Souls Rhapsody’s Weblog

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged.  To be honest, I actually have an entry ready to be posted, but I’m awaiting the arrival of a few more pictures before I stick it up.  So that will have to wait.

Now that work is finally over, I finally have some time to watch anime.  This is when I stumbled across this short, sweet OVA series.

Quick synopsis (I’ll try to leave spoilers out of this):
The entire story takes place in a fictional world where magic and technology coexists.  A machine called a “Mold” is used by people of all professions and fields in order to control and utilize magic.  However, when the magic-user either overuses magic, or uses magic with a defective Mold, the power goes out of control and contaminates their bodies, thus transforming them into bloodthirsty demons.

So the story is centered around two separate people really… One is Rayott, a man who carries the sin of killing his own master.  The other is Isaac, a man determined to be just like the hero who saved him in his childhood.  Ironically enough, the man who saved Isaac is the very man Rayott had killed.  What will happen when these two powerful magicians clash?  Here are a few screencaps to tickle your ani-tastebuds:

Rayott, the main protagonist

Isaac, the other protagonist in the story

Aftermath of a demon going wild...

One of the better looking demons (no sarcasm whatsoever)

Pissed off Isaac...

The ultimate face-off

Defeated...or not?

Transformation and death

The End.

Wow… short short summary.  It could’ve been a lot longer, but I didn’t want to spoil anything for anyone who wants to watch it.  All in all, I really enjoyed this series.  It wasn’t just mindless bashing and slashing and blood splattering.  Of course, there was some of that as well, which is the reason it initially appealed to me in the first place.  However, they also go in a little deeper to explore several moral issues.

In Rayott’s case, he blames himself for killing his master and many other people for his own survival.  However, in his given situation, should he really be taking the blame?  This situation is a prime example of where there are areas of grey in terms of morality.  It’s like saying lying or killing is always wrong, which, in my opinion, is not necessarily true.

In Isaac’s case… Isaac always saw himself as being a hero, or siding with justice.  However, he eventually finds out that he had been fighting for the enemy, risking his life to serve the very people he vowed to destroy.  How does that impact one’s heart and soul?

This series wasn’t all that deep, but it had a nice balance of action, plot, and the philosophical mumbo jumbo.  I personally think they could have pulled off a 12 episode anime series with this material without it being too draggy… but I guess this 3-ep OVA will have to do.