The Three-Eyed One

Story: The story is blatantly boring in the beginning. At first it is slow. It constantly gives you side stories, but somewhere along the middle, the story takes a much more rapid pace and starts packing more action into every episode. The finale for this show is really a spectacle and a fitting end to the series. While I would ask for more from this series, Tezuka Osamu is no longer with us and I do not believe there could be a better ending to this show. EDIT 2019: I found this portion I wrote years ago lacking so I'm here to add moreto it. The show starts off episodically featuring the many separate incidents involving Sharaku. After 20 episodes or so the show begins to add backstory to Sharaku's mysterious background as well as reveal a darker side to the story. As I had mentioned before, the ending is quite fitting. Like Tezuka Osamu's Pheonix, it presents a potential questions and problems we may come across in a distant future. Art: Like many of Tezuka Osamu's creations, it has a unique art style compared to other animes. It leans towards a Disney art style compared to your standard anime art style. The background art is fine. Nothing stands out much, which is good or else it wouldn't be called a background. The ancient statues and temples are based on actual ruins. Sound: The OST is unique. I mean you don't here "sha-la-la" and "rune-rune-rune" in any other anime OSTs. Unlike the unique opening, the music can be rather peaceful and sometimes ominous. Characters: The main character Sharaku. Is first shown to be super childish and mentally slow. His character design really shows off his dopiness and his stupidity. His other personalty is the exact opposite of him. He is shown to be super clever and a genius. Just imagine hot pink next to dark purple. Wato is a decent foil to Sharaku. She constantly protects slow Sharaku, but is always toyed by genius Sharaku. Enjoyment: This show is truly underrated. It's current mediocre score here on this site does not reflect just how endearing this show can be. Yes the animation is somewhat crude and it might look look slightly weird at first, but I really did enjoy the show the more I invested my time into it. Again, the finale is epic and feels for the monkey girl.