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Pluto! A Manga that is based on the story of The Legendary Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy.

(***The review may have some minor spoilers to Major ones, but I'll make it sure that I mark them differently***)

Well... I never read Astro Boy nor I know a bit about its story. As far as I know from the Pluto's front & back cover & its forward pages, it's clear that Naoki Urasawa, The Manga Artist of Pluto, tried to give a Tribute to the Legendary Osamu Tezuka.

Firstly, let me give my take on the main points of the review.

•Story(10/10):

As I told earlier, I don't know about its ... link to the original Astro Boy, what I could only notice was that some of the characters in both mangas are common... Not similar but Common(I'll tell about them further).

The story is told to us in 65 chapters, divided in 8 volumes, average chapter length is 24 pages... The first & the last chapter of each volume contain some more pages than average.

The story in simple words is given in brief in the first Volume's starting pages... And that flows throughout the whole Manga, Each new volume tells a bit what it is gonna proceed with, in it.

The beginning tells that "There are 7 Most Advanced Robots in the world" & the story takes place in a world ideal for the coexistence of the Robots with A.I. & The Humans.

The story begins in typical Naoki Urasawa style, yes it starts with a Mysterious case, a murder... No, two murders, this time. The murder of one of the 7 most advanced robots in the world... Mont Blanc of Switzerland. The thing about this Manga's story is that all these 7 robots belong to the different countries, one from Switzerland, One from Turkey, Greece, 2 of them are from Asian Countries... And so.

Well these are the things anyone would notice as he/she will go along with the chapters. But here I am to tell the key things, that makes it a special manga.

The one of the most prettiest things in this manga had been that when it introduced any of these 7 robots... It had a story of it that makes you know about that character a lot and it even attaches you to the character. For instance, The 2nd robot... "North No. 2" got only few chapters but his story is very deep.
What makes it even more unique is that "How a Robot can make you feel". We know robots don't run like our brains, with emotional bias, but still the robots here, especially these 7 most advanced ones seemed to have experienced evolution.

The Story mostly runs around "Gesicht", the robot detective & the main character of the Manga along with "Atom", one of those 7 robots.

Well, Some of you might even be confused because of the title of the manga, which is Pluto... Well I will make it clear, It has nothing to do with the Planet Pluto in any way.

Pluto is the Antagonist, whether Robot or Human, It is better if I don't spoil it cz that's the mystery which will make you go through all these 6 volumes to finally get to know who or what is "Pluto".

Overall If I try to conclude how was the story, I would say, it nails in the genres it belongs to, which are Suspense-Mystery-Psychological as main. The psychological mind game is so much that it will make you have a lot of interest in what is gonna happen next. The Suspense & Mystery is all you can actually get to know from the "Synopsis" that There are 2 murders in the very beginning of the story, so a mystery, a big one, already starts from the very first chapter & continues.

I personally got shocked to experience such kind of story, as something like this comes to the experience maybe in a year or two. The way in which Naoki adjusts to simplify the complex stories, as many small stories go along but after sometimes they join each other & start to make a lot of sense. Each & Every chapter had something in it to offer, I personally enjoyed reading probably every single chapter, maybe there were some chapters which were little boring but probably not more than 5.

Well, what can I actually say about it more, the "Hatred" emotion is described in it in such a way that probably none other anime or manga stories might have offered before.
The best thing about it which I noticed is that, It doesn't need anything else to move the story further, the Characters do 100% work, they carry all the chapters, the whole story through each chapter. The presence of the Main character, Gesicht is not there in very few chapters like 8-10 at max, but mostly he is shown, which is a good sign for the people who love the presence of the main character.

One more thing I would like to add is that Naoki Urasawa's Political sense is of very high quality. I never saw any story from other artists who represent political scenerios in the most realistic way. The existence of "Far Right" groups is always in his stories & those who have good political understanding about America, UN & other bodies that pretend to protect human rights while they themselves are the biggest institutions to undo the contributions of so many great persons who dedicated their whole lives in it, would seriously find this one lovable. All of this knowledge of Practical Politics is always present in Naoki Urasawa's works and being a political enthusiast I love it everytime.

Now, I think it's time to move on to the next aspect.


•Characters(10/10):

Yes, For most part of the manga you'll find it that the characters are the base of this manga, I think I can't actually tell about Pluto without taking the name of any single character.

The manga showed what a character development should be like. The characters are so well written & also so well matched to their figures as of their dialogues, I mean who could actually do it better, Naoki Urasawa is perfect to match it.

My most favorite character from the whole manga has been "Gesicht" without a doubt... And He is a Robot. That's how mesmerising this manga was, that you would even love a robot. Well starting from Gesicht, he is the nicest guy, the hero & the key role player. His nature is more of a professional person, he always gives more attention to his work over any other thing, which is being an Inspector Robot, solving most difficult cases.

He is so busy always that he couldn't even visit Japan with his Robot Wife, Helena, they planned but over and over again, some work came up and they had to cancel it everytime but I won't spoil whether they eventually had a chance to go there or not.

He is the kind of guy I would talk about whole day but still there might be some good things that would be left off to tell. He is a kind of a guy one admires, always brave & obedient and never takes a minute to even doubt himself of being the evil at some points. That's a rare of a character to find in the stories not only of nowadays but even in classic ones.

Moving to the other characters, I should first appreciate the Human Characters, the ones that helped so much in the development of the story. Be it Gesicht's Personal Maintenance Scientist, Professor Hoffman or Dr. Ochanomizu or Dr. Tenma.

Well yes, it has a Dr. Tenma too as of Monster... Another Manga of Naoki. But here the Tenma is the creator of the Second Main Character, Atom. And he is also responsible for the creation of the most advanced AI which is a mix of 6 billion personalities or i.e. the AI chooses the best of the best personality for itself.

Back to the Professor Hoffman, he is a loving guy, you will not be able to hate him. He is a peace-loving guy & the care taker of Gesicht.
While The other Human Character whom I liked is "Adolf Haas" who performed a significant role in the middle chapters, around 30 or so. He is a bad guy with some grudge against Gesicht, who's again, A Robot.
But as the story proceeds, his character develops very well.

Now, the 7 advanced Robots, Already done with Gesicht Part, Hercules & Epsilon are the most amazing, Hercules had been the robot who always is so confident & even when he couldn't do anything to his enemy, he did the most damage to it. Epsilon is the character I found out very late that he too is a Guy Robot, lol. As you can see in the MAL's Character Info, His image seems to be like "Female Johan Liebert." He did a great job, the guy who dislike war & always wanted to help the innocent humans.

Atom & Uran are brother-sister... Uran is kind of an extroverted girl, who won't listen to others cz she believes in her ability to "Feel Grief". Atom remains till the very end, and is the character who seems to know little but actually has the most advanced AI among all the 7 robots. The twist that comes in the last volume, is where you'll love Atom more.

Now, the most impressing character throughout the whole story, for me was "Brau 1589" ... The first Robot to ever kill a human, which is banned & is a criminal offence as per the robot laws.
That guy was not the enemy of any, nor the friend but was the one who lived, till the very end, on his own... ***And as to spoil a bit, Brau ended the manga, and also ended himself. He just seems to be the guy who goes around confusing everybody but still gives the true info, but in a way the other characters would know later.***

Now comes the three characters, but stop here if you don't wanna get spoiled, cz these characters are the ones whom you can't describe without revealing some important parts of the manga.
***
Professor Abullah, whom I read as "Abdullah" for about 10-15 chapters without even getting that it is Abullah, lol. He is the guy from Persia, as the name suggests itself. He lost his family in the war & also lost himself in the very end, but in the manga the other Character, Dr. Abra is shown as Abullah; Dr. Abra is the robot whom Tenma created as the most advanced AI(after Atom). When Abullah Died, Tenma, who earlier even told Abullah that the robot with 6 billion personalities won't wake up as the AI won't be able to choose one personality out of all, adding that there is only one way to do so, which is introducing an emotional bias to the AI, which is Hatred & Anger, made that robot wake up, and the shocking thing was that the robot took the personality of Professor Abullah out of 6 billion. Why? Cz In the very end of his life, Professor Abullah felt hate, and so much hate that he even wanted to destroy the whole world.
Now Dr. Tenma places the chip of Abullah in the robot, he wakes up as Abullah. Now, how did Abullah got a chip being a human, is due to him being badly injured in the war that most of his body parts were substituted with machines.

Now, Goji, who is in Abullah... Abullah who is Dr. Abra, now the two personalities make two robots, Dr. Abra creates Pluto, which has Sahad, another existing robot who wanted to turn Desert into Fertile land, & Goji creates Bora. Bora is the robot which is the ultimate weapon of Mass destruction while Pluto still has Sahad inside it, who helps save the earth along with Atom in the very end of the series.
Now, the question, why the manga is named Pluto is also solved. Cz Pluto is the guy, who did all the murders, to reach this final stage so that Bora can destroy the earth, eventually destroyed himself so that Earth is saved... Why? Cz it has Sahad who wanted to make the Earth environmentally sustainable again.

Pluto is the last Robot who dies, & eventually the ultimate saviour of the Earth.
***

Now The spoiler section has ended. It comes the turn of Another aspect.

•Art(10/10):

Now some will think I am biased, as I rated all the three main aspects in the manga as 10/10. But I can't help it cz I didn't find anything which I'll complain about in the art direction of the manga. The characters are designed so well, the climax scenes are perfectly well crafted, also the manga is from 2004 so the art is as usually very classic. But I think its art is quiet better than Monster Manga as it's very old as compared to Pluto.

Only Epsilon's character design I didn't understand why was that like it. I mean, Naoki could have shown Epsilon as "her" but showed it has "him". Also, the nature of him seemed quite girl like, very kind and generous, emotional towards small kids & so.

What I really find unique in Naoki Urasawa Art is that the emotions flow perfectly through the art. Even if there are no dialogues, you'll feel the mood of the scene. He is probably the best mangaka for Suspense & Mystery as the characters of him are very serious & you won't find like their nature has changed even for a bit... It seems very humanlike.

Well there is nothing much to talk about the Art section, it's just perfect for the story & it gives justice to it. It's not something like nobody could've drawn better but the thing is, it just suits the mood of the story perfectly. If any other artist would've drawn this, he/she had to do only one thing with focus, not disturbing the mood of the story, the emotions must seem real, the characters must seem to have a voice, they must sound in your mind when you read a dialogue.

Well That's enough for this section. Moving to the next part... Which I think most of the people, probably nobody talks about, But I think I will as I want to do a kind of experiment with this review, whether this section fits in & there is really something to talk about this section. And the section is -

•Dialogues(10/10):

This is something you can't probably rate. But I thought I would do cz I literally find it very unique that how some series have so many great dialogues while some don't even have one. This one, probably had tons of impressive dialogues, not only impressive, but inspiring too.

The life changing philosophy that it portrayed through the dialogues, the character development, everything with dialogues were perfect.

As per My rating style, I think this manga gave some very key dialogues which describe that yes, this is from Pluto. Like In Monster, the Johan's dialogue in the very ending scene is so relevant to the whole Monster series, there are similarly many in Pluto too.

Not only that, How was the language, whether there were any abusive words used, was the language suitable to all age groups & so many questions.
Pluto is suitable for all age groups, None of the scenes were there which will be of any harm to any child, but yeah the concepts & ideas it talks about, you must be having a mind that understands the importance of the Earth & the life & stuff like that, Cz someone who reads manga only for fun purpose might not get the full of what this masterpiece offers.

Now, one of the most repeated dialogues in the manga is "500 Zeus A Body." It literally will make you feel why the heck it is there always almost in every chapter but when you'll get the answer of it, you are gonna probably have a good smile on your face but You'll also be sad if You literally got connected to the character with whom it is related.

"Nothing Comes of Hatred" is another very favorite dialogue from it.
"What I've always feared the most is myself" and so many others. The emotions are flowing straight from the dialogues.

Now, I would like to move on to the final aspect.

•Enjoyment(10/10):

I should probably say that I enjoyed Pluto a bit more than Monster, which I actually saw and not read. Well Pluto is not that lengthy but still not like less than 50 chapters, so I enjoyed reading almost every single one, I can surely rate it 10/10... There is not much to say cz Maybe some people enjoy it more or less as per their taste but if You are someone who loves Suspense, Mystery & Psychological with some philosophical scenerios, I would highly recommend it.

I completed it within 2 weeks or so... And those who binge read, I think it would be very enjoyable for them, Go through Volume to Volume instead of marking chapters in the middle cz Every single Volume has something new & different to show plus it also develops the story further with more connect to it, in each volume some mysteries get solved while some new ones emerge or it might happen that the already established mystery gets even tougher to solve, but it catches your interest even more then.

If I talk about the ending, It was satisfying for me... The Snail scene with Atom which you'll see somewhere in 3rd or 4th volume, when repeated in the last one, makes it so ironical & I really loved that scene; Also, The final scenes were chilling, absolutely one of the best Manga or Anime Endings.

Anyway, I would say I enjoyed it so much that It has become one of my most favorites, The story was so inspiring, the characters & everything fall so well in place... Just loved it.

-
Concluding all this... I would recommend you this manga if you have already read or watched any of Urasawa's other works and enjoyed it, and even if you didn't enjoy it, I would say try this one.

Those who love Psychological, Philosophical & Mystery-Suspense... It's highly recommended but wait, There are a lot of action scenes too, And as I am not an action fan, Still I loved action scenes in this manga somehow. Well it's a Sci-Fi afterall so anybody can get the most out of it even if you don't have much interest in the core genres, I talked about that above.

I really think it's more than enough now, Most of you might have not even read it half but it's okay, Cz It is my responsibility If I take a Manga or Anime to review it, I must discuss it in detail or otherwise there is no need to do it. I might have forgot many things which could've been even more helpful to the people but You know, We write and then remember something, we edit and then again remember something, it's never ending, As what I talked here, I think it's still very much of a detail to the people who actually want to read this manga & have got stuck on the review section that only if they find it impressive then they will give it a try. So I hope I could help anyone out there who just had some doubts about it & also I hope You didn't read the spoilers, you know it's for those who have already read the manga and want some good points to appreciate or criticise.

Just don't mind the silly mistakes if I made some, It took a hard time to write this one cz I literally loved this series and couldn't help without appreciating it & sharing it to others the mesmerising experience that I got.

Thank You to Naoki Urasawa at first!
And then, Thank you to all the people who considered my review worth their time... Thank You very much!

Well I was thinking to write a review on this anime from a very long time but I felt like I was not prepared for it.

So now I am writing this!
{Note: This review contains some spoilers.....but I am telling you....You will not be able to recall any of the spoilers....these spoilers will actually be helpful in reviewing this long series.}

First of all,This is one of the most popular anime in "Psychological-Thriller" genre. And this genre is my most favorite genre.

This is an epic story/plot.....how to join Many Coincidences with one incident.....This anime shows this thing.
Well I started to watch this anime in May,2020 & finished ... in June,2020.

It is one of my favorite anime....and it is a must watch.

• Story(9/10):

Well in starting,it seems to be an epic plot...And it is.... Think.....one of the best Neurosurgeon Saves a "kid" over a "Mere of the city" and then that kid becomes a Psycho Serial Killer. And then the Doctor who saved the kid goes in search of that kid....collecting information about him and his past story that how he became a Serial Mass Murderer.
And the last ten episodes were so epic that I couldn't resist myself to watch them continuously. I remember I watched episode 68-74 at a time and that was one of the most memorable experience from this anime.
And This is my JOINT MOST FAVORITE PHILOSOPHICAL ANIME along with PARASYTE THE MAXIM(I don't know whether you like it or hate it so don't judge Monster from My Parasyte reference).
It gave me a hard time to think about society and the MONSTER INSIDE ALL OF US. But I am giving you a clue....The story will give you a conflicting feeling always bcz you can't determine its final score so easily. You will have to watch it till the very end. And I must say that this is one of the most memorable anime I have ever watched.

- (Spoiler alert) I very disliked at some points when they started to show Nina's memory for countless times(Nina is the main female character in this series). They thought that this will make it look more psychological but that's not.
And also I disliked it very much when they shown story of all those characters in a whole episode who doesn't even have to do anything with the show....If you want to show story of some supporting characters,show it for very less minutes not for a whole episode.
For instance,There is an Corrupt organisation named "BABY" is shown which is known for Right Wing extremism. They showed whole of that organisations evils for some episodes and tried to stretch the story.
But here it can also be taken as a character development of Dr. Tenma but I really didn't like when they didn't show Tenma for more than 1 episodes or 2 and shown other side characters' story instead.

But what I like about the plot is that the author have a lot of knowledge about the places he used in this work.....Germany and Czechoslovakia are the two nations which are featured in this anime and there is nothing to do with Japan in this except Dr. Tenma.

The author really have deep knowledge about the history of these two nations and also about the climatic conditions+the places he used in this work along with the German and Czech names. I think this is one of the most difficult creations in anime history.
The NEO-NAZI thing is also explained very well and storytelling is superb.
(Well I can't continue telling only plot so I am continuing other aspects from here in short)


• Characters(9.5/10):

The main protagonist is my most fav character from this anime and is currently my second most fav character. His character development is most natural and one of the most struggling. I think anyone who sees his story......and his character development....will start to love him.
I must say that this anime had shown one of the best character development ever and they took reasonable time for this.
There are some masterpiece character writing like "Johan Liebert,Grimmer,Dr. Kenzō Tenma,Inspector Lunge,Nina Fortner,Tenma's friend-Rudy Gillen,the psychologist-Reichwein,small kid-Dieter & Richard Braun."
I think The above characters are better than many other characters of other fancy anime. These characters did a very great job that you will enjoy their presence very much.

- But wait this is not overall good in characters. The side characters are the biggest problem of the story. There are many characters who are used as fillers....lile when there is a mystery left in the last episode you watched then they have put a side character's story to stretch the storyline. I liked almost all the supporting characters and main characters of this superb anime but I hated and will hate all its side characters. The reason why this anime is not a 10/10 for me is this mainly because the story which can be explained in less than 70 episodes is explained in more than 70 episodes. And this happened bcz of these side characters. And don't think that only I am saying about this problem.....the people who gave 10/10 t monster also stated this problem and a lot of reviews on MAL also states that. And this problem can be very big for some people bcz it bores sometimes and people don't enjoy this series for some moments.


• Sound(9/10):

Well op theme is a masterpiece....I don't remember when I skipped it......almost never....ending theme is good for horror lovers. It is not likeable but actually it is not their fault....that ed theme was the most suitable for the Anime like this. And actually it made sense very lately. But I can't say I use to listen it.....it is a good theme music but it is not enjoyable.
Ost are also great for Creating psychological atmosphere but overall that's good but I can't say very best sounds ever made for an anime. So this score is well deserved.

• Art(10/10):

Creating a character's appearance is also one of the most difficult task. More character=More Appearances.....and NAOKI URASAWA nailed it. I don't need to tell about his art.....just see it by yourself. Well we all know that Madhouse always do a great job in art and I myself am a big fan of Madhouse anime bcz of their art style. And for this anime....I can say it suited it very much and The plot which is Set half in Germany and half in Czechoslovakia is awesome for this art style. It is very difficult for a japanese author to show the whole plot in some other country and make it in all the way like original. Like think.....it seemed like Old Germany in all the way. And the main art is when you get to see the last 8 to 5 episodes. That is the THEME ART OF MONSTER. And I am glad Madhouse adapted it.



•Enjoyment(8/10):

Well I always tried to like this show while I was watching. I always watch only 4 episodes A day of a long anime so that I can enjoy it for a long time and give it a proper time to show its greatness. And this show was exceptionally a great show but I told you above that those fillers and side stories of some characters ruined this show for me and ended up 9/10.
Actually TBH I liked episodes_1-20,30-40,then some of the episodes between 45-60 where one of the best characters of this anime_named "Grimmer" arrived. This is one of the slow paced anime but if you stick with it...you may love it. And don't need to worry...In every 10 episodes you will get some episodes(at least 4-5) which are enjoyable and at max....you will love all episodes.

•Overall(9/10):

This is my final and official score for this anime. I can't give a proper 10 bcz it doesn't excell in many aspects and also bcz I didn't like the whole story stretching of it. And if a show is not FLAWLESS.....then it is not 10/10....but score doesn't give a damn when it comes to loving the series.....I love it more than many other anime to which I gave a perfect 10/10.
Monster is a type of story which represents the evil side of HUMANS. WHO IS THE MONSTER? That is not anybody but you. Yes,the Monster is not referred to any character(like some people think Franz Bonaparta or Johan are the Monsters). It is referred to Human Beings. Give them Weapons and see what they do.
But sometimes I felt like it was becoming more of Adventure-Drama Genre but in every possible way it drove itself back to its main theme...."Crime Psychology" and thrilled by revealing many mysteries. The author of this story tried to give a lot of life lessons through his best ever Creation of all times. And also think can a long show be a non-supernatural. But you will be shocked to know that a 74 episodes Long anime is not even based on any Supernatural thing. The title is only supernatural thing in the whole anime. And I congrats Naoki Urasawa for this. And also for his art style....it was really good.
This show needs to be more popular. The anime like this are made once in a decade and it is one of the rare gems.

- I checked Monster Manga and I can say that the Anime is equally good as the Manga in this case. With thrilling ost and art style of Madhouse some moments really became so great to appreciate. I am saying this bcz Manga of Monster is so high rated on MAL but in actual Monster Anime needs to be placed on Top 10.

I can say that this show is worth watching and also worth appreciating. You will not regret after watching this. It is one of the most sensible shows ever created. It reflects our society & it is one of those shows which brings truth of this evil & cruel world infront of you. If I would have to recommend this show....I would recommend it to people who can stick with slow pace,love psycho-thrill combo shows & most important__those who love PHILOSOPHICAL SHOWS which tells you more about Social Values and Leaves a Deep impact on the viewer.
Some people compare it to Death Note.....well yeah Death Note is a 10/10 absolutely but I love MONSTER more than Death Note even when I am giving it a 9/10 bcz it is a complex,more dark,more philosophical and EPIC.
And a message for those who love shounen ....bcz it is utter psychological & high class philosophical story....I can say this anime is not for you. You may like it if you are not a kind of ROM-COM lover or You're don't only like fancy anime like TOKYO GHOUL which got so much hype before and after the release and even still have. Well don't get me wrong....I am not saying that it is absolute possibility....there might be many people who love Shounen-Supernatural and Psycho-Thriller shows at the same time.

Well it is very long now.
So That's the end,Thank you to those who read this review fully.

This is Beautiful....This was my first Kyoto Animation anime.
For a random reference,When I completed Code Geass,I wanted to watch something which is simple & not supernatural. My Birthday was coming near. Tsurune was coming in my recommendation from many weeks & I was attracted by its Cover image.....But I didn't judge it by its cover & Thought why not to start this on My B'day.

I am going to give a brief review on each aspect:

•Story_10/10: (sorry but this aspect has spoilers,better if you do not read.)

I didn't thought they could explain a sports based story in only 13 episodes. Well back to the point,The Story ... goes Around Minato's & Seiya's past experiences of kyuudou & Minato's Old friend whose mom taught Minato & his friend kyuudou.
After the Death of the Minato's Mom,Minato got very depressed & never tried to learn kyuudou & play kyuudou afterwards.
But one day he met his old friends and they brought him back to the kyuudou classes in his school.....He didn't play it & he experienced problem of target panic.
Afterwards,He met a Kyuudou coach at night who became his school's kyuudou trainer for upcoming kyuudou tournament.
How Minato comes back to his instincts & what will happen in that tournament,How they will train themselves for that Tournament & Seiya's Sacrifice is what is shown in this Amazing Anime.
I loved this story because it shown a great friendship between its characters & how every character helps each other.

Characters_10/10:

You will say "You are kidding me".....I am giving everything 10/10 lol....but It is reality of this anime(atleast for me).
The main characters are great,the anime shows their past stories.....The best Characters In this anime(in my opinion) are Seiya,Minato & Their Coach. I liked the friendship of these characters.....I really enjoyed the presence of each character.

Sound_10/10:

I am not Biased about this....It contains a lot of great OSTs.....The Opening & Ending themes are also very nice. The timing of playing ost is absolutely amazing....I can say that It has Relaxing OSTs.

Art_10/10:

After watching this,I watched some other anime by Kyoto Animation & realised that It is best in making Beautiful Backgrounds. In this anime,I noticed this & then I searched about Kyoto animation's features & I got this....This Studio is a master creating beautiful Art.

Well this is the first review where I am not writing on Enjoyment,because my enjoyment is highlighted in all the above aspects I wrote about.
Now I am ending this review....Many people think every anime should contain some special story....but we should admit that not every story can be special....this anime consists a nice storyline and I respect it....I can't demand anything else from this anime....!
I just want this anime to become more popular among sports genre fans & ofcourse outside it too.

Watch it if you think it is worth your time or Plan to watch it & give it a try in future.

Have a Nice day,Hope you understood what I wanted to tell!

When I was searching for an anime of horror genre I got this as the best in the search.
And this was a great anime overall.
I found nothing in this anime which I can dislike as some other reviews suggest.

•Story_9.5/10:

Well I realised that story is the strong point of this anime. If we talk about Horror genre....It met with its expectations. I liked its story a lot....it was very convincing bcz I got deeply into it....while watching I didn't even notice how many minutes have passed.
So it claims that the anime was deep and I found it very psychological also.....the conversation between Misaki and Sakikibara ... were very psychological. And it was not that much horror(as Anime can't scare people very easily so this is also like it).

•Characters_9/10:

Showing Female protagonist was also a great idea but Male protagonist was also very good....he is a great character shown throughout this story. The best thing about the boy is that he never believed what others were saying about Misaki and He didn't try to Discard her from society as others were doing.
Supporting characters are also very good....the characters who died also played a very deep role in the whole story.

•Sound_8.5/10:

Opening theme is just bad....But Ending theme is very very decent....It is very calming. The Ost are also well programmed for thrilling background. So overall Soundtracks were also very good.

•Art_9/10:

Well the animation is amazing(atleast for winter 2012 anime). The ending episodes were animated nicely(which consisted a lot of Gore scenes).
So overall art and animation is praiseworthy.

•Enjoyment_9/10:

I can say that I enjoyed the story....for me Story & Characters are the main aspects of anything....if the characters & plot are well designed then I don't care about its Ost,Art & Op.-Ed. themes.
This Anime contains one of the best storyline with a great character development & again I am saying....there was nothing which I should dislike in this anime. I am saying this again and again bcz this anime is rated less than 7.6/10 currently on MAL so it comes under the tag of "underrated anime" for me.

•Overall_9.2/10: So,I am happy in giving it 9/10 overall. And I can't say much about this anime as it is of only 10+ episodes and so my overall experience can be summed up in above aspects.
The only thing I can say is that this deserves 9/10 bcz This is a very memorable anime and I can't forget it.
I can't say it is in my top 15 even but seriously,This was a very great anime for me.

I think It is worth watching and is also praiseworthy.
Watch it if you have good tastes of Psychological,Thriller,Horror & Mystery genre.

Have a nice day and thank you!

So You are going to watch it. Let me tell you why this anime is so great.
This is one of those anime which ever aired in INDIA.
So, I watched it when it was airing in India....and at that time, I didn't know what the hell anime is.

First of all, don't look to the stats of this anime on MAL and on any other Animelist sites like Anime-Planet or Anilist or Kitsu....they are absolutely misleading. In India atleast 100k people watched it when it aired back in 2013-14. And maximum.....I can estimate that almost 2 Million people watched. And I am telling you....Everyone loved ... this anime and its characters. But on MAL it is in the completed list of only 6k people....Lol it is so less.

Whatever, Let's get to the point, I am thinking not to spoil you...so I will present what I liked majorly about this anime:

•Story__10/10:

Yes, The story is absolutely a unique one. The concept and story is supernatural but there are not much plot holes in it. The Author tried his best to make it enjoyable and less unbelievable.
The Story is about SHO YAMATO who loves MTB riding. In the first episode it is also shown that he is really a very great rider and he learnt all the skills from his father who was a Legend in MTB riding but was mysteriously disappeared. Sho has very good & helpful friends and in Episode 01 it is also shown that The MTB training ground(named X-Zone) takes them to some strange place or some other world...which is a mystery. The place where they have been placed has a lot of mysteries. And there are a lot of plot twists that makes it a real masterpiece which can never be created again.
The Story really has something different....which is really hard. Its current rating of 6.9 on MAL makes me sad at some point.

•Characters__10/10:

Oh yeah, The main thing in this anime is its characters, There are a huge no. of characters in this anime and all of them are so nicely written characters.....the Character development of Sho Yamato is really one of the best of all times. The story does justice with its characters. All the characters have a MTB and the speciality of The MTBs are that they do have same traits as that of their Riders.

This anime is built around the MTBs...so without telling about them, this review can't be accomplished.
There are MTBs for each and every character in this anime!
And the Supernatural power of the Bike is what is the main trait of its Rider. The MTBs resemble its rider's character. The Supernatural Power of MTBs is called IDATEN JUMP/IDATEN GO which is used by the rider in tough situations during the Idaten Battle.
All the bikes have emblems in front of it. The Emblems are Normal ones then SILVER & GOLD....And there is only one PLATINUM EMBLEM which is in the bike of our Protagonist__Sho Yamato's FLAME KAISER.

My personal Favorite character from this anime is "Kyoichi Shido" who is the brother of "Makoto Shido". He has a Idaten Bike named "Thunder Emperor" & his existence is kept hidden in the beginning phase of the series while he becomes a key role player in the middle of the series; In my opinion he was the most amazing rider of MTB in the series even though Sho Yamato, the protagonist had more amazing stats & all round success.

•Music__10/10:

Ah...it gives me chills still after 6 years when I re-watch it. They have made best quality music for each and every emotion...when enthusiasm...a rocking music...when any emotional scene...a very sad music...when any Mystery scene...a Psychological music.
Special Thanks to YASUHARU TAKANASHI for Such Such great OSTs.
Till now In my knowledge there are 35 OSTs officially released....there might be more.....I don't know whether 35 are the total or there are some other too. But I remember each & every OST of this anime even after 6 years. Its emotional music is really which hit me to the core.

I would recommend you to search some of its OSTs on Youtube - "Omoide", "Tobe", "Sho no theme", "Each Feeling", "Sentimental Battle", "OST 06" & "OST 25".
You can actually visit "Best OF Anime OST's" - a youtube channel to listen all the 35 OSTs.

•Art__10/10:

Don't get me wrong....This anime was a 2005 release. And it was adapted by PRODUCTION IG....my second most favorite studio.
As this is a Supernatural Anime....The Art really suited it. The color selection is what I noticed is the unique one. Well Art is Art....even a lot of Bad storyline anime also have great Art and animations so it really doesn't matter when The Story is good. The art and animation in this anime is really better than many anime of present time.

•Enjoyment__10/10:

I really really enjoyed it for the first time when it aired. And whenever I re watch it....It becomes more close to me. The combo of great ART-STORY-CHARACTERS-MUSIC makes it really enjoyable. Even if you don't like the concept of the story....still You will enjoy it.

There are a lot of plot twists which can drive you crazy....The character development seems very natural...like it is real!
All the characters develop a bit after their every race.

•Overall__10/10:

Yes....This is literally a Piece of Greatness. It deserves more praise. But as I said its rating is really not good on Animelist sites.
But there is a fact....This anime didn't suffer.....It aired in different countries and earned a lot of money and it is one of those anime which didn't get pirated by pirate sites. So In Stats on ANIMELIST sites it doesn't seem famous and rich in its sale. But in reality it is one those anime which are famous and earned enough money & praise.

Anyways...I can't say that My review will make you watch this anime...but All the way I tell you to just give it a try....and atleast watch first 25 episodes so that the story will get on its fastest pace.

I just want its stats to be good and not misleading. This anime needs to get popular on MAL and other Animelist sites. And As I said....it is already popular and loved by people no matter if doesn't get it officially.

Have a nice day.....Give it a try whenever you are free and want to watch some supernatural and new concept. I wish you will enjoy this anime.
^_^