Tag: Hiraita Eriko

Tales of Genji (源氏物語千年紀) is an anime based on the Japanese classic and possibly the first Japanese novel “The Tale of Genji” written during the Heian period by Lady Murasaki. It will be broadcast on 15 January 2009.

Comments:
I LOVE PERIOD DRAMAS! So I’m looking forward to this very much… what’s more, Sakupyon is voicing the lead *doki doki* (=^_^=) The art looks very pretty and romantic. Hope it doesn’t disappoint!

Update 17 Jan 2009:
I watched the first episode. It has promise! The narrative flows well and I think this series will be a good introduction for newbies like me to the classic tale. For those who have watched the 1980s OVA and came off confused and hating Genji for his “philandering ways” and arrogance might have a better understanding of the background of his story this time round. I think you may even come away sympathising with him.

Anyway, right at the beginning, we’re greeted with a love scene (sex scene to be exact but nothing explicit) of Genji and one of the women in his many affairs where the couple sprout poetic sounding lines during/after their passionate embrace… Cheesy as it might sound, it was quite beautiful, actually ^^;;; hah~ and with Sakupyon delivering those lines, I think all the fangirls just died right there.

Although the animation and artwork can be uneven at times, the overall animation is still very good. So far, the first episode gave us a rather detailed visual depiction of the setting and environment where the story takes place. There are so many breath-taking, dreamy and artistic scenes which will hold your attention even when it is only a panned talking head or a voice over by the narrator.

The background music is classical and soothing. I enjoyed it. As for the opening and ending themes, I think I’m not the only one who thinks that the opening song by PUFFY is rather out of place in this anime. You’ll understand why when you hear it. The ending song “Ai” by Atari Kousuke was lovely tho’.

With the back story concisely summarised and explained in the first episode, I’m eagerly looking forward to the upcoming ones for the drama to unfold. Continue reading “Anime: Tales of Genji (Sakurai Takahiro, Fujita Toshiko)”