I thought the anime was pretty good myself. I'll have to get the DVD's now. Nice review.
s-CRY-ed tv Review
Story & Characters
A cataclysmic event has caused a part of Japan to break off from the mainland. Moreover, people are being born with the ability to deconstruct matter around them and form them into various objects, called Alters. The variety of powers these Alter-users have differ depending on the personality of the wielder. Now the place is called the Lost Grounds and it is an autonomous region of Japan. The military organization HOLD is useless in the face of troublesome "native" Alters, so a special ops group called HOLY is created consisting of alter-users. This group specializes in hunting down and capturing these native alters.
When HOLY steps up their program and start brutally subduing native alters, things come to a head. When Kazuma and Ryuho meet, an ugly rivalry is sparked, one that may change the face of the earth once again.
Kazuma is one of those native alters and all he knows is how to fight. Kanami is a girl who lives with Kazuma. She doesn’t know that he’s an Alter, but when he goes out and fights, she has strange dreams.
Ryuho is an elite member of HOLY, and a cold, emotionless person. Mimori’s a normal human girl who works as a doctor. She spent 6 months with Ryuho when they were children and goes back to the Lost Grounds in order to rekindle their relationship.
Scheris is an Alter with HOLY. She works with Ryuho and is in love with him, though he hardly notices. She shares her unrequited love towards Ryuho with Mimori, though she doesn't play a significant part in this little triangle until near the very end.
Tachibana is a HOLY member who controls eight small green spheres he calls Eternity Eight. They manipulate lifeforce and can be used for any number of things. He develops an early grudge with Kazuma and, through subsequent battles, begins soul-searching, trying to find what he really wants from life.
Cougar is another HOLY member whose alter is speed! He moves fast, talks fast, thinks fast, and he's got his own motives. He develops an instant attraction to Mimori though he has trouble remembering her name. An interesting character that wasn't really fleshed out (none of the supporting characters really were).
Kimishima is Kazuma's pimp. Basically he's the one who comes to Kazuma with these job offers; he deals with the people and the money while Kazuma does the dirty work. He's not all bad though since he acts as the collateral in case Kazuma fails. I liked Kimishima's character better than Kazuma's.
Ayase is a Native Alter who plays a small, but poignant, role in the series. She can turn things into water. For many reasons I found Ayase much more appealing than any of the other women in the series (not counting Kanami of course, she's not yet a woman)
Rating:
Art
The art is beautiful, very clean looking with a lot of CG sprinkled in. It’s interesting to see the all of the different alter designs as well, many of them look pretty far-fetched, some are just plain silly. Seeing how Kazuma and Ryuho’s alters evolve during the series is worth it though (except maybe for Kazuma’s final alter-form, I think he looks completely ridiculous). The best looking alter may be the simplest, Tachibana’s Eternity Eight. They’re basically 8 small glowing green spheres. Can’t decide which is more silly though, the watermelons or the giant revolver (compensating for something?).
Rating:
Sound
Lots of explosions, and Kazuma always sounds angry (well because he is). The dubbed version has some annoying voices, especially Scheris. Steven Blum is the voice for Kazuma. He's usually best known as the English voice actor for Spike Spiegel of Cowboy Bebop.
The opening theme, “Reckless Fire†is an upbeat, getting-ready-to-fight, type of music. The beginning really reminds me of Latin pop though. Every time I hear the beginning of the song I think Ricky Martin.
The ending, “Drastic My Soul†is faster-paced, and shorter. It has a nice beat and it’s a pretty good
compliment to each episode. There’s a lot of dramatic fighting music in this series.
Rating:
Presentation
It's a pretty original concept, with each alter being unique to each person. Character development is almost non-existent though. Many of the supporting characters are just there, you find out little about them at all, though I guess this is the fate of supporting characters everywhere. About the only person whose personality changes is Ryuho's, and not by that much. It's still fun to watch though, just don't expect too much depth from the main characters. Cougar’s character was the most amusing, he’s got an attitude to match his speed.
This anime is almost straight action. The romance that’s there is mostly a plot device, not a main story driver. Kazuma and Kanami are a pair, though I really don’t know how old Kanami is (she looks a bit young). The Ryuho/Mimori/Scheris love triangle never actually gets off the ground. Ryuho’s a bit too obsessed with his job to notice the girls.
There’s almost no humor at all except with Cougar and Kimishima (that poor man’s ride never survives an encounter)..Kazuma’s too brainless and Ryuho’s too serious.
All in all, it was an enjoyable anime. It’s got a good story-line and plenty of action for fight junkies. The
characters were a bit flat and one-dimensional. Worth watching at least once.
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.8333 (good)
Reviewed by CplayerL, Aug 24, 2005
Comments
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ChaosCroc Aug 24, 2005
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glassheart Aug 26, 2005
Great review! ^-^ I love sCRYed *.^!
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ozg82889 Sep 06, 2005
i love the anime its one of my favorites
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kira13 Sep 22, 2005
Scryed :) One of my favs. I love it. Nice presentation :pacman:
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Missy-K Nov 04, 2005
I first saw images for Scryed looooong ago but since it debuted on Adult Swim I am now a huge fan.
The art is one of my favorites because its the same as Gundam Seed and that's a huge success.
Music is catchy and riveting. Plot is fun and dynamic. I'll bet this show helped to inspire Fullmetal Alchemist since there are similarities about the "Other Side".
Pretty thorough review. A "B" is pretty just.
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beethoven Nov 14, 2005
i think the story was a bit better than a B maby like an A- but i am rather sure that Full metal achimist came out first i think it originatid in like 98 or something like that (don't quote me don't know this one) but Scryed came out in like 2001
oh yea i think Big need's a part in there to you know the first alter you see besides kazuma
and also the commander and ellion (forgive if i missplesed)oh yea i read somewhere that kanami is like something around 12 even thought she looks younger (looks around 8) and kazumas like 16 or so so there isn't much of a differance
and don't forget about how kimishin died like ahero or something i think or was it like i'm a running and got shot well can't rember maby you can but yea nice reviw rather acurate i think
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angelk Nov 20, 2005
The first two episodes of Scryed are good but not too impressive, the third one is better and from that point this anime gets better and better.
AS CplayerL says the concept is original -
shoimi Jan 12, 2006
i have seen every epsode of this amine and i can't believe how good it was iwish it would have a sequal but those who have seen the end seem to think there isn't going to be one well i for one think there is a possibility that there might be on account for the very end. because you never find out who is the strongest of the two Kazuma or Ryuho.
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angelxxuan Banned Member May 20, 2012
there was a short lived second season appear, but this one is the one which rings supreme in my idea of how an anime should be played out with many aspects and all combined well. and I have to congrats you on the review as well, you touched on everything, well done.
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UberDog Mar 23, 2015
Nice review, great details and what a nice and structured review.
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