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Title: Karas - The Prophecy (2006)
Format: DVD
Score:
Starring: Dorothy Elias-Fahn, Tetsuo Gotô, Michael McConnohie, Matthew Lillard, and Doug Stone
Director: Akira Takata and Kei'ichi Sato
Rating: Unrated
Runtime: 80 minutes
Hits: 120
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Review of Karas - The Prophecy

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Comments for Karas - The Prophecy

• Posted on 2008-12-19
  Do it now, Karas
  
  Imagine if every city chose a special champion to defeat monstrous mechanical demons -- becoming the armored superhuman known as Karas.
  
  That's the concept behind "Karas - The Prophecy," the first half of a sprawling, lushly animated series about a mystery hero who spans the worlds of demons and humans. The rather underdeveloped characters hamper the story somewhat, but the scintillating animation and explosive action sequences make this a brilliant experience -- and the twisty-turny plot doesn't hurt either.
  
  Two black-armored men engage in an explosive aerial battle, until ex-Karas Eko triumphs over his successor. Three years later, a young doctor named Otoha awakens in an enchanted house, under the command of the city's avatar Yurine.
  
  At around this time, Tokyo is being attacked by the gruesome cyborg demons called Mikura, and harmless small demons are falling seriously ill. Otoha -- the new Karas -- is charged to destroy the Mikura, who are also being hunted by the mysterious superhuman Nue, and investigated by demon-obsessed cop Sagisaki and his skeptical partner Kure.
  
  But Eko has a plan in mind for defeating this new Karas and getting ahold of Yurine. When a battle between Otoha and the Mikura takes a nasty turn, Nue's true nature is finally revealed -- and when the Karas is called on to defeat a gruesome spider-Mikura, Eko takes the opportunity to target the source of Otoha's power... and his life as well.
  
  "Karas - The Prophecy" is a bit of a brain-teaser -- several parts of it (including the first several scenes) don't make any sense until you see all of it. And there are three subplots which seem only mildly connected to each other. Then you go back and watch again, and suddenly all the little hints and disjointed puzzle pieces snap neatly into place.
  
  Fortunately the twisting plot is riddled with moments of quiet beauty (Otoha tending to the sickly demons), humour (Nue chatting with an adorable little snail-child), and poignancy (the whole story about Sagisaka's mentally-ill daughter). And there's plenty of horror speckling the story, especially the Mikura with their glowing eyes and metallic roars. The height of freakiness is undoubtedly a girl dessicating into a mummy as she talks to her friend.
  
  But what truly sets "Karas - the Prophecy" apart is the action and animation. Every fight with a Mikura is a kinetic, razor-sharp mingling of swordplay and acrobatics, full of bloody spiderwebs and water attacks. And the animation is simply stunning -- everything is depicted realistically, but with exquisitely glowing colours, deep soft shadows and lots of brilliant little details. For example: the spiky raven armor, the blinking Karas talisman, and the vast epic sweeps across a snow-covered Tokyo.
  
  Unfortunately "Karas - The Prophecy is recognizably the first half of a story. Not only does it end on a massive cliffhanger, but some of the characters feel... unfinished, as though their development is yet to come.
  
  Otoha is one of these -- he's a nice guy with a good heart, but he's something of a blank until the last scenes, though Stan Staley is brilliant here. Eko gives off a feeling of ennui and bitterness as a Karas-turned-supernatural-mob-boss, which is somewhat dampened by Matthew Lillard's lifeless performance. But Nue is a brilliant piece of work -- a monstrous, unnatural creature struggling to overcome his base self.
  
  "Karas - The Prophecy" is obviously the first half of a whole, but it's a brilliant half -- richly animated and haunting. And it leaves you hungry for the second part.
  
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• Posted on 2008-10-14
  Karas
  
  I was very very happy with this movie. It came early and was in perfect condition! Thanks!
  
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• Posted on 2008-06-08
  If there is one contemporary anime film that is the equivalent of a summer blockbuster, it would have to be Karas
  
  Karas: The Prophecy is the first of two installments of this Tatsunoko Productions movie series (Gatchaman, Speed Racer), honoring their 40th anniversary. The Karas movies were created and directed by Keiichi Sato, who also contributed to several other anime works including Big O and Wolf's Rain. Overseas licensing was given to Manga Entertainment for distributing and voice-over dubbing. The English audio track features the vocal talents of Jay Hernandez (Hostel, World Trade Center), Matthew Lillard (Scream) and Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly).
  Karas: The Prophecy went on to be one of the top-selling anime DVDs in the US last year.
  
  
  PRODUCTION and ANIMATION
  Spectacular is the word for Karas's animation. The quality is up there with Hollywood grade animations, with its smooth movement and beautifully crafted character designs. But most notable was the 2-D/3-D fusion. Karas is one of the first anime productions in which I have seen two-dimensional animation really blend nicely with 3-D CGI graphics. Initially, the original announcement trailer (available on DVD) featured some sample blends that were typical compared to other anime and simply looked terrible in comparison to the final product. The magnificent detailing really add a lot to Karas final animation. The visuals alone make this film worth watching.
  The rendering of the 2-D artwork also appears to be top-notch quality as well. The rendering and tone of the 2-D animation seemed very un-anime like and is almost reminiscent of the last theatrical American 2-D animated films we saw (such as Dreamworks Sinbad & Road to El Dorado or Disney's Treasure Planet). It is still anime but with a Western touch to it.
  
  
  SOUND and MUSIC
  Here is yet another area where Karas really shines. Again, very theatrical. All the sound effect were crisp, clear, and realistic. Volume of voices was all balanced well to create depth and a lifelike dialogue experience.
  One of Karas's biggest benefactors is its musical score performed by the international-renowned Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The music is professionally played and executed with emotion and dynamic qualities. Simply a thrill to listen to. However, there is one downside: there is a pretty limited track list most likely to the budget being spent on the Prague Orchestra performing what song tracks they have and/or animation. But once you've gotten used to the epic orchestral tunes, it's not a problem. Bottom line: Limited music selection but at least it's performed extremely well.
  
  The DVD includes two versions of audio: regular 2.0 stereo and a special Dolby Surround EX 6.1 mix which just adds to the intensity of this series. (hopefully next)
  
  
  STORY
  Here in the story department is where Karas takes a hit. So far through the first movie its story line just isn't anything really good: just average. Aside from that, the storyline is almost completely implied, if not too implied. There are so many major subtle aspects of the story the viewer probably won't pick up on all of them. After viewing the film for a second time, there were many moments where I thought, 'Oh I see...' as I noticed small details that added to the story.
  
  Characters are a unique bunch but individually nothing incredibly special as of yet. We have the stoic, 'man of few words' hero, his equally emotionless and mysterious partner/master Yurine, a ditzy reporter girl, a slick pistol-wielding anti-hero, a young confused investigator and his troubled strong-headed elderly partner. By far it is this elderly character, Mr. Sagisaka who has any story depth to him and an actual background. Oh and of course we have our villains who are all your typical villains. And we still hack yet to see the master villain, Ekou, in any action besides the movie intro...
  Although is minimal character development and low story progression, I anticipate, from the ending of Prophecy, that the next installment Revelation will indeed be one and hopefully provide at least a satisfactory finish.
  
  The Karas series is has very strong production values and a great studio working behind it. The visuals and orchestral music score is enough to make this one of the must-see anime of this decade.
  
  
  Karas: The Prophecy slips in with a FOUR out of FIVE.
  
  + = Scintillating, fluid animation, practically seamless 2D/3D hybrid technique, high-quality musical score performed by Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, on English dub - solid cast featuring professional American actors.
  - = Extremely subtle story, static characters, limited song track, annoying cliffhanger.
  
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• Posted on 2008-02-07
  No seizures please.
  
  Incredible fight scenes for a about 1/3 of the movie with an amazingly confusing storyline for the rest of it. The story is explained in "Karas: The Revelation", but that does not cut down on its intensity at all. If anything, I'd think you'd pay more attention to try to figure it out.
  
  Movie opens and closed with a fight scene. The fights are mostly cgi incorperated into an animated backround. They take the animation seriously though, from animating cold foggy breath the the rainbow pixelization that you get from touching a moniter screen.
  
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• Posted on 2008-01-10
  The best Anime
  
  Karas is one of the best Anime i have Ever seen
  
  The animation part is great, good story, and Characters
  i do recommend it a lot for everyone.
  
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