The Shattered Star

So... I went through the first episode: Uh huh, usual mysterious kick-azzer shooting stuff. Weird genetic experiments gone assasin route... *yawn*

And then I started the second episode, where it shifts in time to the past. Basically starting from the past and leading up to where episode one left off.

DAMN - it's good. Mafioso, hitmen, characters that aren't so 2D or static. A story that works!

Now I'm on the episode where they've finally caught up to what was started in episode 1... Though I kind of miss the past episodes, where it seemed more on par with the "real world" in terms of believability.

Go watch it!

dude I haven't seen it yet even though its been available to me for like years...lol.........reminds me of Akira which I got from you that I still haven't watched yet :P

<------ one of my all time fave.

Brandonheat wrote:<------ one of my all time fave.

Now all you need is an avatar to represent that name...

was thinking about it, but this one is pretty funny.

Its on my top ten of favorite anime's. I am a big fan of the games, so I am naturally drawn to the series. I really like the character development of each of the characters and why they are in the positions they are in and such.

Bear for the win!

I was looking for anime to watch, and when I hit the search on ANN, for some reason, I typed Gungrave, even though I had no idea what it was. Reviews were favorable so I started and finished in two days.

One of the best tragedies I've seen, the whole undead thing notwithstanding, but then again that was only meant to serve as a plot point to put everything that's worth the watch in perspective.

Couldn't have ended it better either really.

Just got done with this and it's easily a 10/10. This is my first mafia inspired anime and I have to say...I'm impressed. It really stands up to any american series I've seen. I also think it had a really cool jazzy cowboy bebop feel about it too which was nice.

I'm a sucker for anything Mafia so I've been planning on checking this out for several months. Just finished watching today and whilst I was initially skeptical about how I would find it since The Godfather movies (and The Sopranos to a degree) not only define the Mafia genre pretty much and can't be helped being compared to but the Godfather (1&2) are my two favourite films of all time and The Sopranos is in my top 5 tv shows too. Needless to say Gungrave had a lot to live up to before I even started it heh.
I can happily say however that this show turned out much better than I had expected and would even be in my top 10 animes too!.

I did prefer the Mafia theme of it far more than the sci-fi/supernatural elements of the story I'll admit. Not that I disliked that side of the show or thought it spoiled it or anything, just the former and the characters within it were everything I was hoping to find from such a show and the latter did feel a bit weird at first but mostly limited to the first ep. I was very impressed though, a great set of characters and I happened to love the ending too.


Anyone who likes a good mob flick will most likely fall in love with this as did I but I'd highly recommend it either way. Awesome show. Another I'll have to buy for my collection at some point...


Vid includes spoilers obviously <3

O.o ill have to check it out =) Thanks guys for comments!

Just got round to watching this, so forgive my neocroing from beyond the grave (see what I did there? ).

This show was very much a tale of two halves for me. For the first half of the show, until it reached the chronological point that episode 1 occurred at, it was such a great show. The characters were really well developed and put together, they were being developed in just the right way, and the story felt both realistic and immersive. Sure, the concept of necrolysing didn't really fit with the tone of the rest of the show, but that's something that could be lived with due to its use as a plot point and the fact that the characters and wider story were so strong. Then it got back to 'the present'.

After that point, it felt like a completely different show. It became completely disjointed, with little real point to it (and even less sense - Brandon going round to Harry's mansion to crash a party despite the fact that he barely remembered Harry yet, let alone that he should have the grudge against him; the fact that his special weaponry had oh so conveniently been purpose built for him despite Tokioka promising to leave him 'asleep', etc). Often the show was bordering on the absolute ridiculous after this point - particularly with everything to do with Superiorisation, with the less being said about "Helicopter Bob" and "Feet!Blade Lee" the better. All the potential was so badly wasted, the story left to rot in a pile of unbelievable absurdity, and the characters mostly ruined. It's a crying shame really. I mean, the final episode was ok but it was nothing on what it should have been had they not ruined the whole thing...
Overall I've come out of this show feeling really let down, which should not have even been possible considering how great it was and how highly I was regarding it until episode 17. They dropped the ball incredibly badly with it when they should have just stopped at 17 episodes (if they couldn't carry it on in the right way). A great show, but also one of the worst I've watched for that reason. I think if I ever rewatch it, I'll just stop after episode 17.

Futile Resistance wrote:DAMN - it's good.

Brandonheat wrote:<------ one of my all time fave.

Fenavian wrote:Its on my top ten of favorite anime's.

BlackDove wrote:One of the best tragedies I've seen

SSX-Ava wrote:it's easily a 10/10

Anubis wrote:It's a crying shame really. I mean, the final episode was ok but it was nothing on what it should have been had they not ruined the whole thing...

Anubis wrote:A great show, but also one of the worst I've watched for that reason. I think if I ever rewatch it, I'll just stop after episode 17

Quite the contrast

Seriously though. It's both a surprise and sad to hear you felt that way mate. It's been a few years since I saw the show now so it's hard for me to remember all the little details besides odd scenes, the ending etc but I don't ever remember feeling the same way at any point. That being said I do remember how much I loved this show when I'd finished it and still consider it to have one of the best endings to an anime I have seen. Shame that you felt quite the opposite about the way it ended.. I'll have to fit a rewatch in at some point when I have room for it.
Each to their own and all that heh.

What have you got planned for watching next? or not decided yet?

M.Steiner wrote:What have you got planned for watching next? or not decided yet?

Going to do Gurren Lagann next, and then probably Higashi no Eden. I do need to interject a Geass rewatch at some point soon though before the OVAs come out next season, so that might separate the two.

Also, don't get me wrong about Gungrave. I AM glad I watched it, as the first 17 episodes were great as I said. It's just everything after that which was abysmal. If the show had stayed as it was going, rather than veering off into being unrealistic and unbelievable, it would have contended for a 10/10 (or at the very least got a high 9).

Anubis wrote:

M.Steiner wrote: If the show had stayed as it was going, rather than veering off into being unrealistic and unbelievable, it would have contended for a 10/10 (or at the very least got a high 9).

QFT. The characters grew on me but once the "present" time hit there was no longer any development for them (granted they were older). I almost felt like the show was done by two separate directors .

I enjoyed Gurren Lagann for the infectious energy the main character portrays (especially later on). I eventually became numb to the ridiculous action scenes so the last few episodes felt like a drag.

Futile Resistance wrote:I almost felt like the show was done by two separate directors .

Absolutely this. This is exactly how I felt - don't see how the two halves were done by the same team, as the difference was night and day.

As for Gurren Lagann, I've heard a lot of good things about it. Hopefully I will enjoy it