Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3: Owarinaki Unmei

Whilst this review is placed under the second OAV of Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3, this review covers both the first and second OAV. For a person who has not played and will never play the games, the OAV format is not the best for this. The characters would be forgettable . In the OAV for Haruka...1, the characters were introduced too quickly. If I haven't watched Harukanaru Toki no Nakade ~ Hachiyō Shō, I wouldn't even care about it. Haruka...2 also suffered because of it. Now Haruka...3 is longer. 2 OAVs with a total runtime of 2.5 hours, which is equivalent of about 7 or 8anime episodes. Although it has more runtime than Haruka...1's and Haruka...2's OAVs, it still wasn't enough. The problem is that Haruka...3 started in media res. You have to quickly get acquainted with the characters, but you also have to quickly get into the plot, which is too much to take. In the first OAV, you cannot make sense on who the characters are, especially that their characterisations are far different to the anime characters. In this second OAV, some characters can start getting more interesting, but it's not enough time to care for all of them In Kyou, two factions are at war, the Genji and the Heibei. It goes without saying that the story is far different to Haruka...1 and Haruka...2. Of the 3 Haruka games adapted for animation, Haruka...3 is the superior one. The miko has been trained to fight. The character designs for the Hachiyō look more masculine, even though they are supposed to be eyecandy. The characters here are more complex. The stakes are higher, and the millieu puts a strain on our protagonists. As mentioned already, the OAV format is unfortunate. As much as people like to shit on the anime TV series Harukanaru Toki no Nakade ~ Hachiyō Shō, its virtue lies in that we were given time enough time to get to know each Hachiyō. (If that anime wasn't released and we only get to watch the Ajisai OAV, I would be lost and confused as to who the characters are.) Since the characters in Haruka...3 are complex, among other virtues, I think it would've been better if this has been adopted into a 2-cour, or even 3-cour, anime. The story had potential, but with the constraints of the OAV, it failed to live up to that potential.