Kashou no Tsuki: Aki Kyougen

This anime has left me with mixed feelings. At first I was surprised by how good the graphics were (pretty good for 1998). Especially I liked how eyes were drawn. To think of it, I might have never seen such wide ones, there was always only that big "cute" eyes. And I also liked those modified images of real wood mingling with the drown ones. To the story, at first it seemed a bit strange. Later it was confusing. Even later I was wondering what the heck I am watching. The story itself wasn't bad or anything, but it would be better if there were more episodesand some things explained. Or maybe I just should read the manga. Come to the main characters: a half-fox man who endures his inner pain and tries his very best to become part of the society, which does not accept him is parted with young boy unsure which sex he should be. Those two were slightly different and still so much alike. On the other side, the "villain" was almost nowhere to be seen; he got so little space to introduce so that you couldn't come to like him. I like villains - not this time. The reason why I'm giving this anime a higher score than I actually planned to give is that there wasn't any sexual desire within Arimasa, which I find odd but interesting. Just why didn't he want to embrace the boy who was obviously in love and willing to do anything? Nah, I'm going to watch it one more time to get into it a bit more.

Watching this in 2021 surely left different feelings. This OVA was aired in 1998-1999, I was only 4 years old then. So, watching this years later after its initial release, I feel truly grateful. It's not the best in story and art, but I understand they were trying their best. Unfortunately, the efforts didn't came out as good as expected. I have watched several animes (both yaoi and non-yaoi) older than this one, and they have better art and visual. That's why, it's kinda disappointing when this one isn't as good as I expected. I feel like this OVA could turn out to be something great,but sadly it was failed. If it's not for the Seiyuu and their amazing voice acting, this OVA could be a disaster. As for the score, I gave 7 out of 10 for the sheer enjoyment I feel after watching this. I especially enjoyed Koyasu Takehito-san's voice!

Having completed Kashou no Tsuki: Aki Kyougen and seen the average score, I decided to say some words for this anime, because you know, it is not that bad. The matter is in wrong first impression and wrong expectations, I guess. -Plot- The story is set in distant past and follows the half-fox shaman accompanied by his apprentice. The two travel and try to get along with the society, each other - and themselves. The latter is the hardest, I guess. The plot is somewhat incomplete/rushed and leaves a bunch of gaps indeed. I wish there was more time to uncover the nesessary details, the two-episode OVA isobviously not enough. However, the gaps are not that huge as one may think. Much is told through details and visuals. And (the thing I highly appreciate in every anime or movie) there's some space left for the viewer's fantasy - along with quite serious philosophical matters raised. Who am I? Where is my place? What am I born for? Kashou no Tsuki gives its own point of view concerning these eternal questions. So the mood is mostly philosophical and the flow is mostly slow-paced, leaving out some action in between. But action is not the strongest point here, I assume. Still, it is enough to make the climax decent. -Characters- Only two characters are somewhat developed - and they are the main ones. While Kagetsu (the apprentice) is more or less evident, his sensei is quite mysterious and much is left for the viewer to think of - and to invent and complement sometimes to kinda put the puzzle together. Kohryu acted as a typical punk and delinquent, and his inners remain unclear. The villains were a big disappointment. No decent part, no clear motifs, no any kind of plan - just rushed separate actions all of a sudden. The ending made something clear - but not everything, alas. So... -Art- I consider art to be the strongest point here. The mix of different styles and visual effects (real life pics, negatives, wide outlining at cases, etc.) made the picture look kinda odd and psychodelic and matched the philosophical mood. The design of characters was typical for late 90s, and I liked it. For some reason I appreciate old anime artstyle more than modern one despite the fact I got acquainted with Japanese animation 7 or 8 yrs ago (wasn't a fan when I was a child, I mean). I noticed the lack of budget too, but the art (being almost 20 yrs old) still remained peculiar and outstanding in its own way. -Sound- Can't judge it as I've watched it dubbed. -Enjoyment and Overall- Well, Kashou no Tsuki cannot be called a masterpiece, but still I enjoyed it. Despite all cons it stayed pleasant and peculiar and gave me another view on eternal matters. I'm not gonna rewatch it, I guess, however I've seen much worse. Real animation shame is, drawing a popular character represented by several sticks and a round head, filling it with stupid jokes and calling the result 'an anime special done in a unique artstyle'. The attitude towards Kashou no Tsuki is the matter of treatment and expectations. If you wish action or adventures or boys' love (hey man, where's sex?), it's not a proper watch then. But if you're into historical shows bound with philosophical and somewhat mystic/dark fantasy, you may give it a try then.