Karas

STORY: The story or stories within Karas stem from several archetypal anime genres. We have a story of redemption, a story of discovering oneself, a story of the super-natural versus the corporeal, a story of good against evil and the blurry line between. In fact there is a ton of story in here that, with proper plot development, could easily fill an entire 25-27 episode season. And therein lies the problem of Karas's story. There are just too many many plot lines being developed in this movie. Also, the show paces itself slowly, telling the audience only the bare minimum of what needs to be ... known at the time and ultimately hindering the viewer's involvement. While this amount is sufficient in understanding the full story, the story loses its intrigue that draws in the viewer. There is vast potential for plot here, but this potential is not fleshed out and used.

ART: Karas is a visual powerhouse with few peers to call its equal. All of the major battle and dramatic sequences are perfectly epic. If you enjoy watching superhuman battles with swords, explosions, lasers, robotics(both big and small), etc., then this is the best that anime has to offer. This OVA is one of the most gorgeous films for its genre, and few shows can live up to this caliber of animation quality. Although animation and art design can't carry an entire show, Karas's visual appeal carries a great deal and redeems most of the show's flaws.

SOUND: Fortunately for the visual production of Karas, the sound develops the already epic, visual appeal into unreal proportions. The voice acting is fantastic for each character. The music gives each scene the appropriate response to each emotion. This is the kind of music that inspires roaring during battle scenes, quiet trepidation during conflicts, and cries of "That was beastmode!" during victory celebrations. The audio portion of the show is no pushover in relation to the visual aspect, but there are a few scenes in the show that need audio editing. Besides these few qualms, the sound is fantastic.

CHARACTER: The character development of this show suffers like the story. There are too many characters, and they all have deep histories. However, the show doesn't have the time to delve into all but one or two of these characters, and those select few receive the slightest bit of detail. Ultimately, I just didn't care about anybody other than the protagonist, one of the fortunate characters to receive miniscule detail. It is unfortunate because, like the story, there is so much potential behind the plethora of characters presented. Yet this potential is barely tapped.

ENJOYMENT: Karas is highly enjoyable with varied rewatchability. The battles and epic drive of this series make the experience invigorating, and several post-initial viewings are required to realize the sheer force this epic extravaganza possesses. However, there is very little depth beyond the flash-bang-awesome, and this effect does wear off over time. The initial and second viewings will be the best, and they will be highly memorable. However, there is little to take away from Karas other than, "That was unbelievably cool."

OVERALL: Karas's production team sacrificed plot, depth, and series longevity for visual, audio, and sensual awe. These balances have noticeable and predictable pros and cons.

Also, Karas displays graphic violence overbearingly at times. To some, this graphic effect may not be a problem. However, the gore in Karas is extreme and may be too excessive for others.

I hope this review has proven beneficial, and I appreciate any feedback, critiques, or thoughts through messages. Happy anime watching!

Great anime!! Its got everything an anime should have. Great story that you can reflect on with "what ifs?"; delivered in a partially non-linear form, superb animation, you have to see to believe it, great sound with a fitting score, characters that grow even in just 6 eps. Its starts of with a bang and ends in a satisfying yet quiet way. The story may be confusing in the beginning but everything slowly irons out and its all completed at the end. I personally like the references to japanese folklore, it made it modern with an traditional twist.

STORY: 7/10
In my opinion, I thought the story plot was the weakest part of Karas. It took me until two episodes or so to understand what even went on, although once you get the hang of the characters and such, the plot does come together. Perhaps one of the reasons why the plot is so difficult to understand is that the series has been condensed to a mere six episodes. If it were spread out like other anime (13 or 26 episodes), if anything, I think the plot would have been amazing. If you really do pull all the story lines that weaved Karas, they're ... very intense, with the idea of what's good and evil, and the obvious supernatural.

ART: 10/10
For those that hate complex story plots, but still have the curiosity of watching Karas, I really do recommend that you do, because the art is beautiful. The combination of 2D and 3D animation really makes Karas more than a series, but a beautiful piece of work. The way they fused many Asian cultures together (I swear, I had moments where I thought I was looking at Korean signs instead of a Japanese city, ahaha) for the setting, and the characters are beautifully created. The details are just unbelievable. If you REALLY don't like the plot, then really... just turn the sound off, turn some intense music on, and just watch it. It's just that good.

SOUND: 8/10
The music for Karas was beautiful, and fit very well together. I found the ending song for the first half fitting so well, sung by RURUTIA, who puts on a very mysterious and ambient air in her song "Selenite". The background music for the series also was well produced, as it really helped add to the intensity.
The seiyuus were also very well chosen. They really helped bring out some of the personality of the characters that they voiced.

CHARACTER 7/10
The characters suffered as well as the plot. Due to the whole six episodes only situation, it was hard to really see what they were like, especially since they all have an extremely complex personality and background. It took me forever to understand the situation of Nue and Otoha, two main characters of Karas, and it could just be me, but I found that it was really difficult to follow the characters, and at the same time, follow a very complex plot. It just added to the confusion. But the seiyuus did, like I mentioned before, help bring out some of their personality, but if anything, it was difficult to understand the characters until the very end.

ENJOYMENT 7/10
I kind of see Karas as one of those anime where you either enjoy it, or you don't. Personally, I loved it. It was probably due to the fact that the art really captured my attention, as well as the sound. But if anything, it's going to be the graphics that will capture you. The fusion of 2D and 3D is something you don't see, and as someone who has a deep interest for art, it truly was a wonder to see this. The plot on the other hand, I struggled immensely with, due to the confusion, and that took away some of the enjoyment of Karas.

OVERALL 8/10
So, I guess you could say that I advise you to watch this, knowing that the plot IS confusing. I don't care how brilliant you are, it will throw you off a bit, because it's one of those "in media res" moments.
I advise those that really don't care much for the graphics, but really the plot and characters to NOT watch this... unless you have some odd love for abnormally complex stories, then in that case, go for it.
But if you're someone who really appreciates computer graphics and art, as well as sound, then I do recommend watching it, but caution the fact that the plot is hard to follow.
Those who don't really like blood and gore may want to be a bit cautious to starting this anime, as umm... they definitely took Karas above and beyond with the blood and gore, ahaha, and it may cause some distress for others who aren't very good at handling graphic violence.


[Just so you know: This is my first review on MAL, so any critique, feedback, suggestions, etc. are greatly appreciated and accepted. Feel free to message me, or leave a comment on my profile. I will be more than happy to hear what you have to say!]

Karas
Karas or Crow was a surprise for me, i really thought that it was going to be good but turned out to be great with amazing fighting scenes and amazing visuals.

Story
Karas tells the story of Otoha, a former yakuza living in a fictional version of Shinjuku Tokyo populated by humans and Yokai (Japanese spirits). He is one of the titular Karas, humans appointed as superpowered agents of the land. Able to transform into a car, an aircraft, and an armored crusader; The story presents themes on the conflicts between cultural traditions and modern society and the relationship between people. The story is fast paced, maybe ... not in the first 2 eps. but it could be complicated for some people to follow what's going on with the story after that, but if you get to understand it right away like i did you will find that the story is great, there were unpredictable elements that may surprise you but in a seinen you expect everything to happen, there's a lot of fighting scenes and they are amazing, there are some sequences in the story that are not explained like, the final 10 seconds of the final episode, who is that? another antagonist? we'll never know because there's no manga to research who is that and that part made a room for a full 2nd season. Very good story.

Art & Animation
The art style was the best and even more in the fight scenes, with a combination of 2D seinen art style and smooth and fluent photorealistic 3D fighting scenes and character models was amazing, it has a dark atmosphere with the ep. 5 being the darkest one, it was outstanding.

Sound
The music matched the anime very well, the VA was good but with flaws, the background music was very good; The OP was really good and very fitting and the ED song was like if a movie ended, it was good to hear it and there were different ED songs, overall very good.

Character
They were very good but i felt that the anime was too short and there were characters that were a mistery and i wanted to know more about them, like Nue or his brother, why was he that important? was he really powerful? who knows, Eko could have been given more screen time and for some reason i liked the Yurines but liked more Otoha's Yurine, i felt that she could have feelings because from where she came meaning she could be a different Yurine, and Otoha was great but they never explain that Otoha is from an incestuos realation between his father who is his older brother who fu**ed his mom, making him his brother-father, and this is not well explained but it's hinted in a weird way. Overall very good.

Enjoyment
I was really loving the 2D/3D combination, the fighting scenes, the story, the sound, the dark fantasy atmosphere, the badass characters, the plot twists, i wanted more from this but that won't happen, not even a manga to follow and that's sad, it was too short but it was an outstanding enjoyment.

In the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo, humans unknowingly live side by side with spirits and other apparitions, who exist in a dimension parallel to our own. But the balance is being upset by the Mikura, demons who have taken physical form and must then kill to survive. Only Karas, the shadowy guardian crow of the city, can stop the Mikura and maintain the balance with the help of the mysterious Yurine. But the Mikura are being led by Eko, a former Karas who has turned his back on humanity and aims to destroy everything. Can Otoha, Yurine's newly recruited Karas, stop the renegade and his ... forces, without drawing attention from the locals, police and others with their own agenda?

This OVA (Original Video Animation to you non-otaku), is the 40th anniversary project of Tatsunoko Productions, the folks who gave us Speed Racer and Gatchaman (better known to Americans as "Battle of the Planets"). The show is very reminiscent of the latter, old style Japanese superhero shows from the '70s (think "Power Rangers" and you'll have an idea of what I mean). There's a hero who transforms into his powered-up persona with a special device, a mysterious guide/aide who knows more than she should, a badass villain with a small army of monsters/henchmen... the list goes on and on.


There's even one fight scene where the monster uses the traditional "faceless minions" to slow the hero down. Basically, this is what you'd get if you watched a Power Rangers-type show without the editing for American audiences, with a bit more dark realism thrown in.

The effort Tatsunoko put into this really shows, as its one of the best anime I've seen in a long time. The animation is a mix of 2-D and CGI animation, which really helps bring about some incredible visual effects and Matrix-style camera angles. This really helps the fight scenes, as Karas and the Mikura are done by CGI. Sure, you can tell the difference, but it still looks incredible. It goes to show how far we've come with using CGI in animation production, creating visuals that could never be done before with traditional animation.


Action aside, there's plenty of drama and intrigue to be had, as well. There's Otoha as he wonders of his new role as Karas, Eko and his plans for the human and spirit worlds (not what you'd expect, trust me), the appearance of the mysterious Nue who has his own agenda, and the various humans whose lives have been affected by it all. The most affected we see are the two members of the Intervention Department of the Shinjuku Police, which handles supernatural-related cases.

The two partners are rather Mulder and Scully-like in characteristics, with one believing in demons (with good reason for it) and the other, younger guy skeptical until he gets caught up in it. One even quotes the familiar tag-line from that series. There's also a girl, Hinaru, who had survived a Mikura attack and is trying to get on with her life. She doesn't have much of a role right now, but there's a follow-up on the way so we'll have to wait and see what happens there.

Score: 9 out of 10


The Video
Karas: The Prophecy is presented in anamorphic widescreen that's been enhanced for 16x9 televisions, preserving the original aspect ratio. Everything looks rather dim in terms of lighting, but that just fits the tone of the show. The CGI really helps out the animation, like during Karas' transformation scenes, where things really get bright and stand out to take notice.

Score: 9 out of 10

The Audio
Karas: The Prophecy offers four audio options: English 2.0 Dolby Surround, English 6.1 EX Surround, Japanese 2.0 Dolby Surround and Japanese 6.1 Dolby EX Surround with optional English subtitles. Like any action movie, it's the 6.1 tracks you want to take advantage of, as it makes the action scenes really take on a theater-style quality. Like in the opening sequence, where a pair of jets streak across the sky, blasting away at each other with the film's haunting music playing on.


The English dub is especially well-done, and Manga's gotten some Hollywood talent to provide some work, with Jay Hernandez (Hostel) as Nue, Matthew Lillard (the Scooby Doo movies) as Eko and Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly) as Yurine. The English track can get a little too literal though, like when characters refer to "water demons" as opposed to "kappa" in the Japanese track. Most would think viewers be able to figure out what was being talked about, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Score: 9 out of 10

Packaging and Extras
Karas: The Prophecy comes in a standard amray DVD case with a cardboard slip cover and two paper inserts, one with an ad to the sequel disc, Karas: The Revelation and some ads for other Manga Video releases, the other for Dark Horse comics. The reason the latter is there is because of the special Karas mini-comic from Dark Horse that's included, a sort of side-story to the main manga. Read this at your own risk, as it seems to include some plot details for the next Karas film.


There's a good deal of bonus features. First up, there's a "Behind the Scenes" montage, a series of clips showing the work done for Karas and the effort put into it. "Original Concept/Animation Comparison" shows the step-by-step process in which the CGI and visual effects for the animation were done, and some clips show how better they look with the final CGI.

Also included are the original Japanese trailers and TV spots for Karas. The first of these shows some different animation and rougher CGI effects, and even indicated a 2003 release date. Since the show ended up coming out in 2005, you can see how Tatsunoko took their time to come up with the final product we see.


Finally, there's some interviews with original Japanese voice actors Toshihiro Wada (Otoha/Karas), Asuka Shibuya (Hinaru) and Kasumi Suzuki (Yurine). Each talks about their impressions of the first episode and what can be expected for their characters in the next volume. None of the extras are very long, but that makes them quick and to the point without dragging on.

Oh, and keep an eye out for a hidden blooper reel within the extras menu, showing flubs done by the English cast during recording. I won't tell you where it is, but it's worth looking for.

Score: 9 out of 10


The Bottom Line
Karas: The Prophecy is, without a doubt, one of the best new anime flicks to come out in a long time, full of all the things that make an action film while doing some Japanese superhero-ing the "old school" way. A must-have for any anime fan's collection.

The first thing you need to do before reading this review is to decide if you are the type of person who doesn't mind CG meets traditional anime art. I know there are people who believe it's blasphemy, there are others who don't mind it and then there are those who absolutely love the intercourse between the two. I tend to lean towards the last.
Assuming you don't mind, or love the CG/traditional mix Karas will rate highly on your list of anime. The first 5 minutes of the 1st episode will leave your jaw dropped on the floor. And it will be difficult to pick ... it back up for a while. The characters are capable of morphing between space-fighters and iron-clad ninjas/samurai with superpowers like flashy virtual shields and duplicating swords. All the animation is superb; from the fight scenes to the hustling and bustling of the city.
The characters are quite memorable, with good voice-acting and a distinct style of their own, which emphasizes their individualities. Even the body language is well attended to in order to instill character to everyone of the main personalities. This is not necessarily true when it comes to the city folk. Although the voice-acting is still quite good, the body language seems duplicated and indistinct.
The story could have used a little tweaking and perhaps a less inconsistent pace, especially in comparison to the fight sequences. It felt, at times, like the story wanted to get somewhere but hesitated to do so. That made me restless at points. But then, as mentioned above, there were sudden phases where the pace picked up so quickly that it was almost difficult to keep up with what was going on. This unfortunately was also true with some of the fight scenes, where there was almost a little too much going on. Fortunately at the end I was left with a well-rounded idea of what had happened, why it had happened and how it climaxed to a very comfortable conclusion.
Karas is a high energy, fast paced anime and at 6 episodes, it almost feels like it ends too soon. I was left wanting more, which was a testament to how much I enjoyed it. For a decent story-line, some high-octane action and gorgeous eye-candy, you cannot go wrong with Karas. Enjoy!

Karas is mostly style over substance. But it's the kind of style that very few anime can beat.

The plot of the first movie (or the first three episodes, depending on which format you're watching) is left 100% in the dark. Bear with it. Enjoy the beautiful animation, the variety of characters, the amazing fight scenes. The second movie explains everything the first one failed to, giving you much-needed background information on top of even more amazing action. Because of this huge disparity in the pacing, it's the kind of anime that gets better and better the more you re-watch it.

Even if you manage to somehow ... disassociate yourself from the story and the characters, this is worth watching for the animation alone. Go for it.

Story:

When I first started the anime, I didn't really get anything from it. I started to understand it from around episode 3. The real problem with the story is that we just get into the middle of it. When the plot started, I felt like I missed 2 or 3 eps before it. That's why I give a 6 for this.

Art:

I have to tell this first, this anime has very computerish graphic. But it's amazingly beautiful. I don't really like animes with very computerish graphic, but Karas has one of the greatest animation I've ever seen in anime. From this aspect, Karas gets 10+++ from ... me ^^

Sound:

I didn't really pay attention to this part. But from what I remember (and from the greatness of the opening and ending song) I rate this 8.

Character:

The characters are very nicely drawn, and most of the characters has very interesting plot, which is kinda rare in OVAs. The only thing I didn't really liked was that sometimes the way they drew the mouthes was a bit... strange.
But this part gets 9 rate from me.

Enjoyment:

Aside from the confusing beginning of the story, I give this part 9, because I enjoyed every minute of this anime ^^


Hmm... I think that's all I want to say. Iin my opinion if you start watching Karas, you can't not like it! (if you like this type of anime)

Karas is one of those rare jems, which you don't fully appreciate until the second or third episode. The stunning artwork and visuals make themselves apparent immediately. The characters and their development is slow moving but not so slow that you lose interest. The story is really good, but very confusing at first. Just enjoy the beautiful art that this anime offers and let the story progress at it's own pace.Watch and enjoy.

When most recommend a grown-up Anime to someone, they typically go for something along the lines of "Death Note" or "FMA" or "Hellsing" to graduate from a "DBZ" or "Bleach" or something like that. When I recommend a grown-up Anime to someone, I recommend "Karas"

"Karas" combines a lot of popular aspects that people find appealing in adult oriented Anime. There's fighting and violence, interesting characters, some horror, some human drama, and a less than simple story. Add all of it up and you get a two-part series that has something for everyone. The fight scenes are the best thing about this series by a long ... way. They stand up to any other series out there with a mix of sword play, dog fights, giant monsters, and flashy finishers.

The art is very good with a top-notch soundtrack that succeeds in the difficult task of keeping up with the action on-screen. Sub vs. Dub is overall about even, but the English dub employs some mainstream names like Jay Hernandez, Piper Perabu, and an outstanding performance by Matthew Lillard as the series' main villain.

The big failure with "Karas" is the story telling. I have to admit, had I not watched the first part about 12 times on cable, I would not have understood enough to want to watch the second part for anything other than those bad-ass fight scenes. It's a pretty bad sign when you have to read the back of the tin to know what's going on- and even they don't seem to know! We manage to get some exposition in the 2nd part, but most would still be scratching their heads.

All and all I would recommend this to any Anime fan, new or old. It's a lot of fun with some really memorable fight scenes. But if you want to enjoy the plot, re-watching is probably gonna be mandatory. Cheers!

Story: The weakest part of the anime, There is just soo much going on, and so little information to explain anything. Because this series was condensed into such a short time frame, these ova just dont get to the full potential it might have had with a classic 26 ep series. Honestly i was just lost for the first few episodes until you finally get into the flow of the anime and just accept what is happening in each plot line try and piece everything together on your own. I would love to give a plot summary of this series but in all honesty ... i dont think i could do a good job.
5/10

Art: Described in one word; Beautiful. I have not seen a series that can come close to matching karas. The CG as well as the animation are put together seemlessly, every aspect fits and is just amazing to look at. the battle sequences are amazingly done, and is just awe inspiring to watch. If nothing else, the artwork will take your mind off of lack of plot developement.
10/10

Sound: Every sound just seems to fit, Sound effects were picked nicely for each animation, the seiyu chosen perfectly match each character (with what little information we know about them)
9/10

Characters: nice unique character design, only problem is we know little to nothing about them. Bascially all that is presented to the viewer is name and current motive, practically no background information or deeper understanding. Based on how little we know about each character, it is hard to relate to any of the characters, which makes it harder to enjoy the series
5/10

Enjoyment: If lack of a clear plot doesnt bother you, and you just happen to be an action battle sequence buff; then this series will be right up your alley. Unfortunately i prefer a bit more substance behind the plots, just a little backdrop that is integrated nicely into the series. Unfortunately it didnt really exist here. If the series was extended and more character and plot developement were provided it would be much more enjoyable
6/10

Overall: Apart from being visually stunning there really isnt too much to these ova.
7/10

Definetly one of those newskool anime ( anime after 2001, cuz then mostly 3[d elements came into the picture) that has an outstanding animation and-3d mix that can be enjoyed in the fullest, the city backgrounds,colors , characters development and enemies design, but mostly: the karas design is just BADASS, fights BADASS moves BADASS plus the story they involve in, music is very well done at most scenes that makes u feel comfort with it. This is an reccomentation!

A rather very confusing sci-fi movie i have ever seen. Just too many Plot-holes to come by.
It's like watching Evangelion all over again and Arjuna.

Slightly confusing but absolutely stunning animation and brilliant action scenes.

PLOT: Well the plot is both complicated and simplistic. Complicated in that there is quite a lot of side stories going on and simplistic in that the main plot exists only to link together extended action pieces. That being said I enjoyed the show a great deal, although I sometimes found myself more interested in the actions of side characters rather than the 2 central conflicting forces. This is mainly due to the fact that Eiko & Otoha are usually too busy fighting to talk much! As an action series this series excels but has ... enough interesting characters to keep those who like a plot happy. I watched the 6 episode OVA version rather than the movie compilation version so don’t know how much they differ.

ANIMATION: This is the 1st thing that strikes you about this show and is its main selling point IMO. This is a gorgeous piece visually – CGI is used perfectly in the action scenes, blending nicely with the 2D animation. The action scenes are beautifully choreographed and the backgrounds are rich and detailed. I loved the character designs too and there was so much blood!!

MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: Voice acting was great, Karas has an excellent cast – although if I have one complaint its that some of the leads do not get nearly enough lines. The music is also top notch – a nicely put together score that highlights the action and drama set pieces perfectly.

Overall Karas was a good show – it loses a few points for being a bit confusing at times and lacking in development for the main characters as well as having a pretty generic villain.

I remember seeing a praise for this work saying that it's like "Batman Begins", Fact is, It's soundtrack makes it look like it.

Story-wise, it actually has something to offer. The balance between Shinjuku's(if not Japan) dimensions between the humans and the spirits are threatened by a man who was formerly a Karas himself, it is now up to the new Karas to take this man down before he succeeds in destroying the balance of the two dimensions and take down his Mikura(in plural form) at the same time.

It also features a bit of a side-story about a Mikura named Nue who is after Eko as ... well. Altogether, I'd give this story an 8.

When it comes to Art, I'd have to give this a 9, the art is very well-done and the CGI isn't a mess, the art is so good i watched this show twice.

Sound(track), 10. It has a lot of epic OSTs, it makes me think that I'm watching some first-rate Hollywood movie, seeing that the Soundtrack is done by the Prague Orchestra, i can't expect anything less.

Overall, I'd give this an 8, very good characters and very enjoying, this title is going to hold you on your seat.

SO! COOL!
This was one of those video-games turn anime. My friend told me about the game (hard-core gamer, most of the VG Animes I have or will watch will probably be by his recomendation) and how awesome Karas was and told me about his OC that he based visually off of Karas so I decided that I had to see this. It didn't disappoint.

It would be outside my abilities to competantly praise this anime. The artwork was 1st rate, the music was calm when neccesary and vice versa with the suspence. The characters seem to have this ordinary feel about them but all in all, ... they come off very intersting as they interact with the supernatural situations unraveling around them.

The story was, at some times, hard for me personally to follow but maybe that's because I didn't play the game. As far as I understand, this was a continuation of the game so I may never know the full story unless they have a manga. However, as it carries along, it becomes easier to understand and the fight scenes are so fast and cool and bada**. From what I could get, a Karas is a protecter of a city; he/she is the barrier between the human reality and the invisible youkai (supernatural creatures of Japanese folklore) living hidden in plain sight among them. But since humans believe less and less in youkai, they're disappearing. Because of this growing phenomenon, the former protecter of the setting city wants to destroy it and pruge it of the 'disease of humans'. The youkai realize that this is not in their favor since thay need the humans to survive and that he uses the lives of other youkai to achieve his goals. So they all fall to the new Karas to save them and the humans and he doesn't diappoint.

The anime is already somewhat dark but it leaps into blackness as the climax comes. It's very graphic and when someone is getting sliced to shreds, they not only don't hide it but they give us 1st rate animation to show it even delving into the use of 3Dimensional characters. It's worth watching and, my guess, worth playing too.