Lunar Legend Tsukihime - Anime Review

Lunar Legend Tsukihime - Anime Review

Duration: 12 episodes

Supplied: Purchased DVDs via Rightstuf

Publisher: Sentai Filmworks
Released: January 20, 2009

As someone who has just recently become interested in the Melty Blood fighting game, having a lacking of source material was a bit annoying.  Sure these things are rather trivial in regards to fighters and their mechanics, however, I still like to know a bit about the characters and the universe they share.  The base material is, apparently, a visual novel.  This makes adaptation to an animated series potentially troublesome.

Lunar Legend Tsukihime follows protagonist Shiki Tohno.  Shiki had an accident when he was a kid and ever since then he has been able to see crimson lines streaking across everything.  If he breaks these lines, it breaks whatever they are connecting.  Since he does not like seeing these, he has some nifty glasses that hide them from his view.

Shiki somehow gets wrapped up in a supernatural plot regarding rogue vampires.  The antagonists of the series do not seem like they are all that prominent or dangerous, though.  There are only a few villains to speak of and even fewer still any with any major power.  Most of the plot revolves around character interaction and development.  The characters are fun enough, even though we barely get a taste of any of them.

 

I do not normally recall or enjoy any particular musical works in many things.  However, the music in this was very fitting.  It was also very prominent but not overbearing.  It might be in part that it was more noticeable since the visual nature of the series is so mundane.  There is absolutely nothing flashy about this series.  Everyone looks like they could literally be just an average Joe.

Conclusion

The story overall feels like it is missing a lot.  This is likely due to its visual novel roots, and it shows.  Does this make it bad?  That's hard to say since it might depend on what you as the viewer can tolerate.  It makes me want to learn even more about the universe but I have interests outside just this singular anime series.  It does seem to give just enough to get the plot across and I suppose that is enough.  There are a lot of unanswered questions at the end, though.

Recommendation

If you are looking for something to break into this universe, this could very well be a good stepping stone.  It's affordable and not a huge commitment to time.  If you already were acquainted with the universe and its stories you may find this to be repulsive if it does not fit the canon.