Boukyaku no Senritsu

A great war occurred in the 20th century between humans and monsters. Since that time, the monsters rule the world in fear but keep relatively hidden from public view. A boy named Bokka ponders the past and wonders what became of the Meros Warriors who defended the world so bravely against the demons. He soon meets Kurofune and learns of the power of the Meros and the I-bar machines they ride in battle. Warriors are the only ones who can see and hear the Melody of Oblivion, a phantom girl hidden away waiting to be rescued and be the savior of mankind. During a battle between Kurofune and a demon, Bokka discovers something only his wildest dreams could possibly imagine...he too can hear that melody. Throughout his journeys, Bokka meets many monsters and their agents, friends, and companions as he discovers the true extent of his new powers. He must continue to battle evil in the hope of releasing Boukyaku no Senritsu and free a world that has forgotten its once beautiful melody.

(Source: ANN)

Tsukinomori, Sayoko Main

Asano, Masumi Japanese

Requiem, Toune Main

Kobayashi, Sanae Japanese

Ninna-Nanna, Koko Main

Tamura, Yukari Japanese

Serenade, Bocca Main

Kuwashima, Houko Japanese

Child Dragon Main

Yamaguchi, Ken Japanese

Kanaya, Miri Supporting

Hisakawa, Aya Japanese

Medusa Supporting

Saitou, Rie Japanese

The Melody of Oblivion Supporting

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Hamasaki, Keiko Supporting

Amano, Yuri Japanese

Global Wildcat Supporting

Okiayu, Ryoutarou Japanese

Matsukura, Yuuji Producer

Hayakawa, Hitoshi Producer

Nishikiori, Hiroshi Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Takeyama, Atsushi Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Dec 6, 2008

trollesque

Recommended

The first time I saw this series I spent the next day frantically attempting to relay what I had witnessed to some of my friends, however, I was at a loss:
MONSTERS. SACRIFICIAL OFFERINGS. FLYING MOTORCYCLES. COW-BUS. MAGIC ARROWS. INVISIBLE GIRL.
And that was just the FIRST TWO EPISODES.
Melody of Oblivion (or MOO, as I've taken to calling it) is a series i'd recommend to everyone. Why? Because it is a spectacular failure. Wonderfully awful. The series tries very hard to take itself seriously but that's a lot more than i'd expect out of anyone viewing it. I've come to refer to this show occasionally as 'the ... little train that couldn't.'
I can't help but laugh at the overly-dramatic dialogue and rampant pseudo-symbolism that is used throughout the series. It is the kind of show I watch and honestly can't believe what I'm seeing. There are parts of the show that are seemingly random without a little bit of careful analysis, so you have to invest a little bit of thought into watching this show, but I for one say it is absolutely worth it. If you could sit through the end of Neon Genesis Evangelion, then watching this show should be a piece of cake. It's a rewarding series to watch, especially since at this point very few people have heard of this show it seems, so you get to have the fun of recommending it to unsuspecting friends. With my friends that have seen this the series has become a kind of 'rocky horror picture show.' It is just that kind of awesome.
That said, There are some things the series does well, for one: the parts in the series that are SUPPOSED to be funny are usually pretty humorous, and the charters do develop reasonably well, and if you like unwarranted fan-service then this is the show for you.
All in all, this is a series that grows on you (not unlike a fungus). Give it a chance, it's a series that needs some love.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by trollesque (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Jul 25, 2008

Sir_Inqed

Mixed Feelings

In all honesty, Melody of Oblivion could have had potential to go in many good directions. However, due to poor character development, confusion with plot linearity, and a set of 4 ridiculous ending episodes to any series I have witnessed, that potential was unfortunately wasted.

In our story, we find Bokka, a teenage boy living in a new century following a bloody, violent war between humanity and their enemies, the monsters. Warriors fighting for humanity, the Melos Warriors ultimately lost and became nothing but a legend. After the first episode, our protagonist finds out that he holds the same power as the legendary Melos Warrior ... and embarks on a journey along with a busty sidekick and trusty motorbike vehicle, the Ibar machine. During his journey he contends with the Monster Union, an organization of humans working alongside the monsters and the sole enemies of the series ( their catch phrase “Viva! Monster Union!” will more than likely cause bleeding of the ears ) and meets several other Melos Warriors as well as other supporting characters. Which brings me to my next point.

Character development. Many characters were introduced, but they had very little background to them. Particularly the monsters, who in this series take the shape of humans, were introduced, but over the course of the series played absolutely very little role or none at all. They simply took up space. The Monster Union characters also made me laugh, because their designs were ridiculous and many times I found myself not taking them very seriously. Which in turn, made me think that this bloody, violent war we are led to believe happened, was nothing but a farce.

I was also bothered by the linearity. You never know how long it’s been since the characters arrive in one location and the next. At some point in the series you are informed that it’s been a year since our protagonist left home, but you are left scratching your head thinking “Really? He’s been gone that long?” You have no sense of time, and that is rather annoying.

I will say that the music was perhaps the only thing that I liked overall about the series. The opening and ending themes were rather good, not the best, but better than others I have seen. There’s the occasional violin instrumental track ( particularly when our heroes are having a heated battle against the monsters ) and catchy background track.

Without spoiling the ending, the last four episodes are a complete train wreck. They made absolutely NO sense. Perhaps I didn't get what it was trying to achieve, but it greatly diverged from what was shown along the course of the series only to take a drastic, out of nowhere turn. There are many series that are also guilty of this, but Melody of Oblivion didn't quite justify the sudden jump.

Melody of Oblivion could have been much better. It’s a decent series, but do not expect something grand. Had the characters been given more development or simply, more screen time for those that were introduced along the way, perhaps it could have been different. If there's anything to take away or enjoy, watch it to laugh at the ridiculous, but sometimes entertaining Monster Union members and their crazy antics.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Sir_Inqed (3)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Jan 22, 2012

Smigsby

Not Recommended

I've never really been compelled to write a review about a show before, but Melody of Oblivion is truly one that deserves some sort of warning before going into it. I naively thought that a show made by J.C. Staff (with some help from Gainax) would be something thought provoking, or at least, entertaining. However, incompetent storytelling, bad characterization, terrible dialogue, and extremely poor use of allegory and symbolism torpedo any potential this show could have had.

STORY: The premise of the story was what compelled me to at least try Melody of Oblivion. I thought that a storyline about a warrior fighting a war that ... has long been decided and against the wishes of the people of the world would be interesting, and maybe with better writing it would have!

What I got was a story that was nearly incomprehensible with overuse of extraneous and often inappropriate symbolism. The most egregious example of this was a large-scale battle near the end of the series that was intercut with scenes from a farm where (it was implied) girls in cow bikinis were being milked, along with scenes (intercut in the same battle!) where the villains and heroes are in a karaoke room (?!). These had no bearing on the story! They undercut any emotional impact from the scenes that followed it! Why were they there?! I hate this show.

The last four episodes are particularly guilty of overuse, almost to the point of total incoherency. I did not enjoy them very much at all.

ART: The backgrounds and backdrops for some of the locales in this show are mellow. Some have the appearance of watercolors, which looked very nice.

However, the character designs and animation are sort of ugly. A lot of attack scenes are overly long, reused liberally, have more gratuitous fanservice, and a lot (particularly of the main character) contain more pointless symbolism.

CHARACTERS: Barely developed. Frankly, only a few them (the leads) even seem to go through a character arc at all throughout the course of the series. Some of the villains are particularly one-dimensional, mainly the ones near the end of the show. Why did they join with the Monsters? What were they getting out of it? Who knows! Guess that character development was thrown out to make way for more train track symbolism!

OVERALL: There are really too many flaws and too much wasted potential in this show to recommend it. What should have been a dynamite combination between J.C. Staff and Gainax became a muddled mess. Avoid.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Smigsby (3)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

The House that Gainax Built

by mfanime5

44 Entries · 32 Restacks

MAL IDs #3 (121 - 171)

by LeGoldenWolf

50 Entries · 3 Restacks

Contains Ecchi, but not Tagged Ecchi, Part 3: Lewd the Obscure

by Zalis

41 Entries · 85 Restacks

	Anything with similar setting, but better? Phobossus - Aug 6	3 replies	by trollesque »» Aug 15, 7:17 AM
	Poll: Melody of Oblivion Episode 16 Discussion RafaelDeJongh - Feb 22, 2013	4 replies	by littlefrank103 »» May 30, 7:30 PM
	Poll: Melody of Oblivion Episode 21 Discussion HawthorneKitty - Mar 25, 2010	3 replies	by Phobossus »» Jan 16, 2:20 PM
	Poll: Melody of Oblivion Episode 4 Discussion RafaelDeJongh - Feb 21, 2013	3 replies	by Phobossus »» Jan 14, 7:18 AM
	Poll: Melody of Oblivion Episode 24 Discussion HawthorneKitty - Mar 25, 2010	12 replies	by Catalano »» Sep 8, 2023 8:55 AM