely remember what happens. I went into this anime expecting it to be an underappreciated gem. To be honest, it's a decent film. Although the animation in Darkside Blues is excellent, the story is disappointing in my opinion. The animation is incredible, and I adore the film's dark tone. Despite his lack of involvement, it has the feel of a Yoshiaki Kawajiri film. It has lovely dark shading, and I like how dark colors are used. The ... Feb 21, 2022
I really wanted to like this a lot more than I did. I am not familiar with the source it's based off of, but my guess is that the source material has more time put into the characters. In my opinion the biggest thing stopping me from really enjoying it more is the somewhat strange pacing and open ended ending.
I could go into particular things I liked or didn't like but in the end I think it needed more than 83 minutes to build the characters. It does successfully create a very somber mood and I like the juxtaposition between most scenes being not only ... |