Harukanaru Toki no Naka de: Maihitoyo

To start things off: I'm not a fan of the Haruka Naru Toki no Naka De(Hachiyoushou) series.. I thought it was everywhere and going nowhere in particular, with more plot holes than I could count. In comes Maihitoyo... a beautiful, well written, well paced and amazing story that puts the rest of the series to shame by light years. However, the movie borrows from the rest of the series, so a viewer should consider watching the series before the movie. Standalone, this movie provided me with an original character who will go in my favorite characters list. The Good: As opinions go, Akane is not a charactermost will find appealing. Personally, she is as annoying and as endeared by her companions as Miaka in Fushigi Yuugi. I care for neither protagonist but their weaknesses are what allows the rest of the cast to shine more than they normally would. To that effect, Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de - Maihitoyo introduces us to an initially unnamed man, a movie original, who develops a stronger bond with the main protagonist within the span of less than two hours than any we witness in the 26-episode televised series. Not only is this bond solid, but the well structured story pulls the viewer into truly believing its reality. Animation quality flew ten miles in a different direction in comparison to any of the OVAs or the main series. It is noticeable down to the last rain drop and every fluid thrust of a blade. Comparatively, there are actual battle scenes in the movie that dwarf the series in both delivery and execution. There aren't many, but given the movie length, they're spread out sparingly enough to keep the audience engaged. The Bad: The only negative points to this movie may lie in its relationship to the parent series and perhaps a singular corny, Power Ranger-esque moment. The Truth: Given the good points, Maihitoyo is an enjoyable tale worth sharing. It may suffer from being tied to a mediocre series, but the movie goes as far as to redeem the condemning role the main protagonist, Akane, plays. If a movie is capable of achieving that, it's worth revisiting the land of Kyou.

Having enjoyed the series, I had looked forward to watching this. Unfortunately, though being a fan of this series, I found this ova truly disappointing. ---- Story ---- The plot was plain and frankly there is nothing much to write about. And while it is uncomplicated and easy to understand, it doesn't captivate the audience. ---- Art ----Probably the only salvageable part of this ova. Peppered with bishounens (pretty boys), there is a depth of research of the traditional japanese living ways seen in its art. ---- Sound ---- The soundtrack is pleasant to ears, however while it tries hard to capture the mood of the ova, it fails short in certain parts. ---- Character ---- Having enjoyed the set of characters in the anime series, I had looked forward to seeing them again. This ova, has tried to put in enough screen time for each of their characters, but because of this, it becomes messy. It tries too much and ends up making several characters to the point of annoyance. ---- Enjoyment ---- In whole, while I enjoyed the appearance of more bishounens, I found the ova severely lacking to the point of annoyance. I do not recommend it to anyone except the die hard fans.

I've watched it 2 years ago, and it still made me cry for good when i re-runed it again for the 5th time >.< I don't know about the rest of you guys, but the story of this movie version is very touching for me, esp in the battle scene where's going to end. OMG ^o^ Very great side love story in the battle of Hachiyou VS Akram, I can tell u! So i gave it 10/10 I kinda hated it why it has to be end like that :P Oh well, i think it has to be liked that since Akram still exist *whatkind of reason is that? hehehe*

Let me start with the fact that I haven't seen anything from the original anime. It's still in my to watch list, though. I don't know if that aided my opinion of the movie, but one thing is for sure - it did not ruin it. I found it quite easy to understand and follow the plot, even while lacking a lot of the knowledge. Usually, reverse harem/harem like anime is not my piece of cake, but here I didn't find it as annoying. Makes me wonder if the anime is any different. The story was beautiful, but there is a lot of room forimprovement. I found myself thinking "Are these guys just there for decoration, 'cause they don't do much?" XD That goes for the female protagonist as well. Overall, I feel like the movie did quite a decent job, and I enjoyed watching it. Story 7 Animation 8 Sound 8 Character 7 Enjoyment 8 Overall 7