I’ve recently started to go back into my personal anime history to select the animes’ that made me go from oblivious, to mildly interested to full on dedicated to the Anime-medium and starting my own associations about it and later become a weeb that went to Japan just because it was Japan.

First out is Karas the Prophecy!

Karas the Prophecy

Background

Karas (Japanese: 鴉－KARAS－, Hepburn: Karasu, lit. The Crow) is a Japanese six-part original video animation series produced by Tatsunoko Productions and first televised in Japan in 2005. It later was published like two feature length movies instead calling it “Karas the Prophecy”.

Karas tells the story of Yousuke Otoha, a former yakuza, living in a fictional version of Shinjuku, Tokyo populated by humans and yōkai (Japanese spirits). He is one of the titular Karas, humans appointed as super powered agents of the land. Able to transform into different kinds of vehicles and an armored crusader; the skilled swordsman is to stop his corrupt predecessor, Eko, from taking over Tokyo. Supporting characters such as Eko’s former henchman, Nue; the yōkai; and Homura, the karas of another city, help Otoha in his quest. A concurrent side story focuses on humans affected by Eko’s scheme.

Initial Impressions

The opening of the series/movie were more confusing than I remembered. Which I think indicated that back then I were more pleased by just awesome action scenes because it is very awesome. A lot happens and if you haven’t seen this before a lot of the things in the series are very confusing especially in the opening scenes.

Most people forgive confusion in an opening scene, since it’s supposed to catch the eye and peak your interest. And it sure does that, and seeds a lot of confusion and mystery, no doubt. You get that it’s a fight going and between two people and soon you get it that they have some kind of powers that makes them very powerful.

The opening is very good still and even though I remembered it all I saw details I didn’t pay any mind to when I was younger and a lot of other things made it very appealing even now.

The first episode was only 30 minutes, which is longer than a normal anime episode by about 5-6 minutes since it also has proper credits that take quite some time to roll. They are almost 5 minutes compared to the 1m 30s of a regular anime episode. But it feels very quick paced and it is without a doubt better to view them as a movie since it is a bit start and stop otherwise.

Characters

You have kind of three main characters in the series, the villain, and then some supporting roles of characters that are important to the story but doesn’t have much screen time. Otoha, the main character is the current Karas and the main protagonist, then you have the police officer Narumi that is kind of in an Agent Scully situation being assigned to Yōkai duty with a senior detective and then you have Nue, the “good” demon trying to stop the villain from executing his plan.

I must say that Otoha, is much more interesting this time around and still you don’t know that much about him as a person. He seems to be an individual suffering from a lot of grief and hardship and still he fights on. Which is very essential to why he is a Karas. He was awesome at fighting while Human and as a Karas it’s very hard to actually gauge their level of competence I feel. Since the fight scenes are very quick, high paced and unexplained most of the times. The only situation that felt exaggerated in the series were a fight between Otoha, as human, and some Yakuza. But that gave you what you needed to know about the background and motivations about Otoha.

I really liked Nue when I was younger. But this time around he has dropped down a spot or two unfortunately. His motivations are very classical and clear and I still like him, only less. His weapons seem ineffectual when he is on screen and his fighting abilities seems like it doesn’t really do much damage at all. Sometimes he does things of relevance while on screen but most of the time I can’t understand what he’s doing or why. He seems too much like a plot device with plot armor for my taste this time around. He looks cool, he acts cool, but in the end when you see him in direct action he doesn’t change anything. He is built up to be formidable, but in the end he isn’t much more than a heroic human. Also, his golden guns’ changes from scene to scene. In one scene they are very large and impressive, then in another they are barely a small handgun. I wonder if that is something about him projecting his confidence or not. Because when he releases his full capacity, as a Mikura, he also has guns. But these guns actually yield damage that is visible.

The detective, seems largely inconsequential in the greater whole. He actually assists the bad guy and I think that he acts like the viewpoint of “us” so that we can get some exposition during the series/movie. Even so. The series almost completely neglects giving any explanation for anything in the world. It does so in some situations but very briefly and not as much as the modern anime series where you can have an entire episode showing off and only giving exposition. The creators here leave you with a lot of questions in the end about everything which I think is good.

Another character I cannot leave out is Yurine one of the most mysterious creatures in the entire series. She seems to be a human, but also a cat, and also a spirit. She is also passing judgement and giving Otoha permission to use his powers in battle. The way this creature works is very intriguing and one of the things that drew me in a lot when I was younger. Her magic or whatever it is that makes her work and be able to both give power and command Karas makes her instantly awesome and since the origin of the power is kept very vague and ambiguous throughout the entire series/movie her importance is hard to miss.

Other characters such as Hinaru and some of the yōkai are not as interesting to mention but they are there. Hinaru is kind of a funny girl to have coming up in so many scenes. But I think that it is part of the story due to some things that happens in the end. She is present at many very vital situations but essentially she is just a repeat victim that survives things that would have left any sane person mad and depressed. But she just keeps her good spirits and keep doing the underpaid jobs that nobody wants and gets into horrible situations and for some reason she just persists.

The yōkai are very funny and sad at the same time. They are curious beings that the movie is all about. And in some way both sides motivation is to protect said yōkai but in vastly different ways. Which leads us to the main antagonist, Eko.

Eko is a very, very classical textbook villain that you’ve seen in 1000 iterations now. It’s a concept that never seem to grow old either. Good guy, fights for so long that he gets tired of fighting and tries to find a better way to fight, realizes that the thing he is fighting for is part of the problem and tries to kill those whom he should protect. He twists the basic foundation of what he should do by his own rage and thus fights to change it in a very twisted way full of hate and rage. New guy comes in to stop him even thou his plan has been in the works for hundreds of years. He is very poetic and seems charming at times but also… just a regular textbook psycho.

Even so he is a good character anyway. Especially in the final episode when you get to see him fight. Because fighting in this movie is very different from similar kind of battles in other anime and series. It’s less about how he fights, rather than the way he fights. The skill level of these creatures are so high and above everything else that it’s hard to make an interesting fight without it turning into Dragon Ball fighting, that is pointless. And also there IS a limit to how powerful you can be.

Still there are some classical twists and no explanations to why someone can do something at one time but not another, and also it seems to be both magic, skill and technology in a very weird mixture I was never able to figure out. Not now, and not back then.

Story

The story of the series is interesting. And back then it wasn’t as common concept as it is now. But it isn’t purely about fighting and why we’re fighting. But also about how things came to be as it is. It starts with a Karas being beaten by Eko, and then a few years later Otoha becoming the new one for some reason.

You get introduced to Tokyo in its steam/cyberpunk futuristic variant and then some of the problems that the first battle caused over the years. The hints and details about what the antagonist is actually trying to achieve. You also get that the opening scene was actually a very big deal for him. Something he had tried to do for a very long time.

You also get introduced to Nue, the “good demon” and he is breaking the forth wall (or does he ;-P) and is both jovial and interesting in how he interacts with the world and make you even more confused.

Then the humans are introduced and makes the narrative pop a bit and you get a bit invested in what is happening, why is it happening and what the hell does Karas have to do with everything, because it isn’t explained until like an three or four episodes in.

But all in all everything is very interesting and there are elements that makes no sense but that soon become part of the narrative. Like there’s a twin of Yurine and a girl looming about observing things but not interfering.

They also establish the fighting now when it’s not against the boss, it’s dramatic, high paced and flashy. The first time Otoha is in action I got goosebumps. Not because it was so great, but because I remembered this scene and still quote it every now and then. I’ve actually misquoted it I discovered since I thought Yurine said: “Hitotsu, Mitsu” but it actually goes like this:

“一 (ひと)
Hito
One

二 (ふた)
Futa
Two

三 (み)
Mi
Three

四 (よ)
Yo
Four

五 (いつ)
Itsu
Five

六 (むい)
Mui
Six

七 (なな)
Nana
Seven

八 (や)
Ya
Eight

九 (ここ)
Koko
Nine

十となりきりで、降るで、ゆらゆらとふるけ
Tō to nari kiri de, furude, yurayura to furu ke
Once there were ten it starts to fall/sway, gently fall/sway

行け、カラス！
Ike! KARAS!
Go! KARAS!“

I remembered it like the full numbers Hitotsu, and not just hito etc, but above is the quote it its entirety. It really gave me goosebumps when I heard it again after all these years and the fight that follows is so dramatic and exciting especially since it’s Otoha’s first fight, the new Karas.

You can watch a low res version of it here or a higher res one of mostly just the battle here

It doesn’t spoil anything if you want to watch it and it could without a doubt be the opening scene of the series, if you skip the prelude opening three years before.

This scene sets all the excitement and theme for the entire series and as a battle in anime it’s awesome.

Final thoughts

So what do I think, now almost sixteen years later. Does this hold up to my love and excitement from back when I was younger and do I still love this series?

YES, YES and a million times yes. It is very good. Not as deep and philosophical as I like today but it is my kind of movie still. It has plot that is decent and it actually has a good narrative that isn’t too ridiculous and stupid. Not to mention that the abilities and powers are awesome, both that they seem to follow their own internal ruleset of the setting but also they all have limits. Even the overpowered bad guy has limits. The battles are short, descriptive and not as repetitive as in much other anime.

There are some questions that it leaves too, like why is Karas and Eko about as good, and why does the Karas in the opening scene loose? And even so Eko seems to be on par with him until he gets the upper hand.

I also like that there isn’t a forced romance or just the feel of ticking boxes like many popular anime seem to include to kind of simulate the Hollywood recepie. So all in all, the first of my nostalgic series rewatch is a success. I can still respect Oskar’s opinions of his top 20 Anime that he still claims to hold dear.

And yes, I am aware of speaking of myself in 3^rd person, but who I am now and then are not the same individual thus why I’m doing this now. To reevaluate my taste.

Next series I’ve already started watching is My-HiME (舞-HiME)