Manga style animation at its best
923485
Although im not usually a fan of animated movies, this certainly was the one to change my mind. The beautiful artwork combined with a period setting and storyline is what turned my head when i saw it on TV. It deals with  loss and revenge, the fuel for any action packed story. The fight scenes  are particularly spectacular. Fans of shows such as Pokemon will like this.  A must see.
1752872
I love this anime and when I saw the preview for the save edition on my School Rumble save edition dvd I knew I had to get it because it looked intriguing. The art is amazing so is the setting, characters, music, plot and dialogue, I spent a whole day devoted to binge watching it it's THAT good. I think if you liked such animes as Black Blood Brothers, Devil May Cry than you will like this anime as well. But be warned this made differences between the manga and anime when it comes to Train's personality.
2841774
Written and created by Chiaki J Konaka, the show-runner of Air Gear, Armitage III, Digimon Tamers and Serial Experiment Lain, this adaptation of the Devilman Lady series - Go Nagai's remake/sequel to his Devilman masterpiece - shows what would have happened if Akira Fudo and Ryo Asuka had been women instead of men as in the original Devilman. Though it doesn't have the same explicitness like in the original manga, this series' becomes a clever metaphor on social appearances, intolerance, bigotry, and prejudice as a fashion model comes to term with a genetic condition that turns her into a Devilman, a creature that, instead of becoming a heartless monster, manages to keep her human consciousness.

What I loved in this series is that Chiaki J Konaka knew where he wanted to go with his story. In fact, I loved the mood he set in the first episode whose tension reveals - but not in a verbal way - that Jun Fudo senses someone stalking her. Also, the composition, camera angles, and colors in the episodes foreshadows what will soon happen between Lan Asuka and Jun Fudo, whose relationship takes a masochistic turn as Asuka forces Fudo to participate in a war that hides other motives. As such, this series tries to tell its story in a cinematographic way instead of using more conventional rules, though I feel this movie strategy is more present in the episodes that Chiaki J Konaka wrote. And right till the end of the twenty-sixth episode, one can see how the plot's twists were there all along.

Another aspect I loved in this version is how the writers kept the Miki Makimura character from the Original Devilman and turned her into Kasumi, a high school kid whose friendship with Jun evolves and contrasts with Asuka's, who is the real antagonist of this story.

For the soundtrack, I thought Toshiyuki Watanabe's music was excellent, that it nourished the series tragic and tense mood, and the tunes used for the Opening and Ending credits were great choices. As for the animation, it keeps a consistent quality over the episodes, but as it is done for a television budget, don't expect it to be top notch for there are some episodes where the animation is more restrained than in others.

Nevertheless, this series shows how one can do an excellent version of a popular Japanese manga series, but still make it a personal interpretation through its underlying themes.
2779627
While this is not one of the most popular anime films out there, it very well may be one of the best. The reason that I didn't give it 5 stars was that to some people the plot may occur a jumbled nonsense. You don't really understant what happens until the very end, but when you reach it, it's quite rewarding.
While most of my friends who read the original manga say it was better, I prefer this version of the story - the quality of animation is quite appealing.
If you're the sort of person who likes strange, original anime movies with memorable characters, sense of style and gothic flair, this is perfect for you, I'd definitely recommend buying this. If you like more solid plots, with considerable amount of backstory and no brain-racking, don't buy this.
3571443
Saw this in the theatre last year when it was making the rounds in North America. Loved it so much I had to order the BD. The animation quality is tops, and the story lends to gorgeous scenes with excellent execution. My favorite part of the movie though is the combination of the soundtrack with the story.

Anyway, this is a must see for any anime fan, and probably is probably accessible enough that folks who don't have a particular proclivity for anime will still find it enjoyable.
3905195
This is a lot like a summer popcorn movie, for the most part. The movie has a very heavy focus on it's visuals and action sequences, which are very excellently done. Of course, with people on staff like Katsuhiro Otomo and Hirotsugu Kawasaki you'll always have to expect this. In Akira, Otomo said that he liked to keep everything in motion. He never wanted to use any sort of still frames for any reason. For Spriggan, you get the same thing. The animation is almost constantly fluid and rarely, if never, gets stiff or jittery like most anime. There's some really nice scenes of CG, espacially with the scenes that take place inside the ark. It's steller and seamless at the same time (like the excellent CG in Princess Mononoke). The fight scenes are so wonderfully choreographed and storyboarded out, that Spriggan's action is a class in it's own. Take all of the fight scenes in Ninja Scroll, X, Ghost in the Shell, and Battle Angel and then put them into fast forward and you have Spriggan. Yes, they're all THAT GOOD!
As far as visuals and action sequences are concerned, this movie has it all.
The movie's audio is excellent. Considering this is a fairly recent anime, it's sound design is incredible. I espcially like how the echoes and distorted SFX were handled inside the ark sequences. The video transer is also very nice. Lots early scenes in the film are shown in very dark colors and the transfer handles them wonderfully. The backrounds are beautifully rendered and the character animation comes off very crisp and clear. The only problem with it is that once the scenes mostly take place inside the ark, there is a fair amount of grain on the characters. It isn't too distracting though. It also gives the film more of a cinematic feel.
Spriggan is something that really and truly excels at what it's trying to be, and that's an action flick with western based legends and religious ideas mixed into it. Sure the story runs a little thin at times and character development is kinda nil, but it's slight lack of depth makes it even more fun to watch. It does present some interesting ideas as well (like saying that Noah's Ark was a weather controlling device and a starter of life). It won't exactly put your brain on overdrive like Ghost in the Shell of Serial Experiments Lain, but it will make you think a little bit after the credits roll.
Lots of anime fans I know bash on this film because of it's lack of plot and character development. Why can't they all just sit down and enjoy a film that is just a simple piece of action and fun? Where have all their roots gone?
The film's soundtrack is also excellent with mixes of Turkish chants, atmospheric instrumentals, and electronic drum-beats. The most impressive track, though, is the movie's ending them which is an experimental techno song performed by Saju and sung in Mandarin (a rare find in anime). If you need a reason to buy the soundtrack, listen to this song. I swear it will move you to buy the soundtrack. It did for me.
Whether I watched this film in Japanese, English, or with commentary by the ADR directors, I got a different experience everytime.
Spriggan is a highly enjoyable film that will never gather dust on my shelf, and most likely not on yours.
3623423
I was skeptical at first because I have watched lots of different anime titles, and most of them are quite poor.  But I went ahead and bought this based on the rave reviews it received.  The first time that I watched it, I wasn't sure what to think because the story was so strange compared to the stories found in Western animation, but it really grew on me.

 The animation is top notch...I have never seen anything so beautiful before.  The characters are superbly drawn.  This is definitely an instant classic that you will want in your collection.
2097878
Love love love this animation style.  Loved this movie and the song of the sea.  Thank you for feeding my soul.
3968216
Its got good animation and its fairly unique in design. Excess is everywhere and it really is a feast for the eyes. It's unfortunate that the plot and characters are derivative as hell, but its very clear that those two aspects were left lack luster to focus on creating mind blowing hand drawn animation. Support them and buy it, you'll have a good time and help to show them it wasn't a huge mistake making this pet project so ridiculously well produced.
3091516
Hi quality and very accurate sculpt representation of both the Manga and anime.
310317
I will admit to knowing absolutely nothing about Manga and I thought this film was going to be an easy going cartoon. On watching I started to think 'this is going to be awful' when the heroine Makoto did her first face gurning over exaggeration. It reminded me of some really terrible cartoons my daughter used to watch. Luckily the gurning only reappeared occasionally in this story.

The voices and soundtrack are really good. You forget it wasn't originally English. The haunting piano music also stood out. Some of the settings and skyscapes are stunning and the leaping through time images were original and great to watch. The 'drawn' characters stopped me from ever believing this was a real story but I still enjoyed it.

This film is great fun. The leaping through time always ends with a comic thump back to earth or 'is anyone dead yet?'. You don't know what is going to happen next. The story also develops well and takes an unexpected turn into a sci fi love story. I think because of the themes the 12+ rating is about right.

I would describe this film as a cross between 'Groundhog Day' and 'Back to the Future' both very likeable, easily accessible films and this film is too. The story revolves around a highschool, a baseball field, an art gallery, Makoto's home and the road to school. It is quite a limited claustrophic setting but it works well and builds up the story tension as different things happen on ordinary days with Makoto's intervention. Some of it is life and death and some of it high school angst and some is pure pudding humour.

I think teenage girls would especially like the teen romance storyline. I think this would definitely be a teen 'date movie'.

Highly recommended.
963217
I love how they took an american superhero comic and gave it an anime feel. Out of a lot of american cartoons that have been seen in the past, this one caught my attention. It's stylish but catchy opening theme music (sung by Puffy AmiYumi) that came in English and Japanese made it stand apart from the norm. It's writing style was entertaining, comical and well thought out without breaking it's unique quality. Diverse in many different subjects without necessarily repeating what other shows have already done. The characters have very lively personalities without being cliche and their interactions with one another are amusing, heart warming and moralistic. Warner Bros. have done an excellent job of bringing back a DC comic classic, giving it a modern touch, with a Japanese sense of humor and a twist of romance drama. I have enjoyed it immensely over and over again and could wish they would do more shows like this.
692019
Servamp is an excellent start to a new gem of a manga. I have hopes that it will follow the Devil's and Realist route and get animated soon, it already got a drama CD and gets tons of color pages in the JPN manga. In any case, Im glad to finally be able to read this and own it. The vampire servant story is pretty funny. Kuro, the cover character is hilarious and lazy though comes through when the time is right. His partner, Mahiru is pretty funny too with his simple get it done attitude. They have a nice interaction going on. The rest of the cast comes together nicely. There is the typical busty female though that this series like to throw in though I guess writers don't want to have an all male thing going on.

In any case, the quality of the book is great, no typos, great artwork with lots of sound effects translated or redrawn (not all). The extras only include a color insert which is nice to see how Mahiru is supposed to look and a few others. I wish there was an afterword or more. There are those four panel comedy stripes too.
2787502
Very strong adaptation of the anime series, this piece has a lot of good character animation, backgrounds and CGI. For its time, it's a bit of a masterpiece.

A little off-topic: Please also consider BLOOD-C The LAST DARK. Based on its own anime, this movie starts up where the series ends. This is in many ways the genre successor to BLOOD, similar situations but a state-of-the-art blend of tradigital and CGI animation, the best I have ever seen. The only reservation I have about it is that the characters were drawn in an elongated style (perhaps in keeping with the TV series). BTW: BLOOD The LAST VAMPIRE does NOT have this "problem".

BLOOD The LAST VAMPIRE is an excellent addition to a horror animation library.
735576
Being new to this genre myself, I was pleasantly supprised at the complexity of character and story developement in this anime complete series.  Well worth having for any video library.  The art is incredibly vivid.  You can be drawn into the emotional turmoil of several of the characters and find yourself wishing for different decisions and outcomes both from the authorities and thos who serve them.  Try this one out! thanx. Neon Genesis Evangelion: Platinum Collection from ADV
1762419
Impressive artwork. The fantasy and action elements are cool. I wish Ayano Yamane would do a science fiction yaoi/BL manga.
909057
While you'll hear fans of the manga of the same name say how disappointed they are with this anime, it has got to be arguably one of the better ones in my collection. The story is not overly complex, but contains some subtle  points that I'll admit I missed until watching it again most recently; most  definitely, you will want to watch the Japanese dub (with English  subtitles, if needed), as it contains most of the finer points the English  version misses. The animation is not hyper-realistic, but, then again, it  is not supposed to be; there is a delightful cartoonish quality about the  whole piece. It is this quality that allows for quite a bit of visual  humor. Keep as notice, though, that there is some adult humor in here as  well that may offend some, but it all lends itself to the humor of the  movie. Overall, I'd have to rate this as one of my favorite anime; it's a  good two-hour romp filled with tanks, more tanks, explosions, accidental  urban renewal, and all of it in good fun.