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Reviews
Erufen rîto (2004)
Cruelty carries deep emotions
Elfen Lied is one of the animes that keep you shocked for days after watching it. It starts like something really cheap: a naked woman tears apart hundreds of soldiers. But don't judge it by watching the first 10 minutes! After this first scene, Elfen Lied comes something really weird. The quick changes between the serious dramatical scenes, funny interludes, and bloody fights makes a perfect harmony. The most weird is you can't know for sure which character is good or evil. Enemies can be the best friends and friends can become sworn enemies as the story develops. It's hard to write anything without writing spoilers so I just share my feelings - after watching the last episode, I was totally shocked. No movie had such a great effect on me. After the credits, I was just sitting there and just looked out of my head. Then, at least for a week, a kept thinking of the characters all the time and just could not stop listening to it's music. Oh well, the main song 'Lilium' is absolutely wonderful... If you like psychodramas, Elfen Lied will be one of your favorites for sure. It will capture your mind and your soul, and shock you completely. Don't watch it if you are weak nerved.
10/10
Fainaru fantajî sebun adobento chirudoren (2005)
Excellent, marvelous, unbelievable!
I just got to know of the release of FFVII:Advent Children and watched it immediately. I've never walked through the game (what a shame) but I know the characters quite well so I didn't watch it as a complete illiterate. First of all: this movie is really a Final Fantasy, unlike Spirits Within. All the major characters show up and the storyline is right after the original game. The only "problem" is I don't think that someone who never played the game would understand everything. But hell... play the game!
Spectacle: Wonderful. Those guys at Square ENIX really know how to make computer animated movies. It's just so beautiful that sometimes I thought it's a real, non-animated movie.
Sounds, dubbing: I watched the movie with the original Japanese dub (although I speak Japanese only a bit) and I was highly satisfied with it. It was just as I imagined while playing the game.
Music: When I noticed the music was made by Nubou Uematsu I was screaming in happiness. (He is (was?) the main musician of the Final Fantasy game series.) My feelings were right: the music is just GREAT! There is even a track from the Black Mages (Uematsu's "FF metal" band).
This is obviously the best computer animated movie of the year. And possibly it's the movie of the year, too...