(L) Shikabane Hime Aka

[FlareKnight]

Well didn't find it to be anything amazing, but will likely stick with it for a few more episodes at least. Until the question of "what is up with that cat?" is answered .

[neoeagle]

Nothing special .At least I watched the whole episode.Nothing to look forward too but it is watchable.

[Shiroth]

A lot of "nothing special" coming from people is quite a shame, 'cause i really did enjoy the first episode quite a bit. The fluid animation from start to finish is just one of the reasons why i loved the first episode, along with the matching musical score.

Sure it's different from the manga, though like i've already stated in the thread, i'll just treat this as a different story.

[Midonin]

The OP, while heard in the promos, is now set to its proper animation. I think it looks kinda cool.

[serenade_beta]

The most interesting thing in the world=watching two stiff voices talking to each other

...

Spoiler for ep2:

Just in case, but the above is sarcasm.

Anyways...

Episode 2 was quite a bit better than the first. It still makes me think "Okay... Where are we going with this?", but the atmosphere was more interesting than the first episode's (the horror part), and some of the terminology and such are explained in this volume (about the corpses). Another corpse princess appears too.


Of course, it still wasn't impressive, besides the animation at the most.
The stiffness of the voice actors are horrible. The emotional scenes fail because of the monotone voices, and only thanks to the BGM (which isn't that great, but compared to the monotone voices, stands out) does this anime succeed at all emotionally. There are a few voices (the childrens, that priest) that are decent/good, but that's it...


Another thing is the characters.
The two main characters are idiots. To put simply.

Makina turns her back on the enemy at times, tries to act cool and gets swarmed/defeated/into a pinch right away at times... Much less impressive compared to the last episode.

The guy... Existence still is more or less pointless, not helped by his voice. He actually took the hospitalized girl out of the hospital WITH him because she wanted to leave, EVEN when there was a machine-gun-armed girl (injured) in the same room. And both girls have come back from dying (and he knows about both)! SOMETHING REALLY WRONG HERE...
And to top it of, he still didn't give the letter/picture to the girl. Pointless action, but it could have been emotionally moving (for the viewers)...


OP is pretty good. Good animation with cool song, shows future characters. Satisfying here.
Wonder if the priest will die... That would suck... He's one of the few with a decent voice.

Preview: An ugly baby and other stuff

[MercFH]

Ep 1 was watchable lol.
but i hope they go more into being undead and stuff in ep 2.

[SuperKnuckles]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

A lot of "nothing special" coming from people is quite a shame, 'cause i really did enjoy the first episode quite a bit. The fluid animation from start to finish is just one of the reasons why i loved the first episode, along with the matching musical score.

Sure it's different from the manga, though like i've already stated in the thread, i'll just treat this as a different story.

I know, right? All these shows are actually quite above average from what I see and people are quick to shoot them down for whatever reason.

The story was grim enough at times, lighthearted at times and it looks like the mystery can go places and I like the monks' role so far.

As for the production values, apparently Gainax is animating all the quirky scenes and action scenes so far. I don't know if that'll continue indefinitely, but for episode 1, it was nice to see (even if the characters become blob-ified Gainax style).

I think it's a worthy watch myself. I was genuinely excited for several scenes and it got my attention.

[Sinestra]

Finished up the first episode not too bad i see a lot of potential in the series. What sucks is that you know that the girl will probably leave at the end since shes already dead and has to kill a certain amount of Shikabane before going to heaven. Over all i liked the action the guns were a pleasant surprise. I was so sure she was going to be using a sword but the guns are a nice touch. I will most def be sticking with the series. I do see how it could get kind of slow and feel repetitive. Every Shikabane she fights will get stronger and stronger as she gets closer to her goal but i can still this being quite enjoyable.

The animation was fluid from beginning to end i saw nothing i disliked about it the BGM was nice soft yet hard when it needed to be i got kind of gothic feel from it. No complaints about the VA either although i am not a big fan of the lead male's voice but it still works.

I still dont understand the slap at the end i was like WTF he just saved your DAMN you ungrateful #^%^@

good start 8/10

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by SuperKnuckles

I know, right? All these shows are actually quite above average from what I see and people are quick to shoot them down for whatever reason.

The way i see it, far to many people were comparing this to Gainax's past works, and were hoping for something to completely blow them away. It blew me away in a different sense, because i've been waiting to see what Gainax can do with the characters and setting from the manga, and they did not leave me unimpressed at all.

At first a was a little worried at having Ouri play a bigger part in this adaptation, though thinking more about it and it's something that had to happen. It gives the show more structure to follow a civilians side in all of this, then compared to the manga where it's just Makina & Keisei.

[Utau]

so I watched ep.1, i wouldn't really call the episode entertaining but it is watchable. I'll stick with the entire series nonetheless, i want to see more of this horrorish atmosphere and see if this goes Kaibutsu Oujo or something.

btw, what's with the cat?

[SuperKnuckles]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

The way i see it, far to many people were comparing this to Gainax's past works, and were hoping for something to completely blow them away. It blew me away in a different sense, because i've been waiting to see what Gainax can do with the characters and setting from the manga, and they did not leave me unimpressed at all.

At first a was a little worried at having Ouri play a bigger part in this adaptation, though thinking more about it and it's something that had to happen. It gives the show more structure to follow a civilians side in all of this, then compared to the manga where it's just Makina & Keisei.

I think a steady pace is what Gainax is aiming for this time and I'm in peace with it too. I honestly wonder why people expect an Evangelion or Gurren Lagann or FLCL out of every Gainax stuff. Cut them a break.

As for the everyday life perspective, you're right. Heck, even with Ouri in there, a lot of the stuff remained pretty mysterious. Hopefully they can build from here. For me, not a total eyeopener like Casshern maybe, but it's still a solid start.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by SuperKnuckles

I think a steady pace is what Gainax is aiming for this time and I'm in peace with it too. I honestly wonder why people expect an Evangelion or Gurren Lagann or FLCL out of every Gainax stuff. Cut them a break.

A shame to say that people are never going to cut Gainax a break.

Originally Posted by SuperKnuckles

As for the everyday life perspective, you're right. Heck, even with Ouri in there, a lot of the stuff remained pretty mysterious. Hopefully they can build from here. For me, not a total eyeopener like Casshern maybe, but it's still a solid start.

Oh believe me, if they animated the first chapter from the manga then you'd see a total eyeopener like Casshern.

But yeah there's plenty of mystery left. I'm just hoping they'll leave the reason why Makina fights in the anime. If so then it'll have to mentioned at least by episode three.

[Bathory Area]

It will be aired between 2 October 2008 to 25 December 2008(only 13 episodes).

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Bathory Area

It will be aired between 2 October 2008 to 25 December 2008(only 13 episodes).

Yes we know, and a second series has already been announced.

[DangerMouse]

Can't comment on the story part yet until the subs but skipping around the atmosphere from the visuals is very good once again, I think they are succeeding on what they are going for here. Production values didn't take a nose dive and remain consistent, Makina is animated quite nicely with full shots of her shooting, moving and getting knocked down and the quick beat down the other girl gave at the end martial arts style was quite nice if brief. Action-wise if they truly do get to character-driven fights then I think they've got a potentially great mix between Gainax-style cool animation of Makina's fighting combined with the very unique and interesting way that the action scenes are doing a great job of portraying her unstoppable immortal nature in how she just keeps coming until she succeeds each time she gets knocked down and wounded, different from the usual impervious immortals usually depicted in action scenes.

Is that other girl who was traveling around with Keisei and the monk going to be another fighter we follow?

Enjoyed the OP sequence, not knowing the source, it really did widen the "universe" of the show for me by hinting that it's not going to necessarily stay confined in scope, nor limited to just the main three characters so we might get to know some other supporting characters as well, nor limited to smaller stories, and big things may happen in the future like in most Gainax shows. The song and the visuals really work well together and the stuff going on in the OP makes me excited for where the show might be going.

As someone unfamiliar with the manga, there were also a lot more human characters coming up judging from the OP than I expected since we haven't even had glimpses of them yet (atleast two other pairs of characters, and perhaps the girl who got involved at the end of this episode?). Also the group of villain types in the shadows expanded the possibilities nicely. The OP teases that bigger things are coming so there seems to be plenty of potential.

If I had one nitpick/complaint, it's Ouri, as I expected. Not to mention how much screen time he is getting.

Originally Posted by SuperKnuckles

I honestly wonder why people expect an Evangelion or Gurren Lagann or FLCL out of every Gainax stuff. Cut them a break.

I think it's because the incredibly kinetic action style established especially in FLCL and Gurren is really infectious, you just want to see more any time they are putting out a new action show. I think currently Shikabane Hime is doing a surprisingly good job of keeping that style of a typical Gaianx gun fight while keeping it in fitting with the darker mysterious theme. The Gainax-like moves and camera-angles of Makina with the atmospheric twilight colors of the fight at the end of episode one had a lot of potential and made the colors of Makina's character look really good. That kind of style with a more dangerous fight later on could be really enveloping. I do admit though as an animation fan, it's hard not to hope for a much longer set piece fight later on in the show once we're fully invested in the characters.

[Deathkillz]

ep 2

Spoiler:

I think it was actually a good idea to not expect that much from this series since the last episode so with that in mind, this one wasn't so bad.

But I have to agree with Serenade on the character's voices...they sound stiff and lack emotions...even if Makina is supposed to be the "cold blooded killer", it is somewhat boring to hear no pitch/tone changes in her voice.

The story again isn't anything special...but above average I guess. It was enjoyable to a point but I still feel that this series is having a time getting a foothold on something as I question what direction in terms of development it is going, besides being "monster of the week" (and I only think this way because I care for and want the series to be good ).

For a fighter though, Makina sure is lacking some skills besides getting her ass handed to her every battle. I'm sure she could try to minimise the damage she receives but for some reason, she is just a glutton for scars
The other Shikabane fighter is quite cool though, laying a smackdown on the creep XD

The male lead is...

Anyway...great OP Not as good as the ED imo but still good. Angela <33

[King Lycan]

Wow this anime is awesome
Reminds me of Blood+ Plus a little bit

[orion]

I'm still wondering what Ouri is being setup for (hopefully a very big fall). That demon cat is hanging around him for a reason. I really like Kessei.

[Guido]

Yesterday, I'd downloaded and watched the first episode.

Shikabane Hime Aka does a perfect job at not only introducing the main cast but also explaining to a certain extent what are the shikabane.

This anime to me looks like it integrates the real-life atmosphere of Ghost Hunt; coupled with a supernatural mysticism, a la Vampire Princess Miyu, around the Shikabane; and just like Blood+ it sets up a non-human heroine, who is the only one capable of fighting back the unnatural creatures of the dark.

So, far we have Makina, Keisei, and Ouri as the main cast.

After concluding the first episode, I first thought that the show would treat Makina and Ouris' stories separately within each episode, crossing paths at random before the climax. However, I tend to feel that this first episode was proper introduction and that sinister cat initiated Ouri down towards a creepy voyage.

A voyage which will end him with Makina and the shikabane down below.

[SkoolRumble4Ya]

The episode is ok so far but I'll stick with it because shows tend to get better after several episodes.