Customer Reviews

Karas - The Revelation

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw the subtitled version of the movie at one of the recent anime cons. It was excellent! Animation is still stunning and the story piks up right where the last movie ended. The cliffhanger ending of the last film was confusing due to so many unanswered questions. But Revelation answered most of the questions, though still a complicated/sophisticated plot. The middle third actually takes a very dark turn plus it is much more bloody than Prophecy...which was fine by me.

The story picks up right from the ending of Karas: the prophecy.

Just as a quick review of what I think about this second part:

- the story is straight forward, explains pretty much every "mystery" the first part set up

- feels like there's slightly less action, but definitely more story telling

- still beautiful graphic, great action and exceptional music score

I can't really think of any cons about the movie. Yet the ending is somewhat a let down. It is a great closure, but it just feels like there should be more.

Karas absolutely has the potential to be made into a series, in which case the audience coule have a better chance to fully appreciate the story. I guess my disappointing feeling came from the fact that a story with such potential to have deep characters development and complex story line is squeezed into a three hours movie.

Karas, nonetheless, is a great anime that should not be missed by anime fans. The first part (the prophecy) definitely requires a bit thinking, but if you can overcome it you'll find yourself enjoying one of the best action animes.

Call me picky, but the only substantial thing The Revelation did for me was explain a lot of what happened in The Prophecy. They take about ten to fifteen minutes to do this and that was good. But overall, compared to The Prophecy, The Revelation is a disappointment.

The action (admit it, is there another primary reason to have watched Karas?) is nearly nonexistent. What little action does occur happens like it does in most other mundane anime: Big, dusty explosions that conceal all vision, single sword strokes, etc. The elaborateness of the fight scenes is completely gone.

The graphic quality changes from the first one too, and not for the better. The superb blending between CG and hand drawing that made the first one so beautiful is markedly gone. You end up with an awkward non(mix) of CG and hand drawings, with the hand drawings resembling typical anime (though in the upper tier) and CG reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons like Beast Machines. And after watching The Prophecy, that's a letdown.

Basically, Karas: The Prophecy (the first volume) is an exceptional anime. Karas: The Revelation is just anime.

After watching Karas: The Prophecy, which ends on a cliffhanger and which I thoroughly enjoyed, I was pretty excited about seeing the conclusion. Unfortunately, this movie falls short in so many ways.

The quality of the visual effects and fight scenes just don`t come close to the first movie. Even the soundtrack is noticeably worse (nothing from the Prague Philharmonic in this one). Otoha's back story was also disappointing. It seemed like it was just slapped together without much thought. It's hard to go into specifics without giving away the plot, but basically you see the main villain getting more and more powerful and a lot of blood and a lot of destruction without any of it having much sense or purpose. Again, the fight scenes weren't much to look at. On the plus side, everything from the first movie is explained clearly.

The bonus material (interview with Cree Summer in the voice over booth) is probably the one redeeming quality of this DVD if you have an interest in that sort of thing.

If you watched Karas: The Prophecy and want to know how it ends, I'd recommend to just read the synopsis on Wikipedia instead of sitting through this 90 minute movie.

I have been an anime fan for years and I will have to say that Karas is easily one of the best anime movies to come from Mango since ninja scroll! I know that is bold and very strong talk, however, if you buy Karas you will understand.
1. Story - the story is pretty interesting for what it is. Demons and humans have a clash of sorts and Karas basically keeps the peace. The characters are interesting, the main character himself is especially mysterious and you can ally feel the characters feelings.
2. Animation - Beyond words! I cannot be more impressed. When I saw Final Fantasy XII I almost soiled myself, but Karas...In the words of Neo from the Matrix "Woah" The integration of 3d animation with 2d animation is nearly seemless, not to mention the combat in the series. I mean Newton, Einstein, and Boyle have to be rolling in their grave because of the physics defying action. The studio also brings in new concepts of speed and strength, and a new way to exemplify them.

Overall this was an amazing anime and I DEMAND A SERIES OR ANOTHER MOVIE POST HASTE!!!

I will be relative short with my review about the second part of Karas (but view spoilers will be included).

To begin with, the series starts off exactly where the previous one stopped. Now, Otoha (the main protagonist - and the `good' Karas - is respectively stripped of his powers) and his cat-girl is imprisoned. On top of that, Eko - the bad Karas - has almost accomplished his plans. No matter the circumstances, Otoha will head out with his friend (the guy who is a daemon as well, I think Nue was his name) for their final stand so as to stop Eko and his foes.
This will result to mind-blowing action scenes, flashbacks and therefore, more character development, both worlds (the spiritual and the material) will start to collide, the city will be annihilated during the fights, the new awakening of Karas and his cat-girl (something that you have to watch or otherwise I will give away the entire story), the Karas of the entire nation will come into the picture as well, protagonists/characters will die (well, unfortunately it will happen) but most of all it will lead to one of the best final and action packed battles of the anime series.

One more thing (Spoiler!!!) In a scene, close to the final battle it is implied that the feelings of `master and servant/helper/warrior (or whatever you want to call it)', cat-girl and Karas (referring to the cat-girl and Otoha), are deeper than they may appear at first...

Now, to the other details.

The dub is done perfectly as it was done in the first part.
The animation lives up to the expectations of the previous one.
The story starts to kick off from the first minute; in addition most answers will be answered, answers that were raised during the first volume - not to mention the fact that it gets emotional too.
The music is similar to the one people got used from the first Karas.

As for the extras, it has nearly the typical stuffs like previews and a view shots when the actors did the dub.

Well, all this been said Karas presents itself to be one of the best fantasy-action movies that came out recently and is definitely worth buying...

To conclude, this one (Karas - The Prophecy) and its continuation, (Karas - The Revelation) are highly recommended!!!

Well I have been waiting for this DVD for over a year now so its not totally surprising that this volume didn't live up to the hype that I was expecting. Why in the world it took this long to release (originally, Manga advertised this volume to be due in september 2006) this volume is beyond me. Apparently some legal matters must have gotten in the way. The animation is great of course, but the story left me a bit confused. For the first half of the movie I didn't understand what was going on (the scenes with Otaha, were they flashbacks, or current happenings?). Maybe things will click better the 2nd time I watch it, because to be fair, the first volume was a tad confusing the first viewing as well. For you dub fans, Piper Perabo does not reprise her role (The cat girl who helps Karas), and they got a new celebrity to cover her characters. Not a huge deal but it was rather noticable. I guess the reason behind that is because Manga took so long inbetween dubbing, while usually a series is dubbed all in same session/s. If you were a fan of Karas part 1 then don't hesitate to grab this one because its one of the best anime releases of 2007.

It perfect!!!!!! Lots of action and great soundtrack. Some nicesub-plots and endering charaters. awesome special effects on par with Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust!

Thank you for sending the video in a timely manner. My son was happy. It works great, thank you.

Karas - The Revelation is the follow up to Karas - The Prophecy. I purchased this product with no research simply because I loved the first one so much. The Revelation picks up right where Prophecy left off and concludes the storyline. Unfortunately, Revelation and Prophecy have very different narrative styles. I was a fan of The Prophecy because of its experimental plot development, its non linear progression, its understated characters, and the pressure on viewers to piece plot devices together with very little guidance. It made for a very unique anime full of WTF moments that broke a lot of sterotypes and traditons. The Revelation, however, has little to none of this experimental storyline. The Revelation is a much more traditional anime film, everything is explained in clear matter of fact speeches. Information is clear and concise so there is none of the previous feeling that you are an active viewer. The fight sequences arent nearly as epic or abrupt and look far more like traditonal sword fights than in The Prophecy. Despite these changes in style The Revelation is a great movie and when you strip it of your expectations from The Prophecy you realize its still a good story, its just not as ground breaking. The movie answers a lot of questions, and makes some pretty interesting statements. While not as good as Karas - The Prophecy, I would recommend any Karas fan buy this movie. Anyone who didnt care for the first one, or doesnt know what Karas is should skip this purchase.