Karas

There are two "SEZONS" to Karas, The Prophecy and The Revelation

With the amount of anime being released and time spent playing TF2 with Miku; I’ve had almost no time to blog about anything. Yet here I sit at 12:15pm with no internet connection, which is probably the best excuse I have to blog on something. Team Fortress 2 has forced me back into my gamer status that I thought I had lost when I started watching anime. I used to play Halo PC everyday for roughly 3 years and only stopped when I started becoming a regular poster on CB and began downloading anime. Since then I haven’t done close to the amount of online gaming I used to, playing a random game here and there, but not being addicted to anything, but now TF2 reminds me what’s like to stay up all night and day surfing sever after server and trying to find that special one with the perfect amount of people on the perfect map with people who aren’t total noobs. Miku and I usually play every night from 9pm to 5am, unless we’re bored or it’s the weekend, then its even longer. Add all that with roughly 20 anime series to watch and there goes any hope of a social life and all hope of passing your semester. So that’s my excuse paragraph, it makes me feel less like a careless idiot if I apologize to our nonexistent readers. Now that you know why I haven’t posted in a while, I can get on with reviewing on of those reasons, Karas.

Karas, the story of a man who awakens to find himself in another world, another reality, another life. Walking the corridors of this odd world he encounters many different types of creatures, all of which were strange and new, outside was an endless plain of grass set against a sky so bright it looked as if you could go blind if you looked at it for too long. This man, chosen by the spirit of the city, has been chosen to be saved and reborn, into the Karas. Each city has a spirit that dwells deep inside it that decides the fate of the people that reside in it, such a spirit is indeed powerful and must be protected, and for that reason each city’s spirit, more commonly known as a Yurine (pronounced You-Ree-Nay, not Urine) chooses a person from the city who is the most deserving to be the next Karas to defend it from anything that may pose a threat such as evil spirits that slip through from the world of the spirits into the human world. But not all Karas are good, there is one that stands against all others, one who defies the limitations that were lay down and came to the sudden realization that humans were the reason cities were dying, that the world was slowly crumbling. So he took action, he dropped his name as Karas of the city and decided to with the evil spirits to take control of the city and eventually the world, thus saving it from the horrible cancer called Humankind. Living for eons and killing countless Karas who’ve tried to oppose him, all seems lost for this city, but a new Karas has just been born, perhaps this city’s last Karas ever… this OVA covers several days as two Karas collide to determine the fate of the world.

Even The Trailer Oozes With Win

Perhaps that plot introduction was a tad over the top, but it just goes to show how much I adored the series. Its plots almost like a mix of Power Rangers meets Batman with a side of Transformers, only this one's definitely not for the kiddies. Karas combines a solid plot with amazing visuals and a great cast of characters, each with a special place in the story and each who make their own impact on what happens. The detail in the animation is amazing, even for an OVA, the change between anime and CG is flawless, mixing both in the middle of fights as well as just in normal scenes for buildings and effects. Since were on that topic, let me praise Karas for its fight scenes for a couple of lines, if you please. Karas has some of the most memorable and awe inspiring fight scenes I’ve ever seen in an anime. The CG is cinema quality, allowing for some amazing battles between two superhuman people in fancy suits of armor. Karas have the ability to change from human to Karas to a Plane and to a Car, each of the transformations more cool then the last and all of which are essential to some fights. I said Karas was like Batman in a sense, not just because of its dark avenger atmosphere but also because they included some “BAM” “SMASH” bits (batman fans know what I’m talking about) and while that may sound corny, it makes the series feel like a comic book, which I’m told it’s based off of. Karas will run through a group of enemies slashing away and using some of his cool techniques and that final attack will have the word “SLASH” in kanji etched into the sparks or something, it really adds a cool effect to it all.

Karas Uses Slowmo Alot So We Can See Every Little Angle Of The Awesome Fight Scenes.

Karas makes its way onto my list of favorite OVA’s, beside Gunbuster 2 and FLCL. It’s impossible to find a flaw with it, beside the fact that I wanted more fight scenes, but that’s just because I’m spoiled and wanted to see even more awesomeness. Each episode has at least two fight scenes in it with Karas fighting someone, lots more if you count gunfights and such. Sadly Karas isn’t very popular and not many people have heard of it, despite its raw win it hasn’t made its way onto any top anime lists, so I’m trying to spread the word. If you’re reading this and you enjoy amazing fight scenes with an original plot and a dark yet quaint environment, check out Karas, you definitely won’t be disappointed, and since its only 6 episodes long, what do you have to loose? Karas gets a solid 10/10 from me, and I plan on looking into more work from this studio.