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It's a 8/10 at the start, drops to a 3 (which nearly made me cry and give up on the series) and then a totally knock-you-off-your-seat resolution which really deserves a 10. so yeah. i have no idea how to rate this show overall.

a few hours ago i was trudging through the 8th episode or so, wondering why on earth i'm still watching a crappy show like this and how it this nonsense going to have any satisfactory conclusion - obviously i've never ever seen a show which such horrendous build-up into such a of-of-this-world revelation.

let's talk about why the middle effy bits ... were really horrible first.

1) it's a plot that never seem to go anywhere - ok so you might get what they're doing and all but there seem to be no general direction to the show, simply a 'i must go to kuromitsu' is about the only thing you can wrap your head around. other than that it's just loads of stuff that doesnt make sense - and i mean logical sense.

2) humour is oddly placed. i mean if this were sengoku basara, it's totally fine. but you know plot seemed important (at least at the start) in this story and the comic relief in the middle was therefore really odd. but really, it might do your sanity some good if you just let go of the plot for the bit in the middle and just enjoy the art.

3) ditto the line above, this time about the script. god it's cliche.

after you've survived all these, congrats! because you're really in for a treat. this is after all one of the best mind-fucking series i've seen.

now you'll understand why you've been put through the whole deal of nonsense in the middle. really, they actually DO serve a pretty good effect of building up to the eventual outcome, even though watching them has been a torture.

every little subtle detail is worth noting (and analysing if i'm a bit more coherent and less mind screwed)- and that's what's so awesomely psychological-thriller-ish this is. if you think about it every scene from before becomes significant, even the (crappy) lines they said; each setting takes on a meaning and ties in together with everything. those eerily beautiful lights in the hallway really made my day.

anyway to summarise:
it's one hell of a psychological thriller definitely worth sitting though.

2/10 - thank god the original isnt like this.

1. the story is cliche - and not just a bit but way way way too lame. the thing about one piece is that it manage to give ordinary cliche settings a big twist, which is why i love the anime - but this totally failed to happen here. most lines are expected; plot extremely predictable. i was hoping they might turn the whole demon-sword concept into something interesting, but that's so not happening here.

2. characterization was off - personal opinion here, but sanji and zoro's characters are wrong (what did you do to my ... favourite character!!!). it doesnt mean if the right line is said the correct feeling for the character can be achieved. this one felt totally off, plus some lines are actually quite awkward. seems more like a doujin work rather than being the original. on closer look, nami's characterization is not up to standard too. the entire team dynamics seemed to lacking in fact. the only people i felt were satisfactorily portrayed were usopp and luffy.

3. pacing is bad - most of the first parts seemed rushed. like everyone's trying to speak as fast as they can so that it's within the timing or sth. then a few scenes at the end were long drawn and a complete waste of time. - there wasnt enough time to create suspense, or feel the story develop.

4. voice acting/ voice actors - which obaaaasan has a voice so obviously young (and speaks so fast no less)??? then there were also part where i dont know if it's just that the voice acting sucked or that the pace was just too fast such that lines carried no emotions at all.

one piece story aims to tell people to dare to dream and gives people hope - this story has just left me in despair. o.o

[general]
This series is a spin-off from the thrid arc of Ayakashi~Classic Japanese Horror, Bakeneko.

[storyline]
It is made up of 5 main stories, each spanning 2-3 episodes. All of which deals with the concept of mononoke, a spirit that combines with strong negative human emotions, becoming a malevolent being that creates trouble. The tone of the story is pretty serious, and usually manage to create the sense of tension desired. Most of the stories are very interesting, though sometimes confusing. But if you can take sometime to work out the flow of the story, it actually makes alot of sense.

[music]
The sound effects in this series are probably ... worth more than the actual music, because in most scenes it's the silence that does most of the work. An appropriate sound effect simply enhances the whole errie atmosphere. In terms of OP and ED songs, I can't say I liked it, but it somehow fits to the weird tune of the whole show.

[characters]
Do not expect nice looking characters. Because most of the characters inside are, by general anime standards, ugly. But one main purpose of the stories is bringing out the ugliness in human nature, so the appearance of the characters actually serve to enhance the entire visual experience and well, it worked for me. The main character is certainly good-looking, but rather in the odd way. And the main attraction from this protagonist actually lies in his demeour, which is certainly unique whichever way you look at it.

[animation]
Another main attraction factor of this show. The bold and imaginative approach towards the animation takes a big step away from the usual Toei animation style. In fact, it's pretty much different from almost all of the styles out there. The only similar one i can think of is gonzo's Gankutsuou, the count of monte cristo. But Mononoke takes the style further- it focuses a lot on the 2D elements, the job here is no longer making it seem realistic or even anime-like, but rather make it into a piece of art, with an abstract edge. The vibrant palette brings out the gaudy nature of the characters and story, while the animation experiments with pace, style and an entirely different form of art.

[in the end]
So, why should you watch this if you're looking for something different? Well, basically the style- the way of storytelling and the art in this show is simply different and a pretty risky venture. In the sense you'll either love it all or hate it. For me, it is one of my top horror shows, where you'll feel the tension and fear not from the usual black-shadow-at-the-back-and-blood-all-over-the-place scenes but rather from the oddly paced story and effective pauses in dialogue. And of course, not forgetting the weirdly vibrant colours, which at times seems gaudy, but seemingly fits into the picture just fine. Just watching this show for the effects of storytelling would be more than worth your time.

[general]
Adapted from the light novel series with the same name by Ryohgo Narita.

[storyline]
The main highlight of this series. The story is good, not excellent. But the way it is shown is way better than excellent. If you think Haruhi's sequence is messed up, this would be the ultimate mess-up. You'll get different snipets of different characters in different times doing different things. But, they are all related. In the most intricate and exciting way possible, every one of the snipets shown adds to a missing piece in the puzzle. And of course, it's your job as the audience to figure out which piece goes where. ... The second time you watch the show, you'll really start to appreciate how much effort went into putting all those small little details that now makes so much sense. And by the way, it's one of those shows which OVA is as good as the original series.

[music]
Not the highlight, but the style is pretty amazing. The jazzy opening credits fits the show very well, though the ending didn't really leave much of an impression on me.

[characters]
If this show only had the characters and nothing else, I would still watch it. That's how awesome the characters are, though having a good plot that ties in all these amazing characters just made it to the top for me. The most daring part of this show does not come from it's totally fragmented stories requiring you to piece them together, but rather from the overwhelmingly HUGE cast of characters, all of whom can be the main character. This must be the only show that did this, and did it this successfully.

[animation]
One word for it, excellent. The details, lighting, motion, and almost anything you can think of is handled excellently.

[in the end]
If you think you're up to the challenge, go fot it. I'm sure you won't regret. But a word of caution..this show is not for the faint-hearted. There will be blood. Lots of it!