AnimeSuki Forums

Shiroth · 2008-01-26, 10:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivacioussky

Does anyone know if there is a second season to this?

As far as i know, nothing at all has been mentioned on the news sites, so we'll just have to wait and see.

*KiwiChan* · 2008-01-31, 06:57

A second season!! Oh yes it would be really good!
Still a very good series that I have just discovered! I am a big fan now ^ ^!
Hijikata is a character very attractive!

Can I move my application?
I am looking for this image quality:

Can you help me? Thanks!

Sarajuana · 2008-02-23, 14:03

I have one of the sound tracks, but I noticed that it doesn't have the opening theme Kouya Ruten on it. I'm also having trouble finding a download for it. Can anyone point a torrent out to me? Thank you!

ellifeedn · 2008-04-05, 15:25

I checked this series out on a whim and, to my surprise, it was amazing. I finished the first 13 episodes and will procced to finish the rest of them. The story flows in a very smooth and slightly fast pace and the action is top-notch. My favorite episode, so far anyway, is 13. Never saw any of it coming.

A question: are there any sort of historical inaccuracies throughout the series?

Hedd · 2008-04-08, 09:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by ellifeedn

I checked this series out on a whim and, to my surprise, it was amazing. I finished the first 13 episodes and will procced to finish the rest of them. The story flows in a very smooth and slightly fast pace and the action is top-notch. My favorite episode, so far anyway, is 13. Never saw any of it coming.

A question: are there any sort of historical inaccuracies throughout the series?

It uses historical events a guidelines more than a structure so I'm pretty sure there are some inaccuracies in the timeline they use, if you're looking for specifics though I didn't study Japanese history close enough to pick up any of the small details.

As for a second season, I can't see where that would ever be possible (or wanted really). You'd have to hack up the plot from the first season to get a mediocre at best gathering of plot hooks for a 2nd season and honestly it would detract from the first season. This is more a personal opinion then fact though.

ellifeedn · 2008-04-12, 19:51

Well, I finally finished the rest of the episodes. I felt the supernatural element was too strongly emphasized and the end of destiny part was all right. What was with the propaganda? Why did Soutetsu do all that he did? And who were the weird old guys in the basement?

While it is a good series it's not part of my top ten.

andr1us · 2008-07-12, 17:15

Does anyone know name of the song playing in 26th episode? I have both soundtracks and this song is missing.

Kittycountess · 2008-08-07, 11:46

I want to add my two cents about this series now that I've finished watching it.

Like many have said the production values are pretty high. Rarely have I seen such great visuals or soaring score. That was one reason that kept me with the series to the end. The other reason, I'm embarrassed to admit, was the character of Akizuki. He was hot as any bishounen who could keep a fangirl's attention for an entire series even if the rest couldn't.

<Warning: Spoilers ahead>

That said there were many things that brought me to the brink of dropping the show before the end. The story was simply too slow and unfocused. Characters (some of them historical I assume) walked in and out of the plot like it were a party (I didn't even realized when or how Tayou was added.) There was a lot that could be cut out and wouldn't hurt the plot a bit. Also, considering this was supposed to be Yojiro's tale of a quest to defeat evil, we saw very little of it (or of Yojiro for that matter.) In fact, up to the final show down, all the Eternal Assassin did was to walk around and look at different horizons. Kakunojo's character had a different problem as she seemed to never find a solid trait for her personality to be identified with (except that she had feelings for Yojiro, I guess.) She was like a chameleon, changing colors and motives as the plot required.

So even though I enjoyed the series, I'm also somewhat disappointed. The plot could have been tighter and they could have toned down the supernatural a little. Or gone the other way and toned down the historical and did a full out supernatural theme, just not this strange hybrid that reminded me of the animated Anastasia movie. Also it needed more compelling characters and not a cast full of bit characters whom you didn't know and couldn't care about. All that however I'm willing to forgive for the beautiful images of old Japan, the excellent music and those shots of Akizuki that took my breath away.

roriconfan · 2011-02-21, 12:31

REVIEW TIME

STORY SECTION: 4/10 [Pseudo-realistic with a lot of pointless fuss over trivial matters.]
- The story is about this cool-looking warrior, with the funky name of “The Eternal Assassin”, sent to save feudal Japan from a civil war, invoked by a cursed skull. Which is quite ridiculous as a concept, since it presents the wars of that era to be the result of a curse and not of power struggles amongst greedy merchants and feudal lords. Japanese people are presented as peaceful people that are easily mind-washed into becoming frenzied killers by a dead guy’s head… Yeah, right! Realism aside, the story is full of ideals such as fulfiling your destiny, maintaining your honor, questioning your loyalties, giving the chance to rule the world… and turning ancient ruins into Doomsday devices. It feels almost like a cheesy JRPG story.
- Sure, there are hundreds of real locations and historical events included in the series that can turn the show into an encyclopedia… But are all boring. Who gives a damn about what happened on a specific day of a specific month in a specific year amongst 20 historical figures? This is good for a documentary, not an action series. And anyway, all this approach to history goes to waste by having a cursed skull being the villain in the story. No sir, it wasn’t the greedy kings of Europe or the megalomaniac daimyo fighting over the riches of Japan. It was this cursed skull. How historically accurate does that sounds to you? Here you are, going crazy over trying to remember a thousand names and events that you think are important to the plot and then the conclusion comes along and is just a supernatural fighter taking on a supernatural gismo. ZONK! Talking about taking us for suckers.
- In all, the story tries to present itself as gran-scaled and perplex when in fact it is pretty simple and straight-forward. It clearly did not deserve 26 episodes. Wrapping it in 4 episodes would be more than enough for our poor mind having to stand all those unimportant historical events and boring battles.

CHARACTER SECTION: 4/10 [Like statues, they are good looking but they are also frozen in a permanent pose.]
- The protagonist is raised with the sole purpose of destroying the skull, if it is ever unleashed. This means that he follows a fatalistic approach of a “can’t escape destiny” theme that I loath, as it turns characters into robots. Well, that aside, he is cool-looking and fights awesomely, thus becoming likable to all you who dig heavy-dudes like Afro from Afro Samurai or Dante from Devil May Cry. I personaly hate this kind of characters, as they are just show and no meaning. At least this guy does question his destiny from time to time, as he interacts with the leading girl in the series, a lushious actress that also has a mission to accomplish… Here we go again with the fatalistic theme. Jeez!
- As far as character development goes, aside from the leading fighter no one develops much. All secondary characters either die pretty fast or retain their initial behavior. They are just there as NPCs, aiding or stomping the hero. Again with the fatalism buisiness!
- Even the co-lead, the pretty actress, doesn’t actually manage to provide anything other than subtle fan service. Something important does happen to her in mid-series but not even that affects the story.

ART SECTION: 6/10 [Nice to stand, bad to appreciate.]
- Animation-wise, we get the treatment of “taking the audience for suckers” method. The first episodes have wonderful animation, full of artistic scenes and approaches to culture and philosophy. A sight for sore eyes! Then, it debunks into mediocrity in the mid-episodes and catches up again in the conclusion. It definitely helps the viewers to have a good first and last impression of the series but it still is a trick to save money in animation. Do mind; there are many blunt backgrounds and badly drawn and colored shapes in the series. They are simply overlooked by most, as you are supposed to pay attention to the characters and the battles. Nice try, but not all of us are that dumb.
- Action-wise, it has very good battle choreography in most duels, complete with special attacks and eye-catchy visual effects. Unfortunatelly most battles end way too fast and rarely in a satisfing way. Half the times we get a stalemate, half the other times, some nobody fires a gun from behind and kills the bad guy or injures the good guy. Having seemingly superhuman fighters being defeated in a cowardly manner such as this leaves you frustrated. JUST TAKE A GUN AND SPARE YOURSELVES THE TROUBLE, YOU IDIOTS! Why train for decades in martial arts if a bullet can solve everything? Yes, it does make sense in reality but in the series we get these cool battles ful of Matrix acrobats that end with a gunshot. Does it sound ok to you? Add to this problem the fact that in the mid-episodes the choreography becomes scarse and consists mostly of just stale or repeating frames of slashes and punches and you get a very anti-climactic action series.

SOUND SECTION: 7/10 [Sounds nice; but gets over with fast.]
- The dialogues… Well, they are as corny as the main theme in the series. Unrealistic one-liners during fights and uninteresting talking about honor and destiny in peacefull moments. Plus, a lot of blah, blah about politics that have no overal effect on the story.
- The music themes… Very nice but not great or memorable in any way. They do tend to repeat too often but you still don’t get to memorize them. Tough luck!

VALUE & ENJOYMENT SECTION: 3/10
Heck, I didn’t like it. It was boring, with uninteresting characters and with a lame story. Why would I give it a second view? So ok, some battles were indeed cool but with all the Naruto and Bleach and Dragonball Z fuss I have watched, these paled in comparison.

VERDICT: 4.5 / 10
History and cursed skulls make a bad fusion. REJECTED!

SUGGESTION LIST

This series is better than:
Samurai Jack. An American cartoon with anime overtones with an avenging samurai. Too fake and stupid.
Samurai Deeper Kyo. It has lots of cool characters in it. But the battles suck big time. (the manga is far better)

This series is worse than:
Samurai 7, Samurai Champloo, and Rurouni Kenshin. Definitely better quality in story and characters.

2008-01-31, 06:57	Link #1022
KiwiChan Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008	A second season!! Oh yes it would be really good! Still a very good series that I have just discovered! I am a big fan now ^ ^! Hijikata is a character very attractive! Can I move my application? I am looking for this image quality: Can you help me? Thanks!

2008-02-23, 14:03	Link #1023
Sarajuana Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2007	I have one of the sound tracks, but I noticed that it doesn't have the opening theme Kouya Ruten on it. I'm also having trouble finding a download for it. Can anyone point a torrent out to me? Thank you!

2008-04-05, 15:25	Link #1024
ellifeedn Thinker Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New York	I checked this series out on a whim and, to my surprise, it was amazing. I finished the first 13 episodes and will procced to finish the rest of them. The story flows in a very smooth and slightly fast pace and the action is top-notch. My favorite episode, so far anyway, is 13. Never saw any of it coming. A question: are there any sort of historical inaccuracies throughout the series?

2008-04-12, 19:51	Link #1026
ellifeedn Thinker Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New York	Well, I finally finished the rest of the episodes. I felt the supernatural element was too strongly emphasized and the end of destiny part was all right. What was with the propaganda? Why did Soutetsu do all that he did? And who were the weird old guys in the basement? While it is a good series it's not part of my top ten.

2008-07-12, 17:15	Link #1027
andr1us Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Ireland Age: 39	Does anyone know name of the song playing in 26th episode? I have both soundtracks and this song is missing.

2008-08-07, 11:46	Link #1028
Kittycountess Member Join Date: Feb 2007	I want to add my two cents about this series now that I've finished watching it. Like many have said the production values are pretty high. Rarely have I seen such great visuals or soaring score. That was one reason that kept me with the series to the end. The other reason, I'm embarrassed to admit, was the character of Akizuki. He was hot as any bishounen who could keep a fangirl's attention for an entire series even if the rest couldn't. <Warning: Spoilers ahead> That said there were many things that brought me to the brink of dropping the show before the end. The story was simply too slow and unfocused. Characters (some of them historical I assume) walked in and out of the plot like it were a party (I didn't even realized when or how Tayou was added.) There was a lot that could be cut out and wouldn't hurt the plot a bit. Also, considering this was supposed to be Yojiro's tale of a quest to defeat evil, we saw very little of it (or of Yojiro for that matter.) In fact, up to the final show down, all the Eternal Assassin did was to walk around and look at different horizons. Kakunojo's character had a different problem as she seemed to never find a solid trait for her personality to be identified with (except that she had feelings for Yojiro, I guess.) She was like a chameleon, changing colors and motives as the plot required. So even though I enjoyed the series, I'm also somewhat disappointed. The plot could have been tighter and they could have toned down the supernatural a little. Or gone the other way and toned down the historical and did a full out supernatural theme, just not this strange hybrid that reminded me of the animated Anastasia movie. Also it needed more compelling characters and not a cast full of bit characters whom you didn't know and couldn't care about. All that however I'm willing to forgive for the beautiful images of old Japan, the excellent music and those shots of Akizuki that took my breath away.

2011-02-21, 12:31	Link #1029
roriconfan Banned Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Thessaloniki - Greece	REVIEW TIME STORY SECTION: 4/10 [Pseudo-realistic with a lot of pointless fuss over trivial matters.] - The story is about this cool-looking warrior, with the funky name of “The Eternal Assassin”, sent to save feudal Japan from a civil war, invoked by a cursed skull. Which is quite ridiculous as a concept, since it presents the wars of that era to be the result of a curse and not of power struggles amongst greedy merchants and feudal lords. Japanese people are presented as peaceful people that are easily mind-washed into becoming frenzied killers by a dead guy’s head… Yeah, right! Realism aside, the story is full of ideals such as fulfiling your destiny, maintaining your honor, questioning your loyalties, giving the chance to rule the world… and turning ancient ruins into Doomsday devices. It feels almost like a cheesy JRPG story. - Sure, there are hundreds of real locations and historical events included in the series that can turn the show into an encyclopedia… But are all boring. Who gives a damn about what happened on a specific day of a specific month in a specific year amongst 20 historical figures? This is good for a documentary, not an action series. And anyway, all this approach to history goes to waste by having a cursed skull being the villain in the story. No sir, it wasn’t the greedy kings of Europe or the megalomaniac daimyo fighting over the riches of Japan. It was this cursed skull. How historically accurate does that sounds to you? Here you are, going crazy over trying to remember a thousand names and events that you think are important to the plot and then the conclusion comes along and is just a supernatural fighter taking on a supernatural gismo. ZONK! Talking about taking us for suckers. - In all, the story tries to present itself as gran-scaled and perplex when in fact it is pretty simple and straight-forward. It clearly did not deserve 26 episodes. Wrapping it in 4 episodes would be more than enough for our poor mind having to stand all those unimportant historical events and boring battles. CHARACTER SECTION: 4/10 [Like statues, they are good looking but they are also frozen in a permanent pose.] - The protagonist is raised with the sole purpose of destroying the skull, if it is ever unleashed. This means that he follows a fatalistic approach of a “can’t escape destiny” theme that I loath, as it turns characters into robots. Well, that aside, he is cool-looking and fights awesomely, thus becoming likable to all you who dig heavy-dudes like Afro from Afro Samurai or Dante from Devil May Cry. I personaly hate this kind of characters, as they are just show and no meaning. At least this guy does question his destiny from time to time, as he interacts with the leading girl in the series, a lushious actress that also has a mission to accomplish… Here we go again with the fatalistic theme. Jeez! - As far as character development goes, aside from the leading fighter no one develops much. All secondary characters either die pretty fast or retain their initial behavior. They are just there as NPCs, aiding or stomping the hero. Again with the fatalism buisiness! - Even the co-lead, the pretty actress, doesn’t actually manage to provide anything other than subtle fan service. Something important does happen to her in mid-series but not even that affects the story. ART SECTION: 6/10 [Nice to stand, bad to appreciate.] - Animation-wise, we get the treatment of “taking the audience for suckers” method. The first episodes have wonderful animation, full of artistic scenes and approaches to culture and philosophy. A sight for sore eyes! Then, it debunks into mediocrity in the mid-episodes and catches up again in the conclusion. It definitely helps the viewers to have a good first and last impression of the series but it still is a trick to save money in animation. Do mind; there are many blunt backgrounds and badly drawn and colored shapes in the series. They are simply overlooked by most, as you are supposed to pay attention to the characters and the battles. Nice try, but not all of us are that dumb. - Action-wise, it has very good battle choreography in most duels, complete with special attacks and eye-catchy visual effects. Unfortunatelly most battles end way too fast and rarely in a satisfing way. Half the times we get a stalemate, half the other times, some nobody fires a gun from behind and kills the bad guy or injures the good guy. Having seemingly superhuman fighters being defeated in a cowardly manner such as this leaves you frustrated. JUST TAKE A GUN AND SPARE YOURSELVES THE TROUBLE, YOU IDIOTS! Why train for decades in martial arts if a bullet can solve everything? Yes, it does make sense in reality but in the series we get these cool battles ful of Matrix acrobats that end with a gunshot. Does it sound ok to you? Add to this problem the fact that in the mid-episodes the choreography becomes scarse and consists mostly of just stale or repeating frames of slashes and punches and you get a very anti-climactic action series. SOUND SECTION: 7/10 [Sounds nice; but gets over with fast.] - The dialogues… Well, they are as corny as the main theme in the series. Unrealistic one-liners during fights and uninteresting talking about honor and destiny in peacefull moments. Plus, a lot of blah, blah about politics that have no overal effect on the story. - The music themes… Very nice but not great or memorable in any way. They do tend to repeat too often but you still don’t get to memorize them. Tough luck! VALUE & ENJOYMENT SECTION: 3/10 Heck, I didn’t like it. It was boring, with uninteresting characters and with a lame story. Why would I give it a second view? So ok, some battles were indeed cool but with all the Naruto and Bleach and Dragonball Z fuss I have watched, these paled in comparison. VERDICT: 4.5 / 10 History and cursed skulls make a bad fusion. REJECTED! SUGGESTION LIST This series is better than: Samurai Jack. An American cartoon with anime overtones with an avenging samurai. Too fake and stupid. Samurai Deeper Kyo. It has lots of cool characters in it. But the battles suck big time. (the manga is far better) This series is worse than: Samurai 7, Samurai Champloo, and Rurouni Kenshin. Definitely better quality in story and characters.