Full Moon wo Sagashite

Title:Full Moon wo Sagashite
Searching for the Full Moon
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - Studio DEEN
Original Concept - TANEMURA Arina
R1 License - Viz Media (Shopro)
A comedy-drama about a 12-year-old girl named Kouyama Mitsuki who wants to be a pop singer even though she has throat cancer. Her life undergoes a drastic change after she's visited by a pair of Shinigami Takuto and Meroko (soul Reapers) who tell her she's only got a year to live. All that makes the girl's determination to become a singer even stronger, and her attitude drives the two Shinigami to feel sorry for her, thus they turn the girl into her own 16 year old future self and compeat for her dream to become a singer.

[TV series, 2002, 52 episodes, 23 min]
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy 9 9 10 10 10 10 Anonymous #3219 [series:495#3219]
the anime is filled with happyness,excitement,with a touch of humor and sadness to make it very original.since the anime is about music and singing you can expect great music and songs.i love new future and love chronicle.the shinigami's also make the anime very interesting.ive never heard of them before so it gives the story a nice glow.overall its a great anime!

Last updated Thursday, July 15 2010. Created Thursday, July 15 2010.
Watch 10 10 10 10 10 10 Violet D [series:495#1393]
I started watching this on Veoh a year ago and fell in love with the characters and the story line. I love the Romance in it and the times the plot can make you laugh and there are times it can also make you cry. I read the Manga too and loved it also. It was interesting to note the Manga ended different than the Anime version. This is another favorite of so many that I have watched and read and love all of them. If you get chance watch it or read the Manga.

Last updated Thursday, February 12 2009. Created Thursday, February 12 2009.
Rent 8 8 8 9 8 7 Ggultra2764 [series:495#1552]
Full Moon wo Sagashite makes for a solid fantasy romantic comedy-drama focused on shinigami, J-pop stardom, and a young girl trying to achieve her dreams before her death.

Having read the manga, this anime adaptation of the series takes a more light-hearted approach with its themes compared to the dark and intense drama of its manga counterpart. The light-hearted approach is a double-edged sword. On a positive note, the first half of the series can be seen as Mitsuki achieving her dreams of being a pop idol as Full Moon while overcoming the pitfalls of the pop industry. With the anime being geared towards a shoujo audience, this makes Mitsuki seem like a role model for younger girls wishing to achieve their dreams. This approach still gives a good amount of depth into Mitsuki's past, dreams, and thoughts towards everything about her character. he second half of the anime is where the plot starts to become better as Mistuki's character changes from the events taking place in her short life and some shocking developments will put Mitsuki's resolve to the test.

On the other hand, some good chunks of character depth are lost from the transition of manga to anime, which appears most likely due to the greater intensity of the manga's plot. We lose a good amount of past details on the former lives of Meroko and later Izumi when he is introduced in the second half of the series. Izumi's character is much less antagonistic in the manga as his anime character greatly disappointed me when I seen him. There were occasions where filler episodes dragged development in the plot, especially in the first half of the series.

There is also a great amount of depth on the shinigami world that was lost in the anime adaptation. What makes a shinigami? How was the shinigami group first formed? These are plot details explored in the manga and not explored in great deal in the anime.

In terms of visuals, the artwork and character designs had nothing that stood out for me as they looked typical of 2002 anime titles. On the other hand, I liked many of the musical choices of this series, especially Full Moon's songs from J-pop singer Myco who did both the singing and acting voices for Mitsuki/ Full Moon. A good number of past anime titles I've seen have featured seiyuu voices also talented in singing like Yui Horie as Naru from Love Hina and Junko Iwao as Key from Key: The Metal Idol, which make for good acting talent. Myco, despite a rough start at making her voice seem like a preteen girl, did a good job voicing Mitsuki in natural and emotional situations.

Overall, Full Moon wo Sagashite does a good job at mixing up a storyline featuring shinigamis and pop idols. Despite deviations from the manga and filler episodes that hamper some plot and character depth, the musical performances and emotionally intense second half make this series a decent watch. Strong Rent rating.

Last updated Friday, April 25 2008. Created Friday, April 25 2008.
Unevaluated Forbin [series:495#1573]
First R1 Watched.

Pretty Good. Since I don't have any info on this show, it's gotta end badly (as the main character has throat cancer) but it defintely is funny and sad at the same time.

More after I see more.

Last updated Wednesday, September 20 2006. Created Wednesday, September 20 2006.
Buy 8 8 10 10 10 10 Jon [series:495#1787]
Mark may be right saying the core audience is young girls, but I'm a 47 year old man and no anime has affected me as much as this one. I actually came to tears at the end, and I almost never cry. I highly recommend this series. Vince is correct in that the songs initially seem repetitive, but I miss them already. I watched all 52 episodes in the space of 2 weeks and feel drained and somewhat depressed.

Last updated Tuesday, January 11 2005. Created Tuesday, January 11 2005.
Buy 10 10 10 10 10 10 Anonymous #1724 [series:495#1724]
I seriously love the music. And the story is so sute. even though some of the voices are a little weird. This is an anime that makes a person feel something at the end of it. Mitsuki is such a strong character. Even though the story is very amusing in the beginning, towards the end it just makes you cry just watching it.

Last updated Monday, December 13 2004. Created Monday, December 13 2004.
Buy 9 8 10 10 9 9 B0nz=Ein [series:495#1254]
This anime ... well its sweet and funny... when you watch this anime ... you will find yourself getting drawn to it and you love the characterz takuto and eichi and both very popular ^^ and i find myself getting drawn to watch more episodez as the series go on. its addictive seriuosly ..Some parts are sad and emotional and some parts of this anime are really hilarious . this is a really enjoyable anime. my rating 89%

Last updated Tuesday, April 12 2005. Created Thursday, November 04 2004.
Buy 10 8 10 10 11 10 TheVince [series:495#1124]
I was one of those people who watched the first few episodes and thought "bleh, weird looking costumes, teen music idols, i see enough of that on TV as it is". But i finally decided to watch the rest of the show and..
I'll have to agree with Kerry on this one.. This show really is a masterpiece.. please excuse the 8 for the animation, I had to put that for the few "flying-in" scenes where the characters looked like flat figures being streched.. but it's hardly noticeable.. besides, who cares if the animation isin't perfect, the story is definitely one of the greatest.. There are many lessons to be learned from this show.. at first the songs might seem to be repetitive, but rest assured, as the show progresses, you'll start to miss them. This is the kind of show where i know for sure that once it's over, once i've watched it all, I'm really going to miss all the characters.
Definitely worth a "buy". Preferably more than one copy, just to make sure you always have a backup in case the other one(s) break.
-=VT=-

Last updated Friday, April 30 2004. Created Friday, April 30 2004.
Buy 10 10 10 11 11 10 Kerry [series:495#969]
I'll admit, when I watched the first episode, I expected it to be just another cute anime (not a bad thing) that I would watch and enjoy, but was I wrong.
The story although slow paced for some, is wonderfully filled with heart and soul, a truly touching series. To say it's a childrens series or purely shoujo series is gravely mistaken. The series shows its viewers its many sides, making them feel happiness, joy, sorrow, a truly emotional rollercoaster. Yes I mean the viewer not just the characters, though subtle at times with words or actions they are very powerful. The two shinigami (Takuto & Meroko) though on the surface appear to be cute and carefree are probably two of the deepest characters in the series.
And of the story, there are none of the "extreme" out-takes that you see in series such as Trigun or Kenshin. It gives the characters a sense of realism, as if they were alive. That's not to say it lacks comedy, there is plenty subtle humor and many scenes that you can't help but grin at.
Of all the books Ive read and the movies and series I've watched in my life, none have drawn so many tears from me as Fullmoon wo Sagashite. The ending was to put in one word: beautiful. A series I would recommend to all ages. To inspire young children to reach for their goals, never to give up, and to inspire new ambition in the older generation. Or to simply watch a beautiful story unfold before your eyes.
Ill have to disagree. Fullmoon wo Sagashite is a masterpiece.
~K (19/M)

Last updated Saturday, September 13 2003. Created Saturday, September 13 2003.
Buy 2147483647 2147483647 2147483647 2147483647 2147483647 2147483647 AnimeLuvr4L [series:495#846]
OMG! I LOVEEEEEED THIS ANIME! So KAWAII! Especially Takuto! <3 ^_^ One of my Bishonen... Well I gave everything the highest :P Hah, im a great reviewer arent i? but I loved this Anime sooo much... too much.. to give it a 9 or lower! i LOVE the art! Arina Tanemura draws the KAWAII-est guys... Takuto, Chiaki, Sakataki ^_^ .. hehe ... the music, I <3 U and Rock'n Roll princess werent my favorite songs (or close to them either) but I LOVEEEEE Changin' My Life's music! so that made up for it :P The series story is good. of course.. except i only watch the Anime.. the manga is still going in Ribon which i dont get and even if i did get, i wouldnt be able to read. Well anyways, thats one of my fave Anime.. and dun care wat u ppl say! ^_^ and also... the ending (of the series) i cried so bad.. ;_; and even my brother did! even though this is a shoujo anime.. u dont have to be a girl! ^_~ ... WaTcH iT!

Last updated Friday, July 11 2003. Created Friday, July 11 2003.
Rent 6 6 7 7 7 Mark Clifton [series:495#126]
What do you do when you find out you have a year to live... YOU BECOME A SUPERSTAR! Yep, Mitsuki has the right attitude to death, but her reasons are not because she wants to be famous. She wants to be popular so a boy that left for America might hear it and come back for her. Nevertheless, the duo from Green Onion are going to help her realize that dream.
It's a cute series, not a masterpiece or anything. But the core aduience on this one are mainly young girls, so of course it's all very innocent with an easy storyline to follow. Worth checking out, but don't expect too much from it... it is what it is.

Last updated Thursday, January 16 2003. Created Thursday, January 16 2003.

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