Darkside Blues

The Persona Century Corporation has purchased nearly every parcel of land on earth. Dissension is not tolerated within the corporation's borders and those who oppose Persona are dealt with swiftly. Of those few places not yet under Persona's control is the free town of Kabuki-cho, also known as "The Dark Side of Tokyo". Within the town, under the leadership of a woman named Mai, is a small resistance group called Messiah. Into this world steps a man who takes the sobriquet of Kabuki-cho: Darkside. Sealed up in another dimension eighteen years ago by Persona Century, Darkside now returns to aid Messiah using his unique mystic power of renewal.

(Source: ANN)

Darkside Main

Ou, Natsuki Japanese

Kenzo Main

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Mai Main

Mitsuishi, Kotono Japanese

Katari Supporting

Sasaki, Nozomu Japanese

Tatsuya Supporting

Matsumoto, Yasunori Japanese

Jingo Supporting

Yanaka, Hiroshi Japanese

Old Woman Supporting

Enji Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Delirium Supporting

Horiuchi, Keizo Japanese

Selia Supporting

Okamoto, Maya Japanese

Abe, Michihisa Producer

Kogawa, Yoriyasu Director

Fujiyama, Fusanobu Sound Director

Sekijima, Mayori Script

Reviews

Jun 24, 2010

BlackMagic

Recommended

If you are a fan of 90s anime, then I'd recommend taking a look at Darkside Blues. If you haven't seen many anime from this time period, then this is a fairly good example of the visual styles of the 90s. However, most people will probably find the story somewhat mediocre and maybe even confusing.

Darkside Blues is a nice little gem from the 90s based on a manga by Hideyuki Kikucho who is one of the most respected horror writers in Japan. Often called the Stephen King of Japan, many of Hideyuki's novels have been adapted to anime such as Vampire Hunter D, Wicked City, ... and Demon City Shinjuku.

Animation - 8
I'll go ahead and draw attention to the elephant in the room: this is an old anime. The art and animation styles likewise reflect the 90s. Whether you enjoy 90s style or not is your choice, but compared to other works of the time, Darkside Blues fares very well. The art and animation themselves are slightly above average, but I don't think many people can deny the style this show brings to the table. While there's nothing too progressive as far as the direction or choreography at work here, I still can't help but be impressed at how easy everything seems. By this I mean that it seems the style just flows off the screen naturally and can be seen in the fluid movements of the characters in many scenes. While there are many action sequences, they aren't so much edge-of-your seat and jaw dropping as they are seamless and fluid which is very pleasing to the eye.

Sound - 9
While maybe a handful of people out there won't like the music here, I think the sound is perfectly done. The melancholy music does a great job setting the mood and enhances the feel of Kabuki-cho as a city.

The Japanese voice actors do a good job and are obviously cast well for their roles. Natsuki Sakan is a great fit as Darkside and this is one of those times when a female voice actor really does seem more appropriate for a male character.

Story - 8
Set sometime in the future, Darkside Blues depicts a world almost completely owned by the Persona Corporation. One of the few free areas is the slums of Kabuki-cho, often called the dark side of Tokyo. There are various 'enhanced' humans running around who boast supernatural powers, though it's never explained whether this is actually magic or achieved with technology. Taking place in the future, there is quite a bit of technology around in the form of watches that fire lasers, robotic attack drones, and even a massive quantum cannon.

Something interesting I noticed was how similar this movie is to the Clint Eastwood movie Pale Rider (which was in turn a retelling of the classic western Shane). The reason I say they are similar is that, just like Pale Rider, Darkside Blues follows a small group of people (Messiah) whom are resisting oppression at the hands of a wealthy group (Persona Corporation) and then inserts a mysterious stranger (Darkside) who has a score to settle. While Darkside may seem to be the main character, the movie really seems to focus more on the effect his presence has on the members of Messiah.

Unfortunately, the movie seems like a small part of a whole that the viewer is never fully aware of and some things are left unexplained. Despite that, the sub-plot involving the escape of an Anti-Persona resistance fighter is covered well. The main confusion involves the backstories of many characters.

Character - 7
There are a lot of good things here, unfortunately most of the characters are undeveloped with only hints given regarding their past. The only characters really explored are the resistance fighter Tatsuya and Selia, an acquaintance of the Messiah members.

Darkside himself is almost a walking cheat code as time and time again various Persona assassins run across him only to find their attacks have no effect. Darkside only bothers to take his hands from his pockets on a couple of occasions and really he never seems worried no matter what attacks are being thrown at him. Darkside's past is only ambiguously explained, but really his character is in the movie to bring about change in others.

Through a process he calls 'renewal', he enables various characters to overcome hurdles formed when they were emotionally scarred in the past. Though for some people, this renewal simply brings about their death.

Enjoyment - 9
I personally love 90s anime and Darkside Blues is a great one. This show walks a fine line of psychological and action so there is substance to chew on mentally, or if you just wanna sit back then there's plenty of action as well. While I wouldn't call this an action anime, I don't think more than 5 minutes ever go by before the next altercation starts.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 23, 2023

Hellspawn28

Mixed Feelings

NOTE: This review was originally posted on my Letterboxd account on 3/1/2022

I only remember seeing this anime once on VHS when I was a kid, and I barely remember what happens. I went into this anime expecting it to be an underappreciated gem. To be honest, it's a decent film. Although the animation in Darkside Blues is excellent, the story is disappointing in my opinion. The animation is incredible, and I adore the film's dark tone. Despite his lack of involvement, it has the feel of a Yoshiaki Kawajiri film. It has lovely dark shading, and I like how dark colors are used. The ... backgrounds are extremely well-detailed, and the character movement is incredibly fluid. The soundtrack for the film is composed by Kazuhiko Toyama (Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII), and it is very well done in my opinion. The film's melancholy tone is perfectly captured by the music.

Darkside Blues has a great premise, but the characters ruined the movie for me. None of them piqued my interest, and I had trouble caring about what was going on. The DVD quality of the film has aged terribly, and an HD remaster is urgently required. When an HD remaster is released, I can see myself enjoying it even more with a better mindset. Also, the English dub for this film sucks. I was unable to find the Japanese version, so I was stuck watching the English dub instead. I recommend staying away from the English dub.

Overall, Darkside Blues is an average film that I only recommend if you're interested in seeing it. Rating: 6.5/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Aug 13, 2013

bedheadred

Not Recommended

The evil Persona corporation dominates most of the earth with their iron fist, excepting small resistance movements, one of which is located in the free town of Kabuki-cho, also known as “The Dark Side of Tokyo”. Here a group of juvenile delinquents known as Messiah dwell. For a fee, they shelter and assist a terrorist who opposes Persona.

I really wanted to like this movie because it was based on a manga by Hideyuki Kikucho who also wrote Vampire Hunter D. You can see the similarities in the animation (which is superb for its time,) supernatural themes and mysterious, romanticized character of ... Darkside. Unfortunately, the movie did not live up to the D.

Call me dense, but I never did understand Darkside's power or why he was at odds with the Persona corporation. Had he not been a part of the movie, the story would have been complete--an oppressed society rising up against its oppressor. In fact, the most explored characters are the terrorist and the Kabuki-cho resident that nurses and shelters him.

Where the anime does excel is the music. In the opening sequence, a street musician breaks out in a blues number during a struggle against Persona. The blues music portrays the heavy air of oppression in Kabuki-cho.

There is thought provoking dialogue regarding peace and whether peace achieved through force is actually peace. Had the movie followed these themes without the supernatural element, it would have been a success.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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