Blue Seed

4 reviews - 13.5 total score (Explanation of the rating system)
avg. score: (3.4)

4. Iodine

A teenaged girl named Momiji is destined to become a sacrifice in order to stop the evil Aragami, plant-based monsters, from reviving their demonic leader and taking over the world.  She ends up joining the ranks of an intrepid special task force, and the rest is easy to guess.  Though much time and effort were obviously spent on this production, Blue Seed only comes up with one bad cliche after another.  The ensemble feels like it's been borrowed from a better show, and the endlessly imperiled Momiji is probably Megumi Hayashibara's least interesting character. Many of the concepts are good, such as the Aragami, and the incorporation of a few figures from Japanese mythology.  On the other hand we've got the unimpressive hodgepodge of bickering sidekicks, good and evil twins who look nothing alike, villains who spend half their time bobbing in midair and smirking, and the usual supercharged hero with inadequacy issues.  The first few episodes are fast and fun, but the novelty of the monsters gradually wears off, and the story isn't strong enough to compensate.

The animation is very good, and the action scenes deliver plenty of energetic mayhem.  The style is derivative, however, and looks dated.  The music is largely unproblematic, but the opening song is one of the most famously terrible in all of anime with its outrageously bad English lyrics.  Writing is mixed and patchy at best, probably failing most dismally in the characterization and development of its central characters.  When the only things that define your heroine are ditziness and panty shots, there's bound to be trouble.  Momiji and her staunch protector, Kusanagi, are shadows of what they could have been, and it's difficult to care about either. 

3. Konoha

Good, but not great - I think this sums up mine and everyone I know's opinion on this series. The plot was interesting, the characters likable, lots of good seiyuu, interesting Japanese mythology - but sometimes, it just doesn't click. Relationships come out of nowhere (esp. Koume's, no objection, but no buildup??) and the pacing could've used some improvement. Still, I'm happy to own it. And check out the omake, they are great (the frame rate one had me rotflmao).

2. weasl

Blue Seed is a good show, but for some reason it never really clicked me. Drawing from a series of Japanese legends, the story follows Momiji a cute high school student who helps a secret government organization to prevent the Aragami from destroying the earth. In its 26 episodes we get a bit of everything, action, drama, comedy, romance, girls getting their dresses ripped off by giant plant tentacles..... In all Blue Seed was a fun watch, but I just can't help but feel that it should have been more.

1. Tempy

Blue Seed is a very mixed bag for me. The show starts out well with good action scenes, an intriguing story, and enjoyable characters. The designs, art and animation are quite nice. Momiji, the main character, is a descendant of the Kushinada bloodline and destined to battle the Aragami. Paradoxically though, the Aragami need to protect her in order to survive. Blue Seed's story keeps things interesting, and there's a nice amount of humor, including an ongoing joke involving Momiji's panties. Unfortunately, Blue Seed starts to bog down in the middle from monster-of-the-week syndrome. There's just not enough humor during these parts to offset the staleness and tediousness. The last 6 episodes start to get much more interesting again, but the actual ending had me rolling my eyes because of its cheesiness. I half expected Ewoks to pop out. Oh, the omake pieces are simply hilarious, don't miss them.