Mention the word 'Anime'. The pictures that generally spring to mind, nowadays, are such horrors as Dragonball Z and Yu Gi Oh. Mention it to someone slightly more knowledgeable in these matters, and the names Street Fighter 2 and Street Fighter Alpha may materialise within their minds. Mention the word to a true fan of Anime, though, and you'll have names such as the following reeled off to you: Neon Genesis: Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, X, Samurai Showdown, and very possibly Gilgamesh.
I love Anime, a paradox in that I watch very little of it. The extent of my Anime covers movies such as Spriggan, the aforementioned Street Fighter movies, Samurai X, and very recently Gilgamesh.
I bought Gilgamesh on a whim. I had a gift card to spend, I had thirty bucks left on it, had already loaded myself up with music. I couldn't see anything else that looked entertaining, and figured when I picked the DVD up "What the hell, if I don't like it, at least I didn't have to pay for it".
The DVD contained the first five episodes. I loved every single one of them. The story is dark and ghostly, demonic and depressing, scary and beautiful, and all with a minimum of violence and gore. The film boasts a seemingly unique artistic flair, and is wrought through with a visual etherealism and surrealism that sends shivers down your spine. The voices synch perfectly with the movement of the mouths, and the facial expressions are a delight to behold.
I have yet to encounter an animated movie/TV series which parallels the bleak and sinister nature of this movie. The spectrum of colour used in the movie isn't all that wide, and seems to consist predominantly of darker shades of grey and black, with some colours interspersed throughout. The colour choices lend a feeling of hopelessness to the film, of despair, and the very real possibility of death in the next few minutes.
If you plan on watching this series, you can do it no other way apart from the beginning through to the end. If you miss a single episode you'll be lost. Watch this series. Enjoy it.
Which side are you on?
