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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Watch | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:617#1552] |
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Beyond the surface, S-Cry-ed is mostly a shounen power action series in the path of titles like Dragon Ball Z where the main characters continue becoming ridiculously powerful, the central baddie is a power-crazed shallow villain and any minor foe confronted in the series is just a minor obstacle who eventually gets dispatched. Whatever sense of plot that the first half to the series seemingly had in Kazuma's war against Ryuhou and HOLY quickly becomes focused on the power-building mess you would find of the cookie-cutter shounen action genre and it makes one wonder why Ryuhou and Kazuma continue to hate one another after all is said and done, especially with the pointless final episode of the series. Those looking for a rich amount of character depth in this series will be disappointed to know that S-Cry-ed is more fixated on advancing its plot and showing off its action scenes than devoting serious focus on characters. Even with that plot, it seemingly feels flat as it relies upon some typical plot formulas of a corrupt society and having enough characters with a lack of depth that made me care less for whatever personal woes they seemingly have. That isn't to say this series is a complete waste of time to watch. The show does feature some likeable and eccentric characters to get hooked on through their mannerisms and/or Alter abilities when they appear onscreen from the speed-crazed Straight Cougar to Kazuma's kind-hearted young companion, Kanami. The action scenes also prove to be quite entertaining to see from time-to-time with Alter users as they often have some bizarre abilities that they milk use of such as Straight Cougar's speed enhancements, Emergy Maxfell's mecha Alter clearly being inspired from the "super robot" mecha genre of anime and Asuka Tachibana's use of eight energy balls that give him versatile battle methods from mind control to forming weapons with his Alter. Still however, S-Cry-ed proved to be fairly cookie-cutter for me with its plot and characters favoring the power battle approach to shounen action anime, even with its unique ideas with the creation of Alters. While fairly entertaining, this isn't the sort of series I would be willing to hop back to often. Last updated Thursday, September 22 2011. Created Thursday, September 22 2011. | ||||||||
| Buy | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
 Dreamer
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[series:617#2279] |
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After reading about this a few times and checking out the synopsis, it sounded much like "Needless", a series I really enjoyed, so I decided to check this one out. I'm glad I did. Art, Animation & Character Designs Artwork and animation seemed a bit out dated even though it's only a 2001 production. Eitherway it still worked. Some of the backgrounds were well detailed if not a bit dull in color. Character designs weren't too bad. Maybe slightly subpar. Music The OP was a rock-ish style piece that actually grew on me. It wasn't too bad and it worked with the animated sequence. The rest of the soundtrack wasn't bad either and had some nice rock pieces during some dramatic battle scenes and such. Series and Episode Story Even though this pre-dates "Needless", it reminded me of it. It started off with a bang and pretty much went that way up to the end. The plot is believable and there was some nice sub-plots woven in. Some of the characters were great however, there was a lack of character development. We don't really get to learn about the supporting cast... at least the critical ones and HOLY's chief was pretty much a dissappointment. I had expected to see more fight in him. Here's my biggest gripe. Kazuma (our protagonist), is nothing more than a mindless thug when it came to battles. I mean, yes, on the onset, he himself proclaims that he simply jumps in with fists flying and nothing more. But after a few battles, it almost got monotonous. The end was pretty much a waste. Nothing was really resolved and the two biggest ego-maniacs tested to see who's ego was bigger by beating the crap out of each other and laying waste to the surroundings. Overall, it was still a super enjoyable series, especially since I plowed through 10 episodes strait (stayed up all night). Worth a buy here. Last updated Tuesday, March 23 2010. Created Tuesday, March 23 2010. | ||||||||
| Rent |
 Stretch
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[series:617#628] | ||||||
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Scryed is a show which starts out well with an intriguing plot, cleverly interwoven sub plots, and numerous charismatic characters with understandable motivations--(it's unclear at first which side is the "good guys"). Furthermore, I was delighted to find that this show has a silly, sometimes hilarious, spin on it (I was especially amused by the episode in which devil-may-care main character Kazuma pretends to defect to HOLY). The wildly eccentric supporting characters are great (Straight Cougar is my favorite). I read somewhere that one thing that's unusual about this show is that Kazuma is an anti-hero. His uncouth, even vulgar manner of speaking could be hilarious ("Gonna kick some HOLY ass!"). It's easy to select memorable lines from this show's dialogue, whereas sometimes I go through entire series without a single line sticking in my memory. The action scenes manage to be genuinely exciting, with well chosen BGM and well correographed animation. The OP and ED songs ("Reckless Fire" and "Drastic My Soul") are sweet and do a lot to reinforce the exciting, adventurous tone of the series in general. The parts of the early episodes of this show just fit together so perfectly that I frequently found myself grinning from ear to ear as I watched. It's a bummer when a series is so good early on, but tends to go downhill as it progresses, and nosedives in the critical final episodes (I ignored Forbin's warning and watched them anyhow). Much like Fullmetal Alchemist, I think the series was at it's best around halfway through, when a likeable supporting character buys the farm. Towards the end, the makers of this show seemed to decide "hey, let's make this as Dragonball Z-ish as we can"! Kazuma and Ryuho sprout ridiculous costumes, to indicate just how far their powers have progressed. All sorts of surprising relationships between characters are revealed, though I don't see why. I'm still unclear as to just what Kanemi's alter power was (something about dreaming). The climactic fight with Kyoji Mujo (sp?) was disappointing--scenes like these need a clever, plausible tactic, which the audience wasn't expecting, to bring down the villain. At this point I got the feeling that the makers of the show realized to their horror that the story had been wrapped up, yet they were obligated to deliver two more episodes. They added a brief battle with "the mainland"--why is that place considered so evil? And then there's the final episode--what sort of lesson are we supposed to draw from this show, when the two main characters' highest priority is ultimately nothing more than to beat the scryed out of each other and see who is toughest? They gouge, pull hair, throw dirt in each others eyes--so much for all the grudging respect and encouraging camaraderie that had been painstakingly built between them! The makers seem to have assumed that viewers would identify more with Kazuma, but personally I liked Ryuho better. It turns out that HOLY, the outfit he was fanatically loyal to, isn't really what he thought it was, but at least he realizes this and makes a turnaround; Kazuma, on the other hand, remains pretty much the same guy he always was. I was left with a bad taste in my mouth by the series' conclusion, to the extent that I found myself wondering why I had loyally taped each and every episode. As Cartoon Network replays it, I am all the more surprised by the contast with the excellent quality of the first half. I wish it were possible to redo the last four or six episodes; it's a shame that a show as good as this is handicapped by such an inexplicably poor ending! After watching the dubbed version repeatedly on Adult Swim, I wanted to get a look at the subtitled form, plus the extras on the R1 DVDs, so I rented Volume 2. There's what is known as a "Sound Comic" in which pages from a chapter of the manga are displayed while VAs read along (in Japanese) and English subtitles roll--that was a bit odd, since the plot of the manga differs considerably from that of the anime, but fun nevertheless. A pair of "Character Videos", one about Kazuma and the other about HOLY members, was fun, too. I watched my favorite episode (#8), in subtitled form. I still prefer the dubbed version--I don't know if it's because I've gotten so used to it that any change seems jarring now, or if the English VAs did a great job (or both). Minor dialogue changes, plus information which is missing from the Adult Swim version, were interesting--like the episode title itself, "Mad Sprict" (I think they meant to say "Mad Script"), or the title to Unkei's play "I Didn't Know a World Like This Existed", plus the lyrics to the OP and ED songs which I'd never read before. It was informative, but I don't feel a need to buy my own set of DVDs. P.S: The lyrics of the last line of the Ed song read "I believe in drastic my soul" (whatever that means)--I had been thinking the words were "I really do trust in myself". Shows you how good I am at interpreting Engrish! My favorite line: "What's the deal here? These guys can't fight for crap!" --Kazuma Last updated Sunday, March 16 2008. Created Saturday, August 06 2005. | ||||||||
| Buy | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 |
 Ilpalazzo
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[series:617#1977] |
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This really is a great anime with a great stroyline from the beginnig to the end. But there is one problem there is too much repetitive fighting with kazuma, all he does is punching his enemys to beat them, he doesn't think of a tactical way. Even when he transforms to the next stage he still just does a punch. But the fighting is still injoyable but it would be better if they are not restricted to only one especial move.
And the most annoying thing is that they never show what happens to Kazuma and Ryuho after there last fight.
Overall this is still one of the best anime I have ever seen.
Last updated Tuesday, July 05 2005. Created Tuesday, July 05 2005. | ||||||||
| Watch | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
 Violet D
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[series:617#1393] | ||
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I would say a definite buy. I just started watching this one last saturday and I watched it again on Adult swim this Saturday. In Fact my daughter was up late and watched this anime with me. I like the character design and the story line. I think it also has good animation. It does remind me of Gundam Seed. I really liked this one and can hardly wait till next Saturday. I was watching this last saturday and my only complaint is that it doesn't go long enough and always leaves you hanging. It was episode 10 and mimori thinks she is making the main guy of Holy understand what they are doing to the people of the lost ground. At first it seems like he is going along with everything she says. Then all of a sudden he is capturing her in this machine and then that episode ends. They don't show what may haapen next like Inuyasha and Full Metal Alchemist. It just ends and thats the end of that episode. I do like it though and watch it every sat morning on Adult Swim. Ok here I go again with this new dilema I have and that is the show ending with no previews of whats to come. Now both the main characters are going to rescue kaname and enter the other side. Mean while cougar has helped Mimerie and Charise. Now he isn't sure and tries to stop Kazima and Riho from going without thinking or comming up with a plan. This is how they end it and now I have to wait till next Saturday because I have to find out what happens.In the early part of Dec. I watched the final episode of it. I was a little disappointed at the end. But then you want to consider it is male egos involved in this. Anyway they end up fighting with each other. Mimerie stays behind and makes a comment she will move on and the one who was staying with Kazima says she will see him again. So this is how they end it and I'm still wondering is Riaho ever going to get together with Mimerie. What can I say I'm a Romantic at heart. So it leaves you hanging.
Last updated Sunday, January 08 2006. Created Sunday, June 05 2005. | ||||||||
| Buy |
 Forbin
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[series:617#1573] | ||||||
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Drama : Med / High Comedy : Low / Med Action : HIGH SciFi : High Ecchi : Low First and Foremost. DO NOT WATCH Episode 25 and 26. You have been warned Hmm...what a very good show. I just powered through all 6 disks of it over the weekend and I loved it. It looks between a cross between Gundam Seed and Dragonball Z, I would call it Gundam Z except there is a Gundam Z :) Well it's no suprised that it looks like Seed, because it was the show made by Sunrise right before they did Seed. This lasted 26 eps and Seed went up to 50 so that account for 3 years of animation. The Characters take a bit getting used to as except for Kazuma (The main guy) everyone else has that Angular Seed look. It's a bit rough and overdone (Fixed in Seed). I was laughing when Mimori came on the scene I was like 'LOOK! It's a FEMALE Athrun!' hehe. And the little girl looks like Athrun's GF. I can tell the same crew worked on it. Storywise is where it falls down. There doesn't really seem to be any point in the whole series. Even the end is a bit of a 'hmm..it's over now?' kind of ending. It didn't resolve much other than getting most of the main characters killed off and not putting a Happy ending on the girls. Owell Watch it for the action, the drawing , and the drama. Then watch Seed. It's better. Edit : I watched it again. I forgot just how good this is and how bad episode 25/26 are. My gosh were 25 and 26 some OVA that was made like 2 years later? It doesn't really have the same pace / animation of the first 24 episodes. What a gip. But if you don't watch 25/26 you will love this great show. BTW Scryed has the hateful clones. But they are so small to the plot I will overlook them. Last updated Saturday, November 12 2005. Created Monday, April 11 2005. | ||||||||
| Rent | 7 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 9 |
 adiree
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[series:617#1804] |
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overall, a very good series - good plotting, character development, and it looks good... in a lot of ways, it reminds me the gundam series - especially the end of the g gundam series, which isn't bad, as i liked g gundam quite a bit... to me though, it felt like the series changed direction mid-way through... what was first a fairly provocative plot, with a lot of philosphy thrown into the mix became a very action driven plot with a single minded end in the last few episodes, but, it was still highly enjoyable.... the two main characters are very solid, very entwining, but, it is the supporting cast - kimishima, cougar, and konami who steal the show, and are the reasons for a second viewing (especially cougar and his rapid fire takes on humanity's position in the universe - very well thought out, very well said, and very well placed in the mouth of this character)... some of the character designs were a little overboard, and the tension between a certain pair of characters can be a bit irritating towards the end, but, at least they stay true the characters, which is perhaps more important than changing to suit the audience, right? definitely worth at least one watch through, but if you like g-gundam and yu yu hakusho, it may be worth the purchase! Last updated Thursday, January 20 2005. Created Thursday, January 20 2005. | ||||||||
| Rent | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
 Anonymous #1091
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[series:617#1091] |
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This is a really fun series that puts a lot of thought into character development. The animation is amazing and the story line is wonderful. In away, it has an x-men feel to it, in a japanese sort of way. Friendship, loyalty, love, family, and the fine line of good and evil are all touched upon. The characters aren't shallow, each has there own story. And who doesn't love Kimishima (Kazuma's employer, and best friend)! I have only three episodes left to go. This isn't my favorite anime series, but it definently ranks in the top 5. Worth seeing it!
Last updated Thursday, December 04 2003. Created Thursday, December 04 2003. | ||||||||
| Buy | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 |
 Yousei
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[series:617#755] |
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I thought I would quickly lose interest in this series by watching past the very first episode since it was very much mecha-related, but I was wrong. I thought all the characters were likable in some way, and the contrasting between the main characters Kazuma and Ryuho were skillfully created. What was very pleasing about this anime is the fact that females had more of a part in it; allowing some space for romance to be included in this series. I won't go into any details with the storyline, but s-CRY-ed is definitely a good buy in my opinion.
Last updated Sunday, August 03 2003. Created Friday, July 18 2003. | ||||||||
