Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase

Freelance photographer Kouhei Morioka is traveling to a castle in Germany to take photos of paranormal activity for his friend Hiromi Anzai, editor of an occult magazine. Upon entering the castle, he's confronted by a young girl in a white dress and cat ears who calls herself Hazuki. She takes a keen interest in Kouhei and offers him a kiss, but she instead reveals herself to be a vampire, sucks his blood, and turns him into her slave.

Much to Hazuki's dismay, however, Kouhei is unaffected by her bite. Hoping to escape the castle and her possessive butler Vigo, Hazuki instead forces Kouhei to help her. With the help of his powerful exorcist cousin Seiji Midou, the two make it out safely. Finally free, Hazuki flees to Japan in search of her mother. Not long after Kouhei returns home, he discovers Hazuki has nested in his home, where he reluctantly allows her to stay. Meanwhile, other vampires set out to find the missing Hazuki.

Equal parts gothic and adorable, Tsukuyomi: Moonphase is a charming and mystical story where two unlikely allies form a unique bond in an attempt to defy a society of immortals.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hazuki Main

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Morioka, Kouhei Main

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Artemis Supporting

Ishige, Sawa Japanese

Haiji Supporting

Yamazaki, Vanilla Japanese

Elfriede Supporting

Kakazu, Yumi Japanese

Midou, Seiji Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Midou, Hikaru Supporting

Kadowaki, Mai Japanese

Editor in Chief Supporting

Iijima, Hajime Japanese

Midou, Koharu Supporting

Maruyama, Hiroko Japanese

Frieze Supporting

Nagahori, Miho Japanese

Clinkenbeard, Colleen Producer, Script, ADR Director

Cook, Justin Producer

Kubota, Mitsutoshi Producer

Shinbou, Akiyuki Director, Storyboard, Animation Check

Reviews

Aug 31, 2008

Dorcas_Aurelia

Recommended

This series is for those who prefer their vampires to be cute as kittens more often than they are dark and brooding. The mood of the series, like Hazuki's personalities, tend to alternate between the two, although it generally works better when emphasizing the moe aspects, which it does a lot. That said, people with an aversion to cat-eared girls and little-sister types are advised to stay far away.


The plot tends to switch between stretches of seriousness and levity: the first two episodes deal with Hazuki meeting Kohei and escaping the castle, then settling into a silly daily routine before dealing with more villains a ... few episodes later. The story has some difficulty balancing character and relationship developments with plot progression unless it separates such things into different episodes. Perhaps this is why, despite several of the tragedies that various characters suffer, there is little emotional draw to them. Also, as with many adaptations of unfinished manga, a number of plot threads are left untied with the series conclusion, although the series does conclude solidly enough.


The cast are entertaining, although some people may find a number of the younger females straddle the line between adorable and irritating. Hazuki starts off as a stubborn and slightly spoiled little girl, but grows into more of a kinder, caring person over the course of the series. Kohei is the typical kind-hearted and honest but unimpressive boy with an unusual ability/curse that you've seen in so many other series. The supporting cast brings a bit of liveliness to the show. Haiji brings a bit of humor as Hazuki's cat-like pet, frequently scolding her master's servant Kohei. Seiji brings a bit of class as the cool-looking and talented relative of Kohei. The best characters, though, are probably Ryuhei and Elfriede, who regularly tease the lead characters, but also connect to each other on a deeper level and share some of the most tender moments in the series.


One can't really talk about Moon Phase without mentioning it's stylistic quirks. As with pretty much any work directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, one should expect interesting and different uses of light and color in many scenes throughout. The typical depiction of the house were much of the story occurs is also diplayed much like a dollhouse, opened up so as to see in all the rooms at once. Also, infamously, yellow washpans are known to come crashing down on various characters for comedic effect.

Designs for the characters are crisp, and backgrounds are appropriately detailed. Action scenes may not be breath-taking, but they are more than adequate for the task they mean to achieve. While the initial television episodes did have a few problems during important scenes, these were all rectified in the DVD release.


Voice work for both languages is well done, although Monica Rial can't quite match the level of cuteness that Chiwa Saito attained playing Hazuki (a minor issue). Background music for the episodes is chosen appropriately for the scene, although it is at times a little overbearing. The dark scenes are supported by haunting and gothic-sounding tones, while the cheery moments are punctuated by spunky and playful tunes. The most catchy song (for good or bad) is absolutely the opening theme, "Neko Mimi Mode De". It's particularly surprising when it drastically interrupts the gloomy introductory scene of the first episode with it's bubbly, sugary tune, simplistic lyrics, and bright colors. The song is devastatingly appropriate for the show. A couple of episodes have an alternate opening song, "Tsukuyomi Mode", that is less syrupy and not so overly energetic, but similar. The closer, on the other hand, is slightly melancholy and more subdued, but leaves little lasting impression.


Moon Phase sets out to be a vampire series built around the concept of "moe", and it largely succeeds. At times, it tries to be something a little more, and it is less definitive in its achievement when attempting this, but rarely strays far from its strength. In all, the series is an entertaining diversion for those looking for something just a little different.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Aug 5, 2008

mlluu92

Mixed Feelings

Intro: Boy's job is to take pictures of the supernatural. Boy's job leads him to castle to meet girl. Girl has multiple personalities and is a vampire. Boy brings girl home. Story unravels there.

Story: The story was actually decent in my mind. It was creative and it included everything one would ask for in an anime. DRAMA, ROMANCE, ACTION, and COMEDY. It although, lacked a decent ending and left a minor amount of questions un-answered, the story fell into place and connected to the next scene of the story. I have nothing really to complain with the story.

Art: The art was the noteworthy thing about ... this anime. The art was detailed yet cute. The characters were nicely drawn. Well, the girls anyway. The guy characters were plain and dull while the girls stood out. The art for the characters however, in my opinion started to go downwards. Either the artist felt lazy or tired, they just stop putting in the effort they did in the beginning. The characters ALL started to look dull. But the scenery and backgrounds, i felt, were very good.

Sound: Nothing really to complain about, yet nothing worthy of an overall compliment. The music and voices of the characters were decent. The theme song started out odd, unique, and annoying but as the anime went on, got catchy. [Well, at least to me anyway. I was singing it.] Again, nothing to complain about and nothing too great to mention.

Characters: Ah, i felt they lacked character growth. I mean, the characters had a history and they grew physically, but it didn't show the depth of what it could of been. The male character is just like any other romance/comedy guy character. It's generic. He's a clutz, weak, and nerdy guy who becomes a total hunk for the girl. The female lead was annoying yet cute, but really annoying in my opinion. she was the main focus of the whole thing, and she just didn't attract me. I felt like she should've spoken lesss. haha. just my opinion. of course, most could feel different. The other characters didn't get much. They were there as people who stood with the mains.

Enjoyment: I started off enjoying this quite a bit. But as it went on, i started to feel annoyed and just all together, found the anime tedious. Usually, as any anime watcher should know, an anime should leave you wanting more and/or thinking: wow, perfect/great ending. I don't even REMEMBER the ending of this anime. And when i found out there was a special, i didn't even want to watch it. I did enjoy the comedy and the action part. I'll give it that.

Overall: If you're looking for an anime that is alright enough to keep you busy, this is it. You may end up loving it and you may end up like me, disappointed. We all have different opinions. I've given mine. I'd only say that this anime just was forgettable. Don't expect to be "WOWed"

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 4, 2015

Luquillo

Not Recommended

Sometimes anime really does get on my nerves hard. Anime can take an old concept and add in a few twist which gives it an original feel. In addition, provide a pretty good story for a brief period. Then just completely ruin the whole damn fuckin' thing robbing it of almost all value. Moon Phase so falls into this category to the point where I can run into my corner and cry.

I'll begin with the features that immediately grabbed my attention: the animation and artwork. Visually, Moon Phase is outstanding. It displays a great deal of color combinations with a dark and gothic setting. The ... backgrounds and landscapes are incredible. The character designs are just as attractive. The animation team went through quite a bit to even provide some of the characters with a change of clothes. The animation during some of the battles is good, but it does contain a slight use of reused cels and jumpiness. The battles are mainly psychic attacks consisting of magic in the form of energy attacks.

Moon Phase also features a very good soundtrack with some great background music, and two very good end theme songs, which are Kanoshi Yokan and Just For My Love. On the flip side, the opening theme has to be the absolute worst I have ever heard. The lyrics are absolutely ridiculous along with the tunes, and the opening itself is just too gothic lolicon for me. The voice acting is very good with the English language being the most fun to me. Some of the dialogue in the first half had me cracking up.

The first half of this series was great. In fact, had the series continued in this vein or ended right there. Moon Phase could have very well been the best vampire anime I've ever seen. Everything flowed well from go; the characters were being developed with careful precision, and they actually seemed headed towards some type of growth. Interesting plot devices were well used and provided a great deal of suspense, plus a very good final battle with the first lead villain.

This battle is among the best vampire battles I have seen in just about anything vampire related. I'm talking an excellent and well thought out battle with a very powerful, and crafty vampire named Count Kinkel. This character is ruthless, and is exactly everything that makes a great antagonist. In addition, the drama and comedy always hit the mark, and was a welcome addition each time. Unfortunately, after episode 13 to be exact, Moon Phase begins to take the biggest dive I can remember.

A good portion of the story centers around the building relationship of Kouhei and Hazuki. They begin with the typical shonen personality: two characters whom don't want to admit that they are in love. The first half did a good job handling this. The second half handled things very poorly. Even the new villains introduced appeared to be nothing more than filler characters.

The series never regains its former glory in my view, and has about as much balance as a three legged cat. Plot devices are poorly used in every angle, and the comedy overplays itself heavily. Plus, it clashes badly with the action, drama, and romance, to the point where it could no longer be taken seriously. I almost thought this was Elfen Lied.

There's a comedic gimmick that takes place that I don't want to spoil. In the beginning, it worked out well considering what was taking place at the time. Towards the end, it happened constantly at all of the wrong times. I really don't know what was the writers intentions.

When the series headed towards the end each and every last one of the battles were way below average at best, with the final battle being cheesy beyond all belief. I honestly couldn't believe I was watching the same show. The story is wrapped up before the final episode. At least one question is left hanging and I really didn't mind it at first, until I saw just how worthless the final episode was despite having its funny moments. Without adding a spoiler, I'll just say the episode could have been better used.

Despite how I feel about the series overall. It's very hard for me to completely hate it, because numerous times the comedy along with the drama worked. The first half was too good. However, the series really did lose its focus and it was very clumsy while it dabbled between comedy, drama, and romance. Had Moon Phase been a straight comedy at heart, and never attempted to take itself too seriously, the second half would probably be forgivable; but the series takes steps to push it further towards a drama even more, and the genres begin to clash all over. This is the reason why I'm so disappointed overall, and in all honesty, I didn't like the second half at all.

Moon Phase has its good moments, and also has characters that are easy to like; but someone whom demands a lot from their anime will more than likely come away from this feeling burned. I definitely felt burned when this was over. In the end, sloppy writing held back material with classic potential, and that's all there is to it.

Highs: Very nice visuals and soundtrack, excellent first half

Lows: Rotten second half that jumps the shark very bad

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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