Karas

So, this pretty much ranks among my favorite animes ever made at the moment. Which is not to say Berserk, Hellsing, GITS, and Karas all have things in common that make them my favorites. Different series for different reasons.

Karas is an action anime. Really, we can say that that is its main focus. What I love about it, though, is that the production team seemed to decide that the rest of the presentationw as just as important as character design and scene structure. The anime doesn't tell you much of anything right away, and I like that delayed expectation, even if it does cause some of my friends to go into conniptions because they just don't have the patience for it.

The story, by itself, is serviceable. Hellfire and damnation, power-mad betrayers to the cosmic good, and the coming-into-power story of the redeemer amidst all of this. But the story is enhanced by the attention to detail in every other aspect of the production. Without the excellent music, animation and design, and well-roundedness of the final product (like balancing out the ratio of investigation/explanation/combat), I'm sure I wouldn't like the plot or care about the people it affects.

Fortunately for us, everything comes together.

It might seem pretty goofy at first glance to see a main character who can transform into a car, a jet, has a grappling hook, can shoot purple exploding bolts, and has martial arts training out the yin-yang, but the anime allows you to segue into it with that brilliant intro sequence in the first episode. You learn quickly that the spectacular seems commonplace in the world of Karas. If you make it through the first episode, then it's highly likely you'll enjoy the other two.

The anime is heavy on crazy ass combat, so it might turn some people off who are looking for a less...flamboyant anime. Still, I like it for what it is, and because of what I mentioned above, I feel that it more than makes up for it in the story.

Can't wait for volume 2. Maybe if there are enough DVD sales, there might even be a full fledged series in store for Karas.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The only thing that's added in the japanese episodes are the OP/EN sequences, and they really aren't great. They do more to break up the mood that's set in the series than anything.

Although if I had any complaints about the U.S. release, it'd have to be the quality of the subtitles. That's not to say they didn't translate it well, because it isn't really bad, but when you compare it to something like AniKraze's version, that has colorized and in-frame subtitles to explain the kanji and such, it just falls short a bit.

And the pixellated font they stick inside the frame on the Manga subs doesn't help, either. Makes me feel like I'm watching Lupin on VHS.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

They're 30 minutes on the Japan episodes, but I did a comparison, and the only thing they're msising are the opening and ending sequences.

On a side note, it looks like Japan is seeing the episodes released 1 at a time, meaning one per disc! I don't know how much they are, but that seems kinda ridiculous to me.

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