Soul Taker (TV)

Title:Soul Taker (TV)
The Soul Taker
The Soultaker
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , , , , ,
Notables: ENOMOTO Atsuko
HIRAMATSU Akiko
MOMOI Haruko
ONOSAKA Masaya
OOTANI Ikue
R1 License - Pioneer (Defunct)
SAIGA Mitsuki
TAMURA Yukari

Kyosuke Date's normal life shatters with a knife's sharp entry into his heart. Why did Mom do it? As he recovers, his body reveals a terrible secret, proving his past life is a lie! Kyosuke searches for Runa, the sister he never knew, and the truth about his abilty to transform into the powerful Soultaker. But, Kirihara Heavy Industries, and mutants from the mysterious Hospital will prevent Kyosuke from learning anything, with as much violence as possible.

[13 (half hour) episodes, aired on Japanese TV 04/2001 to 07/2001. See also the spinoff-sequels: Nurse Witch Komugi-chan Magikarte, Nurse Witch Komugi-chan Magikarute Special.]

OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Watch 7 7 7 7 6 6 Dreamer [series:1001#2279]
This series is an aquired taste for sure. Everything from the artwork to the weird plot.

Art, Animation & Character Designs
Artwork was definitely unique. I would almost say it's an aquired taste. At times, it's artistic, but more times than not, it'll be surreal. Artwork overall is on the darker side. Character designs were on the same level and didn't particularly care for them.

Music
The OP really really grew on me. Somehow I found it pretty likeable. It reminded a lot of something from the 80s, like a 80's rock piece. As for the rest of the soundtrack, it was on the darker side. Plenty of eerie sounds, strained violins, abrupt chords from other string instruments and the likes.

Series and Episode Story
Hmmmm. What can I say about this one. Aside from the unusual style of artwork, the episodes seems disjointed, characters confusing and plot lacking any comprehensible storytelling. One of the things that really turned me off was the darn "power-ranger" style suits. Somehow, it just really annoyed me how our protagonist powers up. However with that said, there were some pretty nice fight scenes. I also don't understand why our protagonist is called the "soultaker". I'm not sure how that title fits.

Overall, I found this series confusing and pretty lacking in a clear plot. There was a few good fight scenes, some interesting characters but that's about it. The ONLY thing I enjoyed about this series was the OP.... which simply grew on me.

Last updated Wednesday, December 15 2010. Created Wednesday, December 15 2010.
Unevaluated Forbin [series:1001#1573]
Hmmm...

I liked and I hated this at exactly the same time.

Nice music, nice graphics, some of the cast of Inuyasha powering this (Pre Viz commitments of course).

But it's plot is a bit thin. Heck it's very thin. I did like Komugi running around but I was going to rate this a rent until the ending. Then I went WTF was it all for? I blame Kousuke who is voiced by Koji Aiba of Infinite Ryvius

So I threw up my hands and went, owells, at least I enjoyed it. So I'll leave it at Unevaluated.

Last updated Sunday, May 21 2006. Created Sunday, May 21 2006.
Unevaluated Jan-Chan [series:1001#967]
Episode titles:

01. The Crest of the Devil
02. The World is an Illusion
03. The Skull and the Maiden
04. The Slithering Darkness
05. Beyond the Human Realm
06. The Malevolent Stratosphere Castle
07. The Last of a Woman
08. Mask of Hell
09. Phantom of a Beautiful Dead Woman
10. Sacrifice for Nothingness
11. Demon on a Deserted Island
12. Madonna in Black
13. The Last Inferno



Last updated Wednesday, March 30 2005. Created Wednesday, March 30 2005.

Buy 10 10 10 7 8 Kari [series:1001#798]
I bought this 13 episode series months ago, but I just watched it about a week ago, because I thought it was going to be crap. I couldn't have been more wrong, because I think The SoulTaker's one of the most entertaining animated shows out there.



At first I was distracted by the color tones in the show. Sometimes the backgrounds will have really bright moving colors, and instead of listening to what the characters were saying, I'd end up staring at the colors...they're almost hypnotic.



This show has some strange characters, such as the Flickers, The Kirihara Group, and The Hospital Director; as well as some interesting plot twists. Kyosuke, along with Shiro Mibu, and Komugi Nakahara search to find Kyosuke's sister, Runa. They also try to find the answers to the mystery of Kyosuke's ability to transform into the SoulTaker. For some reason The SoulTaker has small sections of Star Wars randomly thrown into it, ("Kyosuke, I am your Father!"), and in the last few episodes of the show, Kyosuke seems to briefly turn into Luke or Anakin Skywalker.



This show has some great animation and characters designs, as well as a good storyline, character development, and excellent acting by both the Japanese and English casts. I don't really like the music for The SoulTaker though. I don't like the opening song called The SoulTaker, and I hate the ending song Memory; the singer's English skills are terrible.



Now the Japanese version is fine, I have no complaints about it. However, since the English dub for the SoulTaker was so well done by the Ocean Group, I prefer watching it dubbed. Being American, it would be stupid of me to not want to watch something, because it's spoken in my own language. The Japanese cast of the SoulTaker consists of Saiga Mitsuki as Kyosuke, Masaya Onosaka as Shiro Mibu, Haruko Momoi as Komugi Nakahara, Hiramatsu Akiko as Yui Kirihara, and Masahi Ehara as Richard Vincent.



In the English version, Kyosuke Date is played by Brad Swaile. Brad Swaile's a good actor, and he was able to accurately convey his character's anger, sadness, and confusion throughout all 13 episodes of the show. Trevor Devall was wonderful as Shiro Mibu, as was Paul Dobson as Richard Vincent. I love Trevor Devall's and Paul Dobson's portrayal of their characters. I also enjoy hearing Lisa Ann Beley as Yui Kirihara, Ron Halder as Daigo Tokisaka, Kelly Sheridan as Maya Misaki, Jocelyne Loewen as Komugi Nakahara, and Britteny Irvin as Runa Tokisaka.



The SoulTaker has a short OVA called Nurse Witch Komugi, based on the character Komugi Nakahara, from the SoulTaker. The SoulTaker can be purchased on 4 Pioneer released DVDs for $15.00 - $25.00. It's worth buying.


Last updated Friday, November 17 2006. Created Wednesday, March 30 2005.

Other Sites
NameURL
Official Japanese Series Web Site http://www.mugimugi.com/soultaker/

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