Karas: The Prophecy
By Julie Gray
April 17, 2006 - 07:33
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| DVD Cover Art |
The opening scenes of Karas: The Prophecy are enough to give you the shivers. Shivers of anticipation, that is. Not even five minutes into the movie and we are catapulted into the middle of what appears to be a battle between two futuristic looking fighter planes. A minute or two later and the fighter planes suddenly transform. The planes are not planes at all but humanoids clad in some sort of mechanical armour. Think of a modern day Samurai covered in metallic armour from head to toe. Karas begins with a wave of intensity that is in your face and action-packed.
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| Nue |
Back on planet Earth (Tokyo to be exact), it’s Christmas time and the people of Tokyo are none the wiser. The battle in the sky suddenly explodes onto the Tokyo streets. The two armour clad warriors are battling it out with an impressive combination of martial arts and sword play. As they approach the city, suddenly, everything slows down. It’s almost as if time itself has stopped. But we soon realise it hasn’t. Two different dimensions of existence are about to collide.
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| Otoha |
The backdrop of the story is modern day Tokyo but that’s not where the story remains. Karas: The Prophecy switches back and forth continuously between the dimension of humans and the dimension that belongs to apparitions, demons and spirits. An ancient battle between these factions has been waging for an eternity and humanity’s survival is at stake. Karas is the guardian appointed to retain the balance between the two dimensions.
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| Eko in combat mode |
The story of Karas: The Prophecy is definitely interesting. But the animation of Karas is beyond impressive. The ingenious blend of 2D/3D and CGI in Karas: The Prophecy brings to life the characters and gives them a facet of realism that looks absolutely stunning. Replacing an older method of animation using 2D dimensional frames, the team at Tatsunoko have utilised 3D models in place of cells, giving the animation realistic dimensions as opposed to the flat and generic appearance of 2D images. The overall result delivers a bold animation technique rarely used in Japanese animation today.
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| Karas vs Demon |
The main characters in Karas: The Prophecy are Nue, Eko, Yurine, Otoha and two Detectives investigating ‘strange phenomenon’; Detective Sagisaka and his partner, Detective Narumi Kure. Sagisaka and Narumi are probably best described as the Japanese equivalent of ‘Scully and Mulder from the X-Files’. The department they represent is shunned by the rest of their colleagues because they attempt to solve crimes relating to things that ‘don’t exist’. Yurine and Otoha are, next to Nue and Eko, the main focus of the story. Yurine is a Priestess armed with special powers and the responsibility to keep Japan safe at all costs. She works alongside Otoha who is introduced to viewers as the new ‘Karas’ (Raven) and guardian of Japan. Somewhere in the middle of all of this we find Nue, who is a demon in human form sent to Japan to fight Eko and his henchmen. And lastly, there is Eko who used to be the Karas before power ultimately corrupted him. Now, Eko's only mission is to control the world by any means possible and destroy all those who oppose him.
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| Otoha in Battle |
The characters in Karas: The Prophecy are interesting and their interactions with each other draw you to the screen. As the story slowly unfolds, we begin to understand that the epic struggle between good and evil is ultimately going to claim lives and innocence along the way. A story of sacrifice, responsibility, loyalty and corruption can never be dull.
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| Yurine |
The voice actors behind the characters ultimately make or break the story. If the voice actors do a good enough job, viewers will be able to look at the animation and take it one step further in their minds. If the voice actors fail to deliver, the characters will not be believable and it will be hard for viewers to connect with them. Karas: The Prophecy has this covered. The voice talent chosen for the English Production was, thankfully, well thought out. Talented actors Piper Perabo from Coyote Ugly is the voice behind Yurine, Matthew Lillard from Scooby Doo and Scream is Eko and Jay Hernandez from Hostel and Goal is Nue.
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| Tokyo City |
The Japanese voice talent are also, without doubt, impeccably cast in their roles. It is definitely recommended to watch Karas: The Prophecy using both the English and Japanese language options. Whilst the English dubs were extremely well done, there is an element of authenticity that can only be realised whilst watching a Japanese animation using the original Japanese voices.
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| Mini Comic Book Cover Art |
The DVD release comes with a few extra features such as interviews with the Japanese voice actors, Directors and Producers, Original TV Spots and Japanese Trailers, and a Behind the Scenes: Making of Karas featurette. There is also a Dark Horse Comics special full colour mini-comic book of Karas included with the DVD by Phil Amara and Nuria Peris.
An inspiring story and epic animation to boot, Karas: The Prophecy will prophesise great things to come for Tatsunoko Productions if this first instalment is anything to go by. We are eagerly anticipating the next release of Karas: The Revelation in September this year.
Animation: 10/10
Story: 10/10
DVD Extras: 8/10
Rating: 9/10
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