Product Details

• Actors: Brian Drummond, Ted Cole, Trevor Devall, Paul Dobson, Daniella Evangelista
• Writers: Kathleen Westlake
• Format: Anamorphic, Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
• DVD Release Date: February 26, 2002
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005UM46
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #163,111 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Soultaker - The Monster Within (Vol. 1)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This dark fantasy-adventure borrows elements from Evangelion and Gasaraki and presents them in the style of Lain. Kyosuke Date's life becomes a waking nightmare as he discovers that his mother was murdered, he is a powerful mutant, and fragments of his sister's soul have become humanlike creatures called "Flickers." The Flickers are mercilessly hunted by the cruel vice president of an infinitely powerful conglomerate, the Kirihara Group. Kyosuke takes up with the sardonic Shiro Mibu, the sworn enemy of the Kirihara, and is soon battling giant robots and screeching maniacs. Series director Akiyuki Shinbo uses all the latest tricks: rapid-fire editing, weird colors (including blood-red frames), repeated close-ups of crosses and other objects, still frames juxtaposed with battle sequences, etc. But these flashy visuals can't disguise the slightness of the familiar story. Rated 16 Up: Considerable violence, grotesque imagery, profanity, alcohol and tobacco use. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pioneer's Next Sleeper Hit?, April 27, 2002

By 

evergreen "Jerome G.V." (Cerritos, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Soultaker - The Monster Within (Vol. 1) (DVD)

I remember picking up Trigun, another of Pioneer's animes, two years ago. It was awesome but obscure in the anime scene. Now, it's become more mainstream than anyone could have imagined it would be two years ago.

The Soultaker, I believe, will follow suit.

The story starts out fairly simple. Kyosuke, a seemingly normal teenager, is stabbed and fatally wounded by his mother. Buried, a woman named Maya digs up Kyosuke's body, having a feeling he is not yet dead. And indeed, for some reason, Kyosuke lives. That's when the story gets complicated and calls upon you to pay close attention to the story. Why would his mother do such a thing? And how in the world is he still living? Before any questions can be answered, Maya is kidnapped by a mysterious organization and with the help of a mysterious stranger, Shiro, sets out to rescue her, revealing secrets to Kyosuke's past and pertaining to Maya.

The story is absolutely gripping. This is one of those anime's in which you have to really watch it to enjoy. It leaves you hanging almost every time wanting more. The sheer mystery of the plot draws you in. The characters themselves have a very human feel to them, especially Kyosuke, whose dedication to save Maya at all costs is very genuine.

The music is awesome especially the Opening theme "Soultaker" and the ending theme "Memory." But the music is really just icing on the cake...

The drawing style is what will either draw in fans or garner criticism from people. MOST of the scenes consist of only a couple colors and are not very detailed, adding style to this anime. However, this very lack of unnecessary detail is what turns away most people from this supreb anime. To each his own. To be honest I was quite uncomfortable with it during the first episode, but it really grows on you. Most creative style I've seen in a while.

Go support the Soultaker Revolution! Buy the DVD and find out what we anime fans are raving about!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN INTOXICATING BLIZZARD OF STYLE...., April 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Soultaker - The Monster Within (Vol. 1) (DVD)

i was absolutely stunned to read the negative reviews here, so i thought it my duty to write up something godd about it.
just as a frame reference my current fav' animes are the following...
akira, jin-roh, lain, bloodlust, niea, tenchi, oh my goddess, perfect blue, princess mononoke, porco rosso, etc.etc.

anyway...i came into this anime (as with so many other) not knowing what to expect. i was hopeing for a fairly stylish, entertaining slice of typical horror anime. but nothing could of prepared me.
this anime, no matter what anyone says aobut it, has the most exsquisite and sumptuous animation, with a blisteringly fresh and beautiful style that i can safely say makes it look braver and more modern (or futuristic) than any anime out there. ever. FACT!
the story is a wonderfully mysterious one. unlike most anime, they're not afraid to make you have to sit up and take attention to understand all that's going on. and although some of the dialogue is corny, the dub is generally superb,and how any normal anime fan can complain about a generic storyline is beyond me as nearly all anime are about as by the books as you can get! it's the stunning attention to detail, and consistant stream of visual ideas that dazzles here.
to pin down the story..i guess it's kind of how we hoped the guyver would of been treated. and although the soultaker monster isn't quite as well designed as the guyver costume, it's harsh adult take on the age old 'boy turns into mutant' story shows up every other alike title out there for there inability to inject something brave and exciting into the genre.

fantastic stuff.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, February 19, 2002

By 

"u_know_hoo_dis_iz" (Centreville, Delaware United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Soultaker - The Monster Within (Vol. 1) (DVD)

This is definetly a great anime, one of the best in a while. Superb animation is the first thing you will notice. There is not one normal angle on a shot, the colors are vibrant and detailed, and it is all blended so very nicely. Character designs are top-notch as well. The story is super deep an after these first three eps, you'll need to know the whole story. Do not believe what you may hear about the plot. It is confusing only for the first couple eps. After words you can enjoy the energy given off by this title. I have seen the whole series and it is worth every penny. I don't know about the dub, though, the eps i saw were all in subs.