It' very old.But indeed the classic.It is necessary to appreciate
Blue Seed tv Review
Story & Characters
Blue Seed was quite an enjoyable series for me, I loved how it mixed in Japanese myths within the storyline. The first two episodes were a great starter for the series, but fell into the pit of monster-of-the-week for a few episodes up until the appearance of he mysterious Murakumo and the plot thickening even more as Murakumo reveals Momiji's twin sister, Kaede, thought to have been dead after her disappearance in the first episode. We then see sprightly Momiji Fujimiya go through a period of angst upon the return of Kaede added to the feelings of inferiority over her twin when certain TAC members and Kaede's friend from school recall their memories of Kaede and her loved one Mamoru Kusanagi going after Kaede. Eventually Momiji decides to confront Kusanagi about her feelings towards him and when she does this, Kusanagi tells Momiji that after he's confronted his past(his past being Kaede), he'd return to Momiji and be with her. I was rather pleased with this development in Kusanagi and Momiji's relationship, as Kusanagi decides to be with Momiji. Kaede served as a great anthesis for Momiji, as Momiji was the Kushinada that wanted to save humanity and Kaede was the Kushinada that wanted to eradicate humanity, even though on opposite sides with each other during the conflict and the fate of Japan, Momiji stayed pure of heart and never shed a shard of hatred for her twin sister, despite Kaede's desire to destroy humanity and the things she's done to hurt Kusanagi. I also praise Momiji for laying everything she has in order to protect those that she cares for and as each episode comes along, she becomes stronger and doesn't always rely on Kusanagi to save her when she's in peril and shows independence at times. This anime also shows that the lead male hero, Kusanagi does not win on every fight he is in, such as the ones against Murakumo in the start of their rivalry. The TAC characters come into being stereotypical though, but they're all likeable characters. So overall, I was pleased with the series from start to finish .
Rating:
Art
The character designs stayed pretty close to the originals and the the animation quality of the series was pretty decent for the time the series came out in Japan. The overall effect was pleasing to the eyes. I also liked how each character's appearance was special in his or her own way, such as Kusanagi's bad boy slicked back hair, the icy and evil expressions of Murakumo, and Momiji''s girlish looks as compared to her twin sister Kaede's slightly more mature appearance. So I liked the artwork of the series very much.
Rating:
Sound
The sound was really good and I enjoyed the upbeat Carnival Babel OP song by Takada Band and a surprising bit of trivia about this is the male singer of Takada Band is voice actor, Fumihiko Tachiki(Gendo Ikari of Evangelion and Kenpachi Zaraki of Bleach). I also enjoyed the melodic ED song Touch and Go! by Momiji Fujimiya's voice actress, Megumi Hayshibara, a favorite voice actress of mine. I loved Hayashibara's Matsuri no Uta song that can be heard in the last episode of the series. Kenji Kawai did an excellent job with the score of the series, especially with the traditional Japanese piece music. Other noteworthy performances is Kazuhiko Inoue(Naruto's Kakashi Hatake) as Kusanagi and Jouji Nakata(Hellsing's Alucard) as Murakumo, as well as Ai Orikasa(Tenchi Muyo's Ryoko), playing another character of the same name, the TAC's Ryoko Takeuchi. ADV's dub of the series did pretty good and Amanda Winn Lee doing well as both Momiji and Kaede. I also enjoyed her husband, Jason Lee's performance as Kusanagi, and Aaron Khron playing the role of Murakumo.
Rating:
Presentation
Overall I enjoyed the series, well made into a 26-episode series that wasn't too short or too long, the characters were likeable, even the villianous Murakumo that doesn't come off as annoying, and made a very believable villain and Momiji comes off as an admirable heroine. The Omake Theatre exras were also an added bonus, with some being funny, or touching(like Kome's Omake episode about her childhood), or random and shocking like the one with Momiji and Kaede's grandmother. So, I reccommend Blue Seed to anyone.
The series is out on DVD in a box set format with the TV series as well as the follow-up OVA sequel, with the OVA dubbed in 2003 with new dub actors replacing Jason and Amanda Winn Lee as Kusanagi and Momiji, which I found disappointing. Of course the dub voices of the other characters had returned to voice their respective characters. Of course the Japanese language version is much better to listen to over the dub. Among the Japanese cast along with Megumi Hayashibara, Kazuhiko Inoue, Ai Orikasa, and Jouji Nakata that worked in this series is Akio Otsuka, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Kotono Mitsuishi, Yuji Ueda, Keiichi Nanba, and Sakiko Tamagawa. Animation production is done by Production I.G and Ashi Productions. Creator of the Blue Seed series is Yuzo Takada of Nuku Nuku and 3x3 Eyes. Coincidentally, Hayashibara has voiced all three heroines of Yuzo Takada's works. So, Blue Seed is a great anime for any fan of Megumi Hayashibara.
Rating:
Final Verdict
9.5000 (excellent)
Reviewed by minayuri, Jan 06, 2010
Comments
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Zhaoziming Jan 06, 2010
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jerry33 Jan 06, 2010
I've watched this show many times and it never gets tiring or has parts that you want to skip over. The worst thing that can be said is that the English dub is so bad that it seems like a whole different story.
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shadowtigerkitten13 Jan 07, 2010
I watched about half the show when I was a kid, and I loved it! I watched a little recently, and it's still good, even if it's a bit old now. Heh, I used to get the opening song in my head. My mom though I was insane, going "Mysterious Tokyo~" under my breath. XD
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SchRita Jan 15, 2010
Thanks for the review!
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rukasu04 Mute Member Jan 20, 2010
Nice review
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Lunabell21 Jan 23, 2010
Great series. But I really didn't like the OVA...
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aikur Mar 22, 2010
I agree with you 100% the show was very good i loved it when i first saw it and every time i re-watch it i still love it!
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SchRita May 01, 2010
Thanks for the review!
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DarkWolf2011 May 21, 2011
jaj is a great serie and a nice review in that time I had put some echi ^^
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