Customer Reviews

Blue Seed

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Blue Seed is the story of Momiji, the descendant of the legendary Kushinada princess and last hope for humankind against the plant-like monsters called Aragami. I really enjoyed this series. It has humor, sadness, action (you know, the stuff that makes anime great). The characters are well developed and the storyline in intriguing. However, the story does have a tendency to become more repetitive at the middle of the series. The ending was not disappointing, though. If you like action anime, I reccomend this.

The life of a teenage girl can be stressful enough, but Momiji Fujimiya is a bit more stressed than usual -- it turns out that evil plant monsters are out to get her. Yes, evil plant monsters.

Fortunately if you can swallow that, most of the rest of this series will be a pretty entertaining ride. While it starts rather shakily (and with a very patchy dub), "Blue Seed: Complete Collection" unwinds into a complex anime full of grotesque monsters, teen romance, blam-blam action and international strife as the whole world is threatene, et cetera et cetera. It's fluffy fun, but what sets it apart is a heavy dose of Japanese folklore.

One day on the way to school, Momiji Fujimiya is confronted by two bizarre creatures -- a young man (Kusanagi) with seven "blue seed" mitamas embedded in his body, who tries to kill her; and a serpentine plant monster (Orochi). Turns out she's part of an ancient family line, the Kushinada, that can destroy the aragami (sort of plant monsters).

But then Orochi invades Momiji's high school to destroy her, and is barely stopped by the Terrestrial Administration Center (a motley band of scientists, soldiers and government officials). Before Momiji knows it, she's been handed over to Mr. Kunikida of the TAC, and Kusanagi has changed his mind about killing her -- now he wants to protect her, no matter what. Oh yeah, and the Kushinada before her was a twin sister named Kaede, now presumed dead.

And life with the TAC is rarely boring: they fight a bizarre jellyfish, a giant water blob, a grotesque crow, a tree aragami at an idol show (where Momiji song-duels with an American Shinto priestess), mutated dogs, a fire-breathing frog, a building-sized centipede, and a bloodsucking creature that can control people. Then a new trio of enemies appear -- a treacherous Kushinada thought to be dead, a sinister man with eight mitama, and the reborn god Susano-o. As the aragami grow in power and number, Momiji becomes plagued with doubts... and the fear that she will lose everything.

"Blue Seed: Complete Collection" starts off a little wobbly. Initially the stories are geared towards fighting the aragami-of-the-week, and a some episodes are just ridiculous -- a couple of them actually hinge on a pop idol competition and PANTY-PREDICTION software. Seriously. But the series starts to flower when it returns to the roots of Japanese folklore and legend, complete with kappa, an immortal woman, and a reborn god.

Additionally, as the story becomes more complex and darker, it also brings in an overarcing storyline that stretches all the way to the end. But the writers also keep the main storyline saturated with lighter fare, to remind us that these are people with ordinary lives to live -- a cute little romance between Momiji and Kusanagi, and some fun glimpses at how the various TAC members act around one another. And of course, plenty of explosions, gunfire and messy splattery action scenes.

In the first three episodes, Momiji is as endearing as a cat ice-skating on a blackboard -- she whines almost continuously. Fortunately she becomes a far more likable heroine as the series goes on, grappling with insecurities and worries that seem all too realistic. Kusanagi is a likable counterpart for Momiji: strong, powerful, but still relaxed enough to tease her about her underwear whenever he gets a chance. Of course he's also utterly socially inept, which makes their budding romance a bit more difficult.

And unlike many an anime show, the supporting cast is pretty colourful, even if they sometimes come across as stereotypes (the Genius Loser-Nerd, the Gung-Ho Gun Girl, the Scientist immersed in her work, etc). Fortunately each character is explored lovingly and given their own quirks and weaknesses, making them seem quite real and endearing.

It's worth noting that the English dub for this series isn't of great quality. In fact at the start of the series, it's pretty awful -- Momiji's whine, Kusanagi's toneless yells, and Matsudaira's scratchiness. Fortunately the voice actors get the hang of it a few episodes in, and they're doing a pretty decent job by the middle of the series.

"Blue Seed: Complete Collection" starts off wobbly in many ways, but it also serves up plenty of monsters, mayhem, and Japanese folklore. Worth seeing, and actually goes from mediocre to brilliant in a short time.

I first heard about this anime was in the mid 90s. I did not watch it but my friends kept saying how good, how exciting this anime was. At that time, I was not interested in watching it. If I did not watch this anime, I would have regreted. It is because it is a really exciting anime. The story is complicating, though it never loses its track. No wonder this anime was taken as a high profile during the debut. Everybody was talking about it, at school, hangout, etc. In the middle of the story, I always wondered what would happen next and in the end. The monsters, aragami and another enemy, Susano ou are strong. One complicate thing is they are not joint enermies at all but it seems like they are up to one common desire. I do not say much about the story because I want you to watch the anime before knowing the result. Besides the fighting and the excitment, the relationship between Momiji and Kusanagi can stick you on the chair until you watch the ending. I do not find boring in even one of the episodes. Every single episode is so good and attractive that no one would like to wait for the next episode. Another good point about this anime is it makes you use your brain to figure out what is happening. There are jokes but not meaningless, lame jokes.

What a great show, the writing and story are superb. What I find of interest is that many of the themes and legends in this series actually tie into real Japanese myth. For example: Orochi-San was a legendary beast who demanded the daughters of a local village, and this is inserted into the anime.

Despite this show being produced in 1997, the hand drawn animation quality is still some of the finest (remember they didn't have cutting edge computer assisted animation then). The soundtrack is fantastic, with tunes that draw the viewer into the mood. The characters are likable and one becomes interested in and their lives. Momiji is a very likeable character, the class dunce who can help save the world. Kusunagi is another great character, one who evolves throughout the series. Add a great villain (though he only appears halfway through) and a couple of amazing twists and you have one of the best series produced in the 90s.

Viewing Preference: Japanese with English subtitles

The story is based on the Izumo cycle of Japanese mythology, the tale of the god Susanoo and the monster Orochi. The main character, Fujimiya Momiji is a descendant of the mythical princess Kushinada. When Japan is menaced by aragemi spawned by Orochi, Momiji is intended to be sacrificed to appease the aragemi.

I bought this series when it was just on VHS and I'm about to buy it again on DVD so it'll last longer. I've watched through all 26 episodes at LEAST once a year since I got it. (I'm not insane, I swear~!) It's really cute and romancy. (Romancy is totaally not a word.) And it's not lazily done. Sure, it's old and there are silly panty and breast jokes but.. it's good~! The jokes aren't totally obscene or anything..

The series doesn't get into the real story until at least eight episodes, so if you're impatient for plot then skiip it. Otherwise, I'd say this is one show that's staying in my collection forrr life.

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thanks

One of my favorites! It has a Great story. Great Music, Great Dub cast, an anime classic!

I do not own this series but have rented the first few episodes. The animation is fairly dated, as is the poor English dubbing. The story line, while mostly interesting and usually equipted with a good degree of humor, is fairly hackneyed and predictable. It follows the adventures of a young, thoroughly moronic girl who gets attacked by monsters and often falls bottom-side-up so that the audience can see which pair of underpants she is wearing that day. I enjoyed renting this series but would never buy it as I would probably only watch it once.