Shingetsutan Tsukihime

"There is no Tsukihime Anime."

Ah yes, those infamous words. Before all of you say anything, I DID finish the visual novel and I HAVE read the manga (well, the first three volumes) and guess what, I STILL enjoyed this anime so sit back, relax and let me tell it like it is.

As far as story goes, I don't see what the problem was. Quite honestly, I thought the visual novel was redundant when explaining the differences between a Dead Apostle and a True Ancestor. In the anime, it goes straight to the point and makes easy on the viewers. Dead Apostle is a human ... turned vampire. True Ancestor is a transcendent race, vampires yes but were never human to begin with. While the plot is still much deeper and complex in the visual novel, don't really undermine the anime's version of it. If you are a huge Tsukihime buff and want to know EVERYTHING about Tsukihime, then you won't like the anime. But if you just want to get in and enjoy a decent anime then won't bore you to death with details, then watch the anime.

The art was done well in my opinion. While they could have brushed up a bit better on some characters (Nero and Roa come to mind) in general, the characters look like they are supposed to. In general, the art is not outstanding but is still pretty good.

The music, especially the opening, is what made this series. Very nice tunes from start to finish. Having only watched the English version of this show, you will probably recognize the voices right away. Arcuied is voiced by Michelle Ruff (Rukia anyone?) and Shiki is voiced by Steve Staley (who voiced Toshiro Hitsugaya). In short, if you enjoyed the Bleach dub (like I did) then you will like the dub in this series as well (since half the Bleach cast is in here.) Cannot comment on the original voice acting.

No doubt the weakest part of the series is the characters. Arcueid comes across as far too clingy to Shiki (she liked Shiki in the visual novel as well but she wasn't hitting on him every other minute), Akiha is well, the same basically, Ciel is meh and Nero and Roa were punked.

Which brings me to another point. All of these guys got severely gimped in the anime. Shiki is on his knees having migraines 99 percent of the time, Ciel gets owned every single time she fights, Akiha is no better, Nero is as scary as a house cat (no Soil of Genesis and 999th Beast really blew hard) the list goes on and on. Seriously, the only one doing anything in combat was Arcuied (when she wasn't trying to molest Shiki) and even then she has trouble from time to time.

Even so, this show does have its moments. I have to say that episode 7, the amusement park episode, was really funny and awkward and the times between Shiki and Arcuied when they are not hunting vampires is also neat to watch.

Overall, the anime is not the visual novel. It is not as good as the visual novel and when compared to the visual novel, it would be considered below average. But I came reviewing the anime and only the anime and found it to be a short yet enjoyable series.

Don't get turned off by all the hate that this series is receiving. Make your own choice and watch it. You might be surprised. (In a good or bad way!)

So there's a funny little joke that goes around anime communities and it goes along the lines of "There is no Tsukihime anime". I thought it was all in jest when I decided to see what the fuss was about on this show. Sadly though, I too believe there is no Tsukihime anime after watching this monstrosity.

Flashback, its 2000..there's a little doujin game called Tsukihime out there that's taking the visual novel world by storm..3 years later JC Staff..a prominent animation studio makes an adaptation of the wildly popular game. However, they either A: Did not play the game or B: Just made this as ... a kick in the balls to anyone who enjoyed the visual novel.

For story, it was pathetic..they took a very strong storyline with an incredible amount of backstory and turned it into a shallow excuse of a story. The whole explanation of the differences in vampires was a major part of the visual novel..yet they put in 30 seconds of quick explanation and that's it. This is frequent throughout the anime..they take ideas from the novel throw them in quickly and forget about them. On top of insulting the vivid and excellent storyline of Arcueid's route they add other nonsense such as a whole episode dedicated to a theme park..they must have really wanted to piss off fans with that since one could easily make a 24 episode series out of the route yet they add a filler episode into a 12 episode anime. Among that they completely twist character roles, their personalities and their part in the story. And to top it off..they completely destroy the end to the story and give no explanation at all. They just leave it as an open ending of sorts after completing a route with definite closure. The story gets a 1...it's a monstrosity that mocks the visual novel.

As for art..it's excellent, for 2003 of course. They added a good amount of detail and the characters looked pretty accurate to their visual novel counterparts. It's actually pretty decent looking still even on 2010 standards which is a good thing..yet it's not awe inspiring art like some early anime had. 8 out of 10 for art.

The sound in this anime is the only redeeming quality other than the decent art. The soundtrack is incredible and it sounds much better than the visual novel's. They really did a great job on this part and the wide variety of songs were on point and gave a clear message of the scenes. 10/10 for the music since I very rarely hear such a great soundtrack in an anime thats unique like this one.

The characters in this anime are awful. They are mockery of their respective characters in the visual novel. They are shallow, undeveloped and some of them aren't even accurate depictions of their parent characters. They changed the personalities in nearly every character and gave other characters who didn't play a major role at all major roles in the anime. They completely ruined the dark mood of the story with their characters that didn't fit their parts. Character gets 1/10

Enjoyment? The only thing I enjoyed was laughing at my computer screen over how terrible this was. There is not much to enjoy in this anime, it's a completely hilarious mockery of the parent story. I spent the whole time picking out the horrible adaptations they did to nearly every part of the story..that was my enjoyment. It gets a 1/10 for enjoyment..I could have watched the Tekken movie 12 times and enjoyed it more than this.

Overall, this series gets a 2. The horrible adaptation of the novel is the main cause of this. I can't give it a 1 because the soundtrack is amazing and the art was pretty good for a 2003 anime. If the soundtrack was not an excellent and unique piece of work this would definitely be a 1. I do not suggest watching this show if you have any shred of understanding on what the Tsukihime visual novel is. Even if all you know is that the meme "A cat is fine too" comes from it I would suggest steering clear of this. I honestly wanted to attempt to prove the people wrong when they say "there is no Tsukihime anime" yet now I agree with them.

You might be wondering. I gave all the rest of the criteria 10's. But why is the overall a 6?

It started a long time ago, when I got word of a highly acclaimed, super popular doujin game called Tsukihime. Although I was never a fan of the 'point & click' type of anime games, this game caught my interest, because of how several rave reviewers were praising this game's depth, plot and amazing characters.

So I got it and played it. Boy, did it have all of the aforementioned stuff plus a whole lot more. By the end, I was hooked. And something happened to ... me after going through Tsukihime that rarely happens; I fell in love with the characters and the story...particularly with Arcueid. It is one of those stories that touch your heart and inspire you to become a different and better person. And change me for the better it did.

And several years later, when I heard that TYPE-MOON were releasing an anime adaptation, I became as one might say, a giddy little schoolboy.

And when I first saw the teaser trailers, I got even more pumped. It seemed as if the anime was going to be magical. Finally, an adaptation where they were going to get it right...at least that's what I thought so initially.

And after finishing the anime for the first time, I was grateful that they made a lot of changes. They did kept the dark tone. And the soundtrack was amazing too. Again, it was dark and low-key. The opening song was particularly of interest. I often find myself repeating the minute-long song over and over again in my iPod.

However, much to my relief, they removed all the cheesy gadgets of the plot that were there in the original game. No longer, were there mentions about Marble Phantasm (an attack name in the original game) or any other cheesy vampire jargon like that. I was glad, because those elements made the game like a shonen (and anyone who knows me knows that I hate shonens).

So I finished watching the entire anime the first time. I was impressed by how well they kept true to the original story. The 'physical anime' interpretation of the last episode was perhaps the best. It overjoyed me to the point of tears. The way they brought Arcueid to life was also a joy. Her design in my opinion, was also superior to the original's, because here, she looks more mature, beautiful and elegant.

I wanted more. Seeing as how there are no sequels (something which I am actually grateful of), I decided to re watch the series again to relive the experience. And here's where things began to go wrong.

Mistake #1:
I began to realized that, although the story was brilliant, that it worked under the assumption that the viewer had played the game before. As a result, the brilliant story wouldn't be as appreciated by someone who hadn't played the game. No wonder there were many reviews that criticized the storyline for being incoherent and leaving a lot of loose ends. I understood the story only because I had played the game. Most people haven't.

Mistake #2
The story also meanders...a lot. There is a lot of filler segments where everything moves so slowly. Meaningless pauses during conversations also ruin the mood. These pauses would've worked so much better if the camera was shaky, or at least was doing something dynamic to compensate for the lack of action. Perhaps the writers were trying to create a certain ambiance to suit the dark story. Even as someone who appreciates silence as a means of tension, I did not like it. They try to create tension, but there is not enough release to compensate.

For instance, in one segment where the main character tries to look for a door to match the key he found earlier, the scene goes on for too long without any dynamics. Two minutes are wasted on one still angle of him going from door to door, looking for one that will match his key. That scene made me sick.

Mistake #3
Removing certain plot elements which could've actually helped. On one hand, they managed to simplify the story so that all the unnecessary mystic terminology was removed, and that really helped keep the dark tones of the story. However, on the other hand, a subplot involving Hisui and Yumizuka could've seriously added more impact to the story and the ending would've been much more tragic (and subsequently, so much better).

Wrapping it up, it seems apparent to me that the biggest mistake of this anime, was whoever the person who was directing this anime. He is no Miyazaki. A lot of his storyboards and camera angles simply were not effective and brought the anime's pacing to the equivalent of a drone.

It was evident that he had too much funds to waste. In the beginning, where the plot wandered the most, everything was slow and unorganized. However, according to the news, the studio had run low on money at the end of the series. And coincidentally, that was when the story started to become tighter and focused. The final episode is still the best episode. It was perhaps the one episode I can watch from start to finish without skipping parts.

I am sure that if the studio responsible was given less money, the anime would've been much better because the studio would've been much more focused. And, if there were less episodes, who knows that it might have been better.

-

Make no mistake. This is an exceptional anime. It is way superior to a lot of animes that have been released over the years. And as an anime adaptation, it stands out by being superior to the original in many ways.

And I will still continue to watch this anime into the future to relive scenes from the game which would normally take hours to do (considering that the game was all text and that I had to spend an hour reading a scene).

However, I am disappointed in the creators for not making the anime the masterpiece it should have been, simply because it is not organized. It had the music, the characters, the design and feel. The 10's I gave were technically not for this anime. Since this is not an adaptation, not a original story, these points are actually for the game.

It should not have gone wrong. Shame on you Geneon.

Lunar Legend Tsukihime is a Supernatural, Romance, Drama about Shiki Tohno; a boy who’s said to have been caught in a terrible accident 8 years ago and since then he has been able to see the lines of Death in everything and everyone. One day in the park he kills a lady but then wakes up in his room. Was it all a dream? Maybe or maybe not, because the next day he meets her again.

Well this is the starting point to this very short anime and even though it’s short the story is surprisingly slow moving. Even though it doesn’t seem like it in ... the very beginning, the show ends up being yet another one about vampires, with some more confusing theories to confuse anyone on the increasingly complex concept of vampires. Unlike most show involving vampires, the vampires are the secondary focus to the story with the primary focus being on the 2 main characters Shiki and Arcueid (a vampire). All of those anime fans hoping of plenty of vampire action (Trinity Blood, Hellsing, etc) may be disappointed, as all this show has to offer is a decent surreal story. At least the anime can have anyone, who’s captivated by the story, asking for more as minor developments occur throughout the show.

Another thing about this anime that will captivate a viewer is the lavish visual, similar to another gorgeous TYPE-MOON anime, “Fate/Stay Night”. With superb animation, artwork and CG effects; it’s obvious to see how much time and effort was put into making this show look good. It’s just disappointing to see it wasted on the lack of fluid or any combat, in this anime.

The music was superb with a compilation of string instrumentals (violins) that really set the surreal and suspenseful mood. The only problem with the music was the lack of variety as the same tunes are played over and over, to the point where it can remove the mood, helped originally set, later on in the series.

Overall this was a great anime that inevitably turned into a romantic drama and with a pretty well written story. The build up to the ending was so superb, with all the pieces finally coming together however the tragic ending failed to leave an impact on me. Even with the superbly lavish animation and intricate story what failed in this anime were the slow moving storyline and especially the stale characters. The characters were nothing special and any anime fan who has seen a couple different anime would notice the character’s personalities which are found in the typical high school scenario of anime. Just like the protagonist, Shiki’s personality who’s similar to Kohta from Elfen Lied (weak, kind-hearted and can’t remember something tragic in his past). With that said this is only an anime that serious anime fans can enjoy, those expecting 12 episodes of violence or comedy won’t be satisfied with this Suspenseful story of Romance and Drama.

^_^

*It is almost criminal to not watch this anime.*

"... fans ... treat the anime as ... an in depth synopsis of the visual novel and the manga."

I stumbled across this hidden treasure while watching the Kara no Kyoukai (KnK) movie series. If you have not seen the KnK movies, please feel free to skip to the next paragraph. For those who have seen the movies, perhaps the first thing that will capture your interest is the name Shiki and the "Mystic Eyes of Anime Death Perception" as both of these are also in Shingetsutan Tsukihime. As you get further into the story, you will realize ... there are more similarities than meet the eyes, but for the purpose of this review I will not get into those details.

The general concept of the story, much like the KnK series which this anime is based upon, revolves around mysterious supernatural forces like vampires or human with special abilities. The anime is a direct adaptation of the Tsukihime visual novel that was released in 2000 by TYPE-MOON, who is most famous for their work on Fate/stay night. At around the same time when the anime started to broadcast, its manga also got serialized and began to publish.

Although both the anime and manga follow the same route from the game (there are 2 routes in the game with multiple endings), most fans tend to treat the anime as nothing more than an in depth synopsis of the visual novel and the manga. It will become apparent as you watch deeper into the show that many events and battles happen too quickly an could have been better explained. So for those who are confused about the events in the anime, I recommend trying to read the manga or play the game if you can get your hands on it (there is a revised 2009 edition of the visual novel coming out later this year with improved artwork and story so you may choose to wait for that).

For a pre-HD era anime, the animation level is extremely high with some nice CG effects and character designs (even by today's standard). Perhaps the most appealing aspect of Shingetsutan Tsukihime is the soundtrack. From the OP to in battle musical theme, the instrumental music (ie. violins) really brings out the uniqueness of the show especially during combats.

But what bugs me about Shingetsutan Tsukihime is that the show did not put enough time and effort into developing the supporting casts. While the main characters have decent character traits, the minor characters lacked any form of realism and background. For instance, Yumizuka (although appeared in almost every single episodes) lacked a certain persona to make her feel like a real person. All we know is she loves Shiki, but she did not play much of a role in the anime. The maid twins is another good example of a lack of character growth (they started and ended the show without any change). Anyhow, with that said, it is worth mentioning that we do get a fair bit of screen time seeing the main characters develop themselves and their relationships with one another.

Overall, the show managed to maintain the structural, core components of the original game story but at the expense of a very much condensed action scenes and somewhat ignored support characters. Highly recommend this to KnK fans (since Tsukihime takes place in the same universe and there are direct relations between the two).

While browsing through the existing reviews, I saw a clear pattern emerge. Most of the people who have not played the visual novel it is based on thoroughly enjoyed the show while those that have were disappointed when faced with the injustice done to the original work.
And that basically already sums up my verdict.

I myself watched the anime first, without even knowing there was a game it was based on. I liked it a great deal.
After learning of the original work afterward I got curious and sought it out. And as it turns out, I then agreed with everyone who was disappointed with the show ... - I tried watching it again but it now seemed barely more than a mockery of the brilliant original VN-material.

Compared to the greatly depicted characters in the novel, the cast of the anime is pretty much DEAD. The storyline has been compressed to a point where there was almost nothing left of what made the original what it was. Many themes and scenes were left entirely untouched. What was preserved the best - though it still cannot compare - was the atmosphere.


So, as it stands, I cannot really recommend this show. If you do know the visual novel you can give it a try out of curiosity - but don't get your hopes up.
And if you don't...well, there's no point bothering with the anime when you can just as well get the much, much greater original. There's even an English translation floating around, so language barrier isn't an excuse this time. ;)

As someone who has played the visual novel, its respective sequel and the PLUS-DISC, I can honestly say...

This show gave me cancer.

story: The story is great. It´s not like other anime with vampires with lot of action, blood and killings. It focus the relation between shiki , a normal student with a special power and a vampire, arcueid. It´s really interesting, the only problem is that the story goes way to slow in some episodes, however, is still one of the best stories i´ve ever seen.

Art: Is similar with another type-moon anime, "Fate/stay night" (wich i also liked a lot). I think the art is great, the visual effects are nice.

Sound: One of the first aspects in tsukihime that called my attention was the sound. The ... opening made me remember old memories, some background musics made me think of some aspects of life, ths ed is fine, well, is really great.

character: Although they are not bad, some of them are not develloped as they should. Well, still is acceptable, but i was expecting more.

Overall: I really enjoyed watching the anime, story is great, same to art and sound, however it lacks some action and some more fights sometimes, but still this anime is something really good, much better than some other i have seen.

Shingetsutan Tsukihime is an anime that I would definitely stay away from. I am slightly biased in reviewing this, since I played the Visual Novel 'Tsukihime' before watching this series, and was disgusted at the injustice done to such a brilliant story. The anime compresses the storyline heavy, makes unneeded changes and completely wrecks the original characters. For anyone who is curious enough to want to watch this series, I have but one thing to say. Don't. If you are that interested, track down the Visual novel, install the mirrormoon english patch and read it instead. Alternatively, read the manga, which does some justice to ... the story, otherwise stay away from this pathetic excuse for an anime

“Once upon a time lived a group called “The Moon people”, who were not human. Among them was a proud princess, called “White Princess”. She woke up in white and slept in white. Princess of the True Ancestors who did not know impurity.”
Type Moon is famous for its dark themes, supernatural settings and plot twists.
The Tsukihime novel was the the second creation of Type Moon, so you can say it's the predeccesor and inspiration for the anime fate/stay night.

The story revolves around the main character Shiki, who lost his memory, after a supposed car accident. The anime begins with Shiki as a little boy, ... as an effect of the accident he starts seeing "lines" and by touching those "lines" he can break things from their inner core.
He mysteriously encounters a young woman who introduces herself as being a witch. She gives Shiki a special pair of glasses that make him not see those lines, adding that he should use that power only when he really needs to protect a precious person to him.
He is then taken in by his relatives,the Arimas.After his father deceased, he returnes after 8 yers to his sister side,Akiha,now the head of the family. He founds the house of the Tohnos giving of a hostile,uncomfortable feeling,wondering if that house is really his. One day he sees a mysterious foreign woman,and as if in a trance procedees to cut her into pieces.Thinking it was only a dream, he finds himself that the woman is alive and well, saying he owns her,and that's how all starts...
Tsukihime the anime is more of an apperitive before the novel, making you eager for a real treat. If you think watching the 12 episodes anime will satisfy your hunger, than you are terribly mistaken.
The Moon Type universe is far more complex, the anime is only a tiny glimpse of into the “nasuverse”.
In anime format is disappointingly mundane, the pace is slow, and it rarely breaks from its shackles, the action is used with the chinese drop. I do admire the ideas and inspiration for the story, however the execution leaves much to be desired. The original novel being more complex and entertaining. If compared to Kara no Kyoukai movies, this anime pales in comparison, like a human dried out of blood (no pun intented).
Story: 3

The year 2003 represented an important year in the anime industry, anime series such as Chrono Crusade, Full Metal, Peacemaker Kurogane, which determined how the new generation of anime looked, animes with which most of us grew up. The art in that year showed the evolution of the industry on a whole other level. However, the art in Tsukihime isn't perfect, being more of a prototype for the art in fate/stay night, it's not as detailed, showing that the animation staff didn't give their all, or weren't paid sufficently.The good thing about the art though, is the design by the original creators, Type Moon.
Art: 6

Some viewers may have found interesting and innovative the almost constant piano and violin music overlapping the action, but I personally found it quite irritating.
It slows the action and deviates into mundane. I prefer the music to be played in the moments of climax, that way it makes the music more meaningful, more precious, hearing it almost constantly takes from the impact.
The opening theme entitled "The Sacred Moon" performed by Toshiyuki Oomori,is for me one of the highlights of the series. It holds a lot of power in its message, it truly mesmerises you, making you feel as if you were diving into an ocean of mystery and sadness. The constant playing of the background music drags down the score.
Sound: 7

The portrayal of the characters in this anime doesn't do them justice. The development of the characters is easily decreased in comparison with the novel, or doesn't even exist. The sole purpose for characters such as Arihiko Inui and Satsuki Yumizuka is to let the viewerknow that there are also humans in the world of Tsukihime, not only vampires,magicians, demon hunters and people with supernatural abilities.
Satsuki Yumizuka isn't even taken in consideration as a possible lover interest.In contrast to animes such as fate/stay night and Kara no Kyoukai,the majority of the main characters personalities are not likeable.
Shiki indulges himself in a ignorant lifestyle, preferring to avoid taking responsability for his actions.
I was waiting for him to become cooler like in the novel, but it didn't happened, it disappointed me immensely.
Akiha is the stereotype of "ojou-sama" (young lady from a rich family), she finds the most interesting subjects for a conversation the types of expensive tea such as "Earl Grey" and "Darjeeling" and takes a variety of classes such as violion,ballet etc. , the usual attitude of a snob.
She is also the stereotype of a sister who has a brother complex. Ciel has a non-existing personality, being only interesting when she tries to be mysterious, laughing inside about Shiki's cluelessness and teasing him. The twins Kohaku and Hisui are also the stereotype of weird twins, since Japanese people regard twins as being quite an abnormal existence, they also represent the stereotype of the faithful maid, that will serve you even if you don't give her money.
The only interesting character for me is Alcueid, that even though she is a vampire, doen't fit the stereotype, been able to enjoy the sunlight and food like any other normal human. She has an energetic,playful personality which I find very enjoyable. She has an innocent, sincere aura about her, which makes her likeable. As an vampire, she also has a mysterious past, and that is a bonus. The character of Alcueid raised up the bar a little higher.
Characters: 3

My enjoyment was similar to a ghost, you can perceive it from time to time, but most of the time remains hidden. The lack of dedication of the staff, the poor execution of the adaptation, the stereotypical characters made this anime for me quite painful to watch, now I really need to go back to read the manga, thanks God for that.
Enjoyment: 3

Overall: 4

I'm shocked by the number of good reviews this has. It is possibly the worst anime I have ever seen. I still can't believe I was able to get past the first episode, let alone force myself to watch the entire series. It's been a couple of years since I watched this anime, so forgive me if I don't delve too deep into the god-awfulness of this anime.

The story follows two star-crossed lovers, a vampire and a human with paranormal abilities, as they fight off the forces of evil (evil vampires) while trying to build a relationship.

Shiki, the protagonist of this eyesore of an ... anime, is an emotionally numb and distant high schooler who has the ability to see the "lines of death" ever since he was a little boy. After being thrust into the world of the supernatural one evening when he witnesses a battle between two vampires, Shiki begins to fall in love with the female vampire, Brunestad, and he decides to take her side in the battle against the evil vampire. In combat, Shiki utilizes a little two-inch jack-knife (instead of a sword or something with a practical attack range) and cuts along the person's "red lines of death," causing the enemy to fucking explode or fall apart into a million pieces. That's right, if you hit someone in the right spot, THEY FUCKING EXPLODE! Besides being the stupidest fucking special ability I've ever heard of, his power (as you can imagine) makes for dull combat scenes.

Anyway, the story is basically about him trying to invoke some emotion in Brunestad and trying to build relationship with her while he's dealing with family issues (the typical distant and hateful father-son) and fighting off the evil vampires. Pretty much about whether or not he wants to be a part of Brunestad's world and all that.

I know the plot summary is a bit short and lacking in detail, but the story was so forgettable that it's difficult to recall. Please, don't watch this garbage. You'll want to gouge your eyes out after the first episode.

The problem of 99% of all the anime is an end. Sometimes it is a shitty happy end, when everyone (even dead!) is alive, sometimes it is a total Armageddon, sometimes kind of any other shit happens. Finding an anime with a really beautiful end is rather had.
But here it is.
During first series it is kind of boring. Yes, what can be more usual than a Ordinary Japanese Pupil, who has, of course, a Very Special Ability and a family with a bitchy sister (without any parents, of course)? When you hear the word "vampire", you also treat anime a bit lower, and having ... a beatiful woman in the main hunting role - yes, it happened before somewhere, yes? And you can also tell just the same things about main antagonist, schoolfriends, enviroment... So it looks like another low-quality multfilm, yes?
Don`t even think, just watch.
I can speak a long speach about great sense in the plot, about hidden secrets, but I don`t like speaking about the Great Hidden Sense. I can only mention some points...
1) This anime has a best sexual scene I ever saw (hentai included... German porno is surely better=). Watching romanic scenes, I always thought: "WHY HE IS A DUMB SLOWPOKE? WHEN HE KISSES HER?" Usually it never happens. And now... Don`t you think that a night like that was a proper end of Arcueid and Shiki`s time, spent together?
2) The end. Yes, the end is great. I don`t want to spoiler, but... This anime ends like it should. When you`ll watch, you`ll understand.
3) The music reminded me about "Monster". Sometimes instrumental compositions are better than any loli-voices and songs.
4) And the last, containing 1000 more points to watch Tsukihime - it doesn't make an impression of an imaginary world. It is real in everything: heroes, their thoughts and deeds...
So stand up and run to watch this anime. `cos it is great. I promise you.

Ok, I just _have_ to say this. The ending was just utterly and completely terrible. Seriously, there are extremely few shows that have just left me so dissatisfied. It's one of those where you like all the characters and are rooting for them 'till the end and then they just fucking screw it up. And I'm not saying this because it's not your standard 'happy ending'. There are plenty of series that are kind of sad endings, main characters die, etc., but those are executed well and with purpose. This was just... no.

If you read the other reviews, you might have noticed that people that played the VN hate this anime and others who didnt enjoyed it quite well. Well I must say that is not true. I did not play the VN but could not enjoy this anime either. To describe this anime in one term that everyone understands:
THE STORY IS SWISS CHEESE!

All the other things have been adressed before in the other reviews. The Art is dated but good for its time, and I had no issue with sound.
But Oh Lord the rest is pretty awfull. Its flawed to the smallest details. The characters ... all feel pretty fake, but that isnt the worst of all. The worst thing is the story. You can see that the story has potential and is kind of great, but the way they did it was simply horrible. They open op so many questions which they never bother to even touch. They dont explain backstory properly at all, and they never deliver motivation for the characters actions.

~*MINOR SPOILER!*~
For example there is never a reason delivered as to why Shiki kill Arcuid in the first episode. The anime never explains anything or delivers any motivation for the deeds a all in general
~*END OF MINOR SPOILER!*~

All in all this anime is a prime example of what happens when you take a potentially good story and completely ruin it in its execution. The only thing that makes me not rate it even more poorly is simply the knowledge that at its core the story was interesting.

* I haven't read the visual novel, so this is purely based on the anime. This review does NOT contain spoilers.

To start, Tsukihime has a super slow plot, especially for a 12-episode anime. Every episode, every day, a few events happen, and a little bit more of the characters' past are revealed (just a little bit) while more and more questions are presented, and eventually build up to a fairly good ending. Despite its slowness, dialogues and guestures are done extremely well, concised and filled with meaning and emotions. This makes you feel like every second you watch it is worthwhile (and you don't want ... to miss any second of it). But that's only if you are not expecting fancy action scenes or climaxes: fighting scenes in Tsukihime are rare, brief, and not intense, and there are no mind-blowing twists. This, for me, is actually a good thing: you enjoy every episode equally, not just the final ones, or the ones with combats or twists. There are some funny moments, but overally the whole carries a very very sad theme. If you're after a plot with depths and sadness and slow-paced, you will surely enjoy Tsukihime.

Character is Tsukihime's weakness (compared to other aspects). In the first one or two epsides, all characters are already introduced, and we see them in every episode, kind of boring. There are 3 or 4 main ones, and the rest don't play critical roles. Shiki, Arcueid and their relationship's developments are very enjoyable. The others are so so. But in general, I liked all of them. It would probably be better if we had more room, like 24 episodes, but that's Tsukihime anime - many things are left unclear. If you want more, go read the visual novel.

Music is a huge plus for Tsukihime. Background music is used appropriately. The opening theme fits very well the tragic atmosphere of the anime (I enjoyed it as much as Hacking to The Gate of Steins;Gate, but not so addictive). And I love the ending song about the White Princess trapped in the vicious circle of reincarnation, not being able to forget her past. This is one of the few animes that I never skipped the opening and ending.

Art in Tsukihime is very good and, well, plain, with a style similar to that Fate/Stay Night. They perfectly fits the story. So no complaint here.

Overall, I enjoyed Tsukihime very much - to the point that I watched at most one new episode per week, and watched each episode at least twice before moving on - that's just my thing :) but to point out how much I liked it. I think it is a great anime, but not a mainstream one. As I said above, if you are after a meaningful, sad plot with some depths in it, and don't mind a slow story-telling style, lack of actions or twists, Tsukihime is for you.

If you watch Tsukihime, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :D

Let me explain my ratings, while the show is alright by itself, and its based on a great story and fantastic characters, it just does not give justice to the original visual novel which had much more interesting battles, discussions and concepts, Tsukihime deserved a much better anime than what we got, tsukihime its not as depressing as this show portraits, neither is nvsqr chaos a weakling that spawns 1 or 2 dogs, particularly, hisui and kohaku have much more personality than how they looked like and the role of satsuki is just dissapointing.

whatever happened to the curry love that made ciel not act like ... a mindless zombie? also shiki is not such a depressed weakling as the show makes it look like, he is actually quite charismatic and positive despite his problems.

however, if you havent read or care about the visual novel, tsukihime still delivers a lot of entertainment and different setting than other shows usually offer, but my personal enjoyment was low.

This anime has a very disappointing end, but perhaps those who make this anime has another purpose would end this story.

This is a vampire show, but don’t expect alot of action from this show, cause there is hardly action in it.

The show to me in my opinion begining episodes were good, in the middle I disliked the show cause of the useless things that were happening, and also the whole “mystery” that was happening, which kind of annoyed me. The ending episodes to the show were good, but I still thought the ending was shallow, just an ending you would see in a lot of ... animes.

The characters in the show I liked, the vampire princess she was hot, and you can get attached to her, basically she is the only character in the show you can get attached to. The main male character was okay, I would have liked more development from him, and more action from him. The senpai girl was just total junk to me in my opinion. She had no action at all, she was just a poser, as I saw in the posters they always show her with those huge claw looking things she is holding, that makes you expect some cool action from her, but she just sucked. Overall the characters were okay, just for the vampire princess girl. The character relationships were good between the vampire princess and the main male character.

Animation in this show was stunning, I loved the animation in the show. The character animations were amazing, and again the vampire princess, her red eyes make her look very nice, besides that lighting, and everything was great.

Music to the show was okay, the ending theme I never bothered to listen to, and the opening theme was decent.

The thing I don’t get is why the hell is this show suggested for 16+ audience, I have seen Berserk with the same rating, but Berserk just destroys this anime in terms of graphic violence and nudity. Lunar legend had some violence, and some scenes were gruesome (well not to me), but it really lacked in action, and there was just one scene in the show that contained a SPOILER very, very, very, inexplicit sex scene, not exactly sex just kissing without any clothes on in bed. In my opnion I would reccomend this to an audience of teen, or should I say 14+ atleast.

Overall, this show was enjoying to watch, there were some useless episodes with usless stuff, but still gave out clues and kept you interested for the next episode to come. It had a decent ending, that can make you happy without smiling or anything. The big thing for me would be is that the show was too short, those type of animes where you are looking for a certain bad guy, it usually goes on for more episodes as the bad guy sends out his goons.

Good show, lacks action, decent romance, decent action, really nice animation, good music, good drama, enjoyed the show

Okay look, watching this anime from a person who had played/read the Visual Novel before and whatnot, are totally different so I don't want to take random criticisms.

I personally have read the visual novel of Tsukihime, and decided to give the anime

version score on my very own opinion...

Anime was weak. Honestly speaking I was even surprised by the fact that they somehow managed to cram all so much text into just 12 episode anime. Indeed they only took 1 route, (this case, arcueid's) the anime seemed to lack just a little thing that could've sent more heart feeling stories beyond just action/irony.

So my final ... call is,(don't want to length this any further...:P) that it is worth the watch, especially if you plan to read the visual novel. Anime that has been transferred from a visual novel is always lacking in content and is most of the time not any better.

So go watch it if you have time, otherwise it may just leave you hanging to know the rest of the story that should've taken place XP

Tsukihime Review
There are no spoilers in this review.
Tsukihime is one of those anime's based of a visual novel. Like with most of them, the fans of the Tsukihime visual novel didn't like the adaption. But for myself, someone completely new to Tsukihime I enjoyed it greatly.
Which means I think I could finally answer the question which was put to my by lawuser, about whether or not I would have liked the Fate/Stay Night anime if I had not read the visual novel and that is I think now that I would. With that out the way let's start with the review.

Story ...
This was in my opinion brilliant. I really enjoyed the Mystery themes to it, as Tsukihime struggled to learn about his past as he is fighting. The information was present in a way that it was easily understood which we needed to know for the story to make sense and briefly so they could focus on other parts of the story besides the background.

I have to say I was a bit suspicious watching this considering it is basically a story about a teenage boy falling in love with a vampire. I can confirm indeed, that it is a better lovestory than twilight. I really say the story was well executed for it to be enjoyable for those who are new to the Tsukihime visual novel.

Of course now I wish to play the visual novel for myself so I can make a proper comparison between the two. I have a feeling that my opinion on the anime might change after reading it. But I have not been able to find a working copy yet. So I may not be able to find out.

Tech
This is probably the weakest point of the anime. Which is primarily due to it's age. Being released in 2003 it makes it 10 years old now. The animation quality was fair and the art style was pretty good. The sound was average and the music was very good. Basically nothing really amazing here. Just average.

But I have to say something despite this, the tech of the show actually helped my enjoyment of the show. It managed to set up an environment of the show which increased my enjoyment greatly, as in I suppose the atmosphere.
The music and visuals used for both the scenes and intro/outro helped build for me an excitement to watch the show. It felt mysterious and dark which amplified my enjoyment of the story in particular. It kind of reminded me of an old mystery movie.

Characters
The characters were all likeable and suited well for their roles. In particular I liked Arcueid Brunestud, the most. Despite herself being a bit too clingy. It was interesting seeing all these characters interact with Tsukihime, even though it's probably a bit typical nowadays how they did in modern day Harems. The voice acting in the Dub wasn't bad, wasn't bad at all which means the characters images weren't really damaged unlike Fate/Stay Night with Gilgamesh's, english voice actor.

Conclusion
Overall this show left a positive effect on me. With no really seriously big flaws. Of course my opinion would be different if I had read the visual novel, but I have not. I honestly think that it deserves the score which I will awarded and I'd recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone.

Score: 8/10

That is a history, which one cannot describe easily,

First the action comes: a man, that with a shock, which lost memory, meets the Vampire with a woman, is!!!
He cannot believe first, but with conviction, he reminds that he carves the woman up into 17 pieces,

Two-test, the man comes home after 8 years, it reminded only of its sister, with their amusing house rules!!!

It may not be at night outside,….

Then that experiences its sister a Vampire is!!! Whole history is so mysterious that one sees the series with much looking surprised!!!
...
Thus, I can only recommend the series, it am much drama in it, with much romance!!!