Reviews

This is a really big and complicated story. I don't usually like anime about European culture (for the reason that European culture stops being actually European and becomes somewhat "Japanised") but that's not the case. That strange love of the Japanese cartoonists for orphans, experiments on personality, conspiracy, military men and crazy lunatics was finally put into a very decent, serious setting. The most dreadful thing about the whole story is that it's easy to imagine the events taking place in the real world (for those who are familiar with the history of World War II, at least). Well, strictly speaking there are some things which should be clarified otherwise they might seem illogical but they do not spoil the general impression from the series. Mangaka's done really great job, no wonder manga is going to have a second birth (as a movie series this time; it will be fun to compare the anime and TV version).

One of the main lines in the series is a fairytale of a Check author (I couldn't manage to find out for sure whether it was real or not) - it is just as adorable as horrifiyng. I liked everything about it: the plot, the pictures, the way it was read by Nina. Yet I cannot imagine what kind of impact it could have had on me if I ever had a chance to read it in childhood (thus, I cannot compare the influence it had on the twinst... pity). And I cannot imagine what impression they could get from their mother's choice as I haven't got an answer to the question who the real monster is. As for monsters, I find it completely unnecessary to discribe the characters: many of them are very vivid and quite convincing (in fact, many of them can be called monsters in a way), but one of the most exciting personalities ever is Yohan himself, he alone (apart from everyone else) is worth watching the whole series, this creepy guy sends shivers up and down not only other characters', but also the viewers' spine.