Glass no Kamen (2005)

Two Girls. One Dream. And the entire world for a stage.

At 13 years old, Maya Kitajima seems destined to spend the rest of her life toiling in a crowded restaurant alongside her bitter and unstable mother. But when her incredible acting talent is discovered by the legendary diva Chigusa Tsukikage, Maya finds a new future filled with both golden opportunities and terrifying risks.

For Ayumi Himekawa, success has always been assured, yet she longs to be recognized for her own talents and skills, not her famous parents' connections.

For both, the ultimate prize is the role of The Crimson Goddess in the play of the same name, a part created by Chigusa. To achieve this goal, both Maya and Ayumi must seek out and conquer every acting challenge, pushing the limits of their talent and endurance to the utmost, until they are worthy of the part…

But for one to win, the other must fail!

(Source: Sentai Filmworks)

Kitajima, Maya Main

Kobayashi, Sanae Japanese

Hayami, Masumi Main

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Himekawa, Ayumi Main

Uechi, Aki Japanese

Tsukikage, Chigusa Supporting

Fujita, Toshiko Japanese

Sakurakouji, Yuu Supporting

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Mizuki, Saeko Supporting

Sakuma, Rei Japanese

Himekawa, Utako Supporting

Katsuki, Masako Japanese

Onodera, Hajime Supporting

Hijiri, Karato Supporting

Sasaki, Nozomu Japanese

Himekawa, Mitsugu Supporting

Nakao, Ryusei Japanese

Hamatsu, Mamoru Director

Nogami, Kazuo Episode Director

Mihara, Takenori Episode Director, Storyboard

Takagi, Shigeki Episode Director

Reviews

Apr 18, 2008

nosfertauman

Recommended

I know this is grave digging, but After having discovered the Glass Mask manga, and then this anime, I was suprised how superb they were. The newest version updates the style of the characters, but it still follows the manga fairley closely.

THIS is the kind of shoujo I want to watch, much, much better than the typical shoujo we get these days. The characters are all engrossing and interesting, even all the supporting characters are well fleshed out and with an interesting and realistic story. If anyone hasn't seen this I strongly reccomend watching the manga, and then watching the anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 14, 2018

Karhu

Recommended

Glass Mask is not the best anime ever, but it holds beauty and content that are some of the best ever seen in anime.


The series is a biography of a child actress. It captures the whole life of its main character from childhood to adulthood, from complete beginner to professional. The series is similar to the sports genre where stories completely and utterly rely on character development.


The series selling point is the acting itself. The training for these plays as well as the plays itself are content that is simply not available anywhere else, and they are polished beyond belief. My favorite act was ... perhaps Helen Keller's childhood. The actresses went into the role of a young girl who was both blind and deaf since birth. Never been able to interract with other people or the world in any other way but by taste, smell and touch. The way our girls train to achieve this same state in character and deliver it in the play was simply said shocking. It was so natural and radical way of presenting the rawness of human nature that it left me shaking.


Pretty much all of the major plays and events are similarly powerful, yet extremely different from each others. The series focuses on all sorts of plays, roles and working partners. Offering and leaving behind countless amount of memorable scenes and events that are surely to burn in to the viewer's very soul.


The reason why Glass no Kamen isn't the best anime ever is very simple. It suffers from horrid romantic subplot. The beginning of the series is terribad. There is absolutely no point in even trying this series if you're not ready to give it at last 8 episodes. The same words can be said about the ending. The manga series it's based to has been published since 1976 and it's stlll ongoing. The anime has an original open ending and it's not pretty to watch.


Despite all of these major problems and flaws, the uniqueness it has to offer: from one of a kind character development to the countless scenes that are animated masterpieces, this series is worth of a watch to anyone who is ready to take it for what it is.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Nov 29, 2022

CataOrShane

Not Recommended

This is a review taking into consideration that I've watched the OG anime from 1984. Expect some trivia! I won't spoil anything that wasn't shown in the 1984 OG. In case you want to know at what point the new content starts for those that have watched the OG, you can start watching this on the 2nd half of the 24th episode, onwards.

Visuals:
1) visuals aren't faithful to the manga (like the OG series was) but I like how they are much more colorful
2) recycled animation
3) dislike the "mask visuals" that never existed in any of the previous adaptations


Sound:
1) Not a fan of ... recasting unless because of death, retirement or illness. This is the 2nd recast of the entire cast
2) However, Maya's voice actress gives her a very versatile voice range, which gives more credibility to the characters she plays as throughout her career with one exception where the seiyuu performance was absolutely horrendous
3) legendary seiyuus that many have worked together in previous projects, the chemistry is noticeable; There are some seiyuus without much experience but not many
4) The OG Maya is now Ayumi's mother
5) Incredible range on Ayumi's seiyuu. Another legend in the industry
6) Rei's character needed a boyish voice, though. She was voice by a legendary model and commercial actress but as a rookie seiyuu her performance was very poor, unfortunately
7) The narrator's tone doesn't fit the story at all and the way he reads his lines feels so much like Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu (Legend of the Galactic Heroes)
8) fun fact: many seiyuus that participated in this remake debuted in the voice acting industry as characters in Meitantei Conan (Detective Conan)
9) the sound design is a lot worse IMO
10) 2nd ED is the best song IMO
11) not every line delivered has the right tone


Story and characters:
1) more backstory about Maya's life before meeting Tsukikage; much more detail in each arc
2) the pace is way slower than 1984 OG
3) Typically I prefer the 2005's version but on the 5th episode, the execution of Maya and Ayumi's "duel" was a lot better in the OG from 1984; same thing with the Beths' performances drama
4) Emotional and physical abuse & constant grooming and pedo-vibes, are absolutely infuriating and outright disgusting
5) In the OG anime the arcs have more impact but this remake has more "content" per arc
6) When Maya finds out her mom's gone missing, she spends 5 minutes feeling sad and then immediately moves on like it's nothing.
7) Helen Keller's arc was absolute trash. Too slow, too many unnecessary scenes and in the OG the big moments had a much bigger impact
8) I liked how some twists about certain characters were revealed
9) the 2nd half of the anime was saved by the one and only Ayumi for being the refreshing friendnemy she is towards to Maya
10) there are ton of things that made 0 sense and that will break any immersion you might be having at any given moment, like when an actress that won awards and had posters of her all around Japan, suddenly is forgotten by every single person, or when a certain character, just for the drama, receives a personality transplant and then goes back to normal as if nothing had happened.
11) I hated the Wild Jane arc, Masumi's backstory and the big reveal of what is the Scarlet Angel. So much build up and at the end it's one of the most boring things I've ever watched.


In summary: the OG is much more enjoyable and the rest of the story is not worth it at all.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Glass Mask (2005) Episode 24 Discussion Ston3_FreeN7 - Jul 3, 2009	11 replies	by z4yin »» Aug 28, 10:37 PM
	Poll: Glass no Kamen (2005) Episode 31 Discussion greentutu - Jun 26, 2013	4 replies	by Prox1mately »» Aug 2, 9:35 AM
	Poll: Glass no Kamen (2005) Episode 29 Discussion skreyola - Jun 21, 2013	6 replies	by Prox1mately »» Aug 1, 4:37 PM
	Poll: Glass no Kamen (2005) Episode 28 Discussion skreyola - Jun 21, 2013	8 replies	by Prox1mately »» Aug 1, 4:23 PM
	Poll: Glass Mask (2005) Episode 22 Discussion Ston3_FreeN7 - Jul 2, 2009	12 replies	by Prox1mately »» Aug 1, 8:18 AM