Anime Moon Phase

[Rachmaninoff]

My newest addiction in anime is a show called Moon Phase. If you?ve seen the opening credits it gives the impression of a suger-shock cutesy show but if you get beyond that and actually take a look it?s got a very dark and menacing feel to it. For a vampire show the characters have fun personalities and a zaniness to it that really sets it apart from other shows.

One of the main characters Kouhei a paranormal photographer who can?t even see the spirits he photographs, he ends up entering a castle in Germany in search of a girl he could actually see this time but didn?t show up in the pictures he took. He meets the girl who is named Hazuki.

To make a long story short, [spoiler]she ends up giving him a kiss which is actually a bite on the neck to drink his blood and make him her slave, but it doesn?t work. But Kouhei ends up helping her break the seal keeping her tied to the castle anyway. The story then picks up back in Japan at Kouhei?s grandfather?s place where Hazuki shows up to live with them. And from that point on the fun ensues. [/spoiler]

I?d have to say that Moon Phase unlike other vampire series I?ve seen is well balanced. I?ve never cared for the endless fights and blood fests that other series I?ve watched tend to follow. Moon Phase has fun characters; great comedy, a bit of drama and an overall dark feel to it that makes it more enjoyable that most vampire shows I?ve seen.

So who else is into this show and what are your thoughts on it?

[Dagger]

I watched a little less than half of Moon Phase before it was licensed. Now I'm collecting it on DVD. :catgirl: (<-- the perfect smilie for this thread)

Moon Phase was directed by [url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=1610][u]Akiyuki Shinbo[/u][/url], whose style has gotten more and more distinctive over time. I've seen most of his recent work, but for me, Moon Phase hits the sweet spot in how it mixes quirky comedy and dark action (the areas in which Shinbo's influence on shows tends to be most pronounced).

I'm not planning to finish watching it until I've got all the DVDs in hand, and it'll be a while until that happens... but in the meantime, it's good to hear that others are enjoying it.

~Dagger~

[Aaryanna_Mom]

The DVD with the first five episodes was loaned to my daughter over the holidays and out of curiosity I sat down and watched it. I have to agree with the statement that it?s a bit more balanced for a vampire series. Admittedly I haven?t watched other anime vampire shows, but a fair number of vampire movies and shows lately have focused more on the bloodletting instead of developing the characters. Which is a disappointment as I grew up enjoying vampire flicks until they became more centered on violence.

The thing I like most about this one is the approach that [spoiler]paranormal/spiritual powers are for real [/spoiler] and the way Kouhei and Hazuki [spoiler] banter back and forth due to her vampire kiss not having the intended effect of making Kouhei her slave. [/spoiler] is delightfully funny.

It does have a nice dark feel to it in how they?ve kept the state of being required to [spoiler] avoid the sunlight.[/spoiler] thus maintaining the balance of how vampires are creatures of the night. I?m curious to see more of it as I?m hoping they can maintain the dark yet fun atmosphere they?ve created so far with the first five episodes.

[AnimeHeroX]

In my opinion moon phase is definetly an anime worth checking out i only have 2 of the dvd's right now and of course phase 3 coming outin january. the plot is pretty interesting and characters are funny espeically hazuki in my opinion that saying on the box fits her perfectly she is the cutest bloodsucker you'll ever meet alferde is pretty hot herself. but i can wait til the next part of that series comes out.

[Fasteriskhead]

Cute, certainly - kudos to whatever concept writer finally realized that vampires are often far less appealing as angsty romantics or kill-crazy lunatics than they are as cute girls with cat ears. Unfortunately the series itself is incredibly uneven, and especially towards the end it gets bogged down in the absolute worst budget-protection measures that I've ever seen in an anime. The show just feels too stretched, not just economically but creatively: there are entire episodes where it seems like no one in charge knew what to do. On the other hand, when the show's on, it's [i]very[/i] on... because really, if you can take a cute imouto in a frilly dress and cat ears with little fangs jutting out of her mouth and do it right, then the rest of the show doesn't really need much else.