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Plot Synopsis

Tohno Shiki was severely injured in a large accident in his childhood. Miraculously survived the event, Shiki was sent and sent away from the family to recuperate.

As a result of the injury, he is now able to see "life lines" on objects and people which, when cut, will destroy them, until one day, a mysterious women gave him a pair of glasses to prevent him from seeing such lines.

After years away from home, he moves back home following the death of the head of the Tohno family. He was walking back from school as he meet a beautiful woman named Arcueid Brunestud, and was drawn to kill her.

He thinks that her murder was all just a nightmare at first, until she reappears in front of him.

It appears that Arcueid is a vampire princess. and recruits Shiki afterwards to help fight Roa, the antagonist vampire who has been commiting many murders at the moment.

Story & Characters

Knives and blood and vampires... oh my! This is probably the best way to sum up Tsukihime. Originally released in 2003, Shingetsutan Tsukihime is loosely based on the Type Moon doujin H-game of the same name. The game gained such a following (from the plot and not H-scenes) that an anime was created. The plot featured an intricate and highly interleaved story, with about 5 different ways to go through the story (one for each main female character).

Since the anime format is somewhat limited, only one story was really explored. Tsukihime features Tonho Shiki as our male protagonist. When he was younger, Shiki suffered from a case of amnesia after an accident. Whenever he opened his eyes, however, he saw strange lines covering everything around him. If he severed these lines, the object would fall apart.

Being afraid of his "new" power, he runs off and discovers a woman claiming to be a mage. She gives him a pair of mysterious glasses that hides the lines from his vision, thus allowing him to return to a normal life. After recovery, he moves in with relatives and starts attending school. Years later, after the death of his father, he is asked to return home and live in the traditional Tonho residence. He reunites with Akiha, his younger sister (the new head of the family), and Kohaku and Hisui (the maids). Isn't this starting to sound like a hentai already?

At the same time, strange killings have started happening in town. The victims seem to be missing all their blood, as if it was sucked from them. In rage, Shiki happens to stumble upon an attractive female vampire and cut her to bits. As a result, he must help her hunt down the actual killer. At school, a mysterious new upperclassman has appeared. She seems very interested in Shiki's well being, but doesn't explain why. There's also the cute female classmate that obviously has a thing for Shiki. Our cast of characters is now complete, with one male lead and several (attractive) female leads... plus the occasional bad guy and gimpy male friend.

Overall, I felt the story of the anime version of Tsukihime was well done. It kept me interested from episode one and captured my attention throughout. The later half of the series used cliffhangers very effectively and held me on edge while waiting for the next episode. From my research, however, I've found that the series paled in comparison to the game.

Rating

7 (above average)

Art

Since the majority of Tsukihime takes place at night (the best time to go vampire hunting, among other things), everything is done with dark and ominous colors. The background scenery is left very simple and actually feels somewhat like a game. In terms of characters, the original designs were maintained (except they were always fully clothed). Kohaku and Hisui are just as cute as ever and Acrueid feels just as warm.

I only noticed a slight flaw in clothing design. It seems that each character had a very limited wardrobe. While this made sense for school uniforms and maid outfits, each person seemed to have a very limited collection of casual clothing. Shiki seemed to switch between two different shirts (even if one became soaked with blood) while Acrueid seemed to lack any costume changes. While this wasn't a serious problem, I didn't think that Hisui was that good at doing laundry and washing out stains...

Rating

7 (above average)

Sound

Music is another area where Tsukihime shines. Following with the nighttime theme, most of the soundtrack carries dark overtones and tension. Each scene is appropriately accompanied with music. The music used definitely helped set the mood. Personally, I purchased both soundtracks once they became available domestically.

The Japanese voice acting was also commendable and on par with everything I'd expect. The English dub, on the other hand, was a different story. Unless I tried very hard, I could barely distinguish between all the different characters (including the guys). It all sounds extremely monotonic and flat. Everyone also seemed to have an English accent. The only exception was Kohaku, who seemed far too bubbly, even for her character.

Rating

7 (above average)

Presentation

Tsukihime was definitely one of my favorite short series of 2003. Weighing in at only 12 episodes, it is an easy series to pick up and watch in an afternoon. I would, however, recommend evening viewing in a dimly lit room. It adds to the atmosphere. Geneon currently holds the US distribution rights, starting with the first volume in Fall 2004. I watched the first disk as soon as I got home as was not disappointed by the release. DVD quality was good and the packaging was well done. Each disk comes with a reversible cover and keep-case featuring one female character on each side. I was slightly disappointed that Satsuki didn't make an appearance on any of the covers. The artbox for the series is well designed, with some raised textures for the letters, giving an overall "classic" feel. It is a welcome addition to my collection.

For those people out there looking for something more mature, Tsukihime definitely does the trick. It has a serious lack of super cute magical girls, transformation sequences, and pink. I also found almost all of the characters to be lovable at least one point in time, with a well defined evolution from start to finish. I would also recommend this to people who were a fan of the game but not extremely serious about it.

If you were serious about the game, don't like vampires, or can't stand watching a suspenseful anime in the dark, you should probably steer clear of this series. Fans of the game may find blasphemy everywhere while magical girl lovers may find the story too serious.

Rating

7 (above average)

Final Verdict

7.00 (above average)

Reviewed by kawaiiguy, 3y 1wk ago