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The Skull Man; Lame? I think not!
Topic Started: Apr 27 2010, 03:49 PM (200 Views)
Eka
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"I'm a monster; on the inside as well."
[ *  *  *  *  *  * ]
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Set in an alternate history of Japan, freelance photographer Minagami Hayato returns to his hometown of Ootomo to investigate rumors of a man wearing a skull mask committing murders there. Once in the city, he discovers connections between the victims and a local pharmaceutical company, a new religious sect, and strange half human, half animal creatures. Along with a young photographer, he decides to find out who the Skull Man really is.


So I was browsing around on Studio BONES' website, and came across a few anime I hadn't seen by them (go figure. xD) Scrolling through the list, I noticed a semi-recent anime which they made back in 2007, labeled as, 'The Skull Man.' Looking at a picture of our main heroine, the, 'Skull Man', I was not too impressed. His character design just appeared off to me. A skull mask only covering about three quarters of his face? Some random dude clad in leather? To be perfectly honest, I almost laughed at it: there was no way I could take this guy seriously enough.
But nonetheless, its a Studio BONES anime, so based on the knowledge that Studio BONES is drop-dead awesome, I went ahead and watched episode 1.

Episode 1 starts off with a familiar Soul Eater-like scene with a women being chased by (I kid you not) giant werewolf demon hounds. She's scrambling for her life and crying pleas of help, but of course, none of it is making a difference. It zooms out to an over-the-shoulder rooftop shot of our masked main character, as he utters a sentence and swoops down to the scene. The women sees him, and lets out this blood-curdling scream which is followed by a fade out to black.
... So he's not a hero? Well that threw me off.

From then on, episode 1 starts out with the hot news story of the death of an actress (*le gasp*) and how, 'The Skeleton Man' is involved. Hayato Minagami, a young journalist, begs his chief to send him over to the city where the crime happened in order for him to learn more about this masked menace. Once on the train, he meets a young amateur photographer, Kiriko Mamiya, who wants to follow him on his quest.

Episode 1 ends with another appearance from The Skull Man, following a highly paranoid young asian man who apparently had the strength of the Incredible Hulk. Hayato had seen this paranoid guy, and attempted to help him out: this led to the guy chucking Minagami straight at a vending machine at least five feet from where he was standing. More demon werewolf hounds follow, and after the Skull Man appears, our buddy Hayato faints. Fade to black, episode ends.

My first thoughts of the show, of how mediocre it was going to be, have completely been wiped now. Hayato and Kiriko are easily two of the coolest characters in an anime, and though there's not much known about the Skull Man, I look forward to the eventual depth which his character will portray.
Oooh, I hope its a tragic past-type thing! I do love me some good angst. C:

'Off to watch episode 2! You should all look into this anime if you like mystery (detective-like stuff) and supernatural occurrences. Oh, and comedy. Kiriko is hilarious. :P

EDIT: The last ten minutes of episode 3 will have you wtf'ing all over the place out of its sheer AWESOMENESS.
Seriously. Ohmygod, this show. <3
Edited by Eka, Apr 27 2010, 04:57 PM.
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Eka
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"I'm a monster; on the inside as well."
[ *  *  *  *  *  * ]
/smacks you guys for no replies. D:

I finished watching it today! Here's my review :3:

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I've been itching to write a review for this anime. I finished it just a few hours ago, and it left a (pretty darn) big impression on me.

Story: The story revolves around a young man named Hayato, who decides to revisit his old hometown and look into the mysteries revolving around the masked murderer, "The Skull Man." It is only later on that he finds himself and his female partner, Kiriko, deeply involved in the dealings of The Skull Man, and something must be done to stop these events from happening.

The story holds HEAVY religious mention I would want to say that it was an undertone, but oh gosh would I be wrong. The entire story revolved around two religions, and their views. Now, I found this topic very interesting: its rare that you see it in anime, nowadays. The plotline easily intrigued me from the very beginning, and new twists and turns seemed unexpected which I loved. Obvious anime are never fun. And so, I would give the story a 9. The pacing was very fast as times, given the amount of episodes it had, so its one of those anime that you really couldn't let your mind wander away from. First they're talking about The White Bell Association, and the next thing you know they've delved into the past of something relating to the Association who's name you missed (one of my experiences, actually. xD; ) So the story was unbelievably unique and compelling, but I would have to give it a 9 due to its execution.

Art: If you're a BONES fan, you will get a g-r-e-a-t vibe of Wolf's Rain mixed with Darker Than BLACK from the characters. The designs were simple, yet colorful, and the design for the Skull Man himself was neat. I would not say that this art is groundbreaking, but it certainly mixed well with the storyline. A bit of eyecandy here and there for the fights, but otherwise, nothing hugely special. It recieves an 8 from me.

Sound: The soundtrack was a neat combination of classic jazz and orchestral speedy pieces. Overall, the music sounded nice together, but it didn't make me stop and think, "This music fits PERFECTLY with this scene." The Opening theme was certainly one of the catchier songs I have heard in awhile, but the Ending theme was slow: real slow. Is it only me who can't stand slow ending songs? I mean I know its the end of the episode, boo-hoo, but if you're going to make an ending that makes the fans lose interest, why bother? Thus, it recives only a 7 from me.

Character: I LOVED the characters to death in this series. Hayato and Kiriko are easily two of the coolest anime characters out there, and the Skull Man's intent, though slightly evil, was mesmorizingly great. It added an air of mystery to the guy, which was a nice touch. Also, there is an old man in this anime who basically makes an appearance in every episode (with good reason, after who he is revealed as by the final episode) and he is just a riot. Not only is he cunning, but he also has a sense of humor, and, by the final episode, a classic intent for revenge. I think I liked his character the most, even if he was a supporting role. Character gets a 10 from me!

Enjoyment: Looking at the anime overall, I really, truly enjoyed it from the depths of my soul. It was an anime that was so unique, it was simply gripping and thrilling. I loved practically every minute of it right up until the final episode. Well, if you're a BONES fan, you'd know what a BONES ending is usually like: rushed, left open, and leaving the audience thinking, "What the HECK just happened here?!" Really. I honestly believe it to be BONES' most confusing ending ever created by them.
Now, that's not to say that it doesn't make total sense. One of my pet peeves is when people say, "This made NO SENSE WHATSOEVER!" Well of course it made sense, just not in a context which you can think of. And its apparent that you're too lazy to Google some discussion on its ending.
I always looks forward to an ending by Studio BONES, because I love deciphering them if I don't understand it. If I can't figure it out at all, I look to Google and lurk through forums discussing said ending. I've been doing it ever since I've started watching BONES stuff: some of their endings can be rather thought-provoking, you know.
Anyways, I can honestly say that I sat in my chair for five minutes after the final episode ended, completely dumbfounded and lacking any sort of answer to its ending. So, I went to Google. I shall not spoil anything, but I will say this: be familiar in Kazuhiko Shimamoto's works if you plan on watching this. Apparently, the ending is some sort of prologue to another of his works, and some of his original characters make an appearance in the anime. Who doesn't love pointing out those? =D

Overall, I really enjoyed this anime. Its issue for me was mainly its pacing, seeing as I believe it could have gotten the same message out in 24 episodes rather than 13. The ending hints a sequel, which I do hope is on the horizon as well. If the pacing had been perfect, I'd have given it a 10. But alas, it recieves a 9 from me.
If you really love detective work, views on religion, supernatural occurences, AND a totally win opening song by TOKIO, then you should really check out this anime. =)

Thanks for reading!
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