Shadow Star Narutaru Collection [DVD]

I have long been a fan of the Shadow Star series. I have all of the manga and have been reading it since I was eight years old. When the DVD box set of the anime was released this past summer, I was ecstatic to get it, as I had never seen the anime before. While not nearly as informative and perfectly constructed as the manga it is based off of, it has its own merit and individuality nonetheless.The first thing you must know about this series is that its "first impressions can be misleading" slogan is no joke. While it starts off as a lighthearted fantasy, from the second episode on all of the characters' minds and twisted motives are exposed in a positively chilling way. The further along the series gets, the more violent, eerie, and gut-wrenching it becomes. Though this is a Japanese show, in which such scenes are commonplace, the envelope is really pushed to the max in the English version. The dub even includes some previously unseen events that were in the original manga, all of them hinting at the carnage to come in the finale. None of this information holds truer than for episodes 11 and 12, which include schoolyard bullies raping a girl with a test tube, and one of the same bullies getting raped and sliced in two by a menacing alien only hours later. While there is almost no nudity or serious depictions of these gruesome scenes, the sound effects and shots from the waist up are enough to leave an unimaginably strong impact.The storyline, while alarming (even to most viewers who are not easily scared), is still brilliant and is what makes this series triumph. I can't think of anything that shows a more truthful depiction about the hearts and minds of human beings, and how misguided teens would handle their troubles given the power. It is raw yet real, sketching out perceptions of mankind that are horrifying, ugly, but, above all, honest. But there's more to this anime than pure horror as it follows the adventures of young Shiina Tamai and her journey into the war between two cliques of psychic adolescent "dragon" bearers, providing quite a few lighthearted and whimsical moments to mask and balance the grim.The voice acting is superb in this series, and though the English dub isn't nearly as spot-on the original Japanese cast with voices that are unfitting and annoying, as far as production quality goes it's a high point. The animation, while in the same clean and gangly style as the manga, has a low framerate and can end up looking quite awkward. Music is good, but the biggest disappointment is simply how much was left out. Tons of key plot points and scenes from the original manga were cut, and the entire series is only 13 episodes long--half of the manga's story. The ending was done as well as it could be, but there are still many questions that need answering. So much clutter and next to no tidying up.But despite these flaws, this DVD box set is worth picking up for anime fans nonetheless, despite a seemingly dubious price of $50, and providing they have the guts to handle the latter episodes. With such a great manga, the anime is bound to be great too, and it certainly is despite poor animation and other gripes fans may have. It is unique, philosophical, and rouses emotions you could never think of experiencing during a cartoon.

Dont be fooled by the happy little intro that is presented and the first bit of episode 1, this anime is extremely deep for what it looks like and many times creepy and violent. It gives a sense of there being another season coming, but if not they say there is a manga of this as well. In all I was impressed with it and wish to see more of it, cuz it left me on such a crital point it seemed.

For those who question the world around you and think that this world is all messed up and wish you could do something about it, this anime is for you. Very interesting way that it unravels the story.

The box set of the anime had a rather large chunk taken out of the side of the box and dvd holders. By chunk I mean a thick line seemed to have been cut from it. Like it hit a saw or something. It works so I have no intention of returning it but it definitely wasn't new or good condition.

1. Music sucks2. Animation sucks3. Plot? There basically wasn't one4. None of the questions were answered5. Not fun to watchI bought this because at the time it probably cost 9 bucks + 2.98 for shipping, and I heard it was controversial, and I wanted something controversial in my library so...But since I'm a collector, I'll never sell it. Win some lose some. Live and learn.