Before I begin my commentary on the main parts of Blue Seed, I would just like to commend its creators for the humor they have injected in the Omake Theater (extras at the end of every volume). Three most notable of these fascinating mini-stories, which have no relation whatsoever to the actual storyline, are the overview of Kome’s puppy love, the heart-rending “The Day of Sugishita”, and the Cinderella-ish “Grandma Go Go”. I have never looked forward to a volume’s ending as much as I did with Blue Seed’s presentations.

That aside, I must admit that the first episode of Blue Seed didn’t really strike me as a must-see. The artwork certainly isn’t something remarkable, nor is the animation that spectacular. On top of that, what I’m writing about is the English Dub, so any Blue Seed fan would understand if I bashed Momiji’s annoying high-pitched squeal–err, voice–to the high heavens. Needless to say, voice acting is very important in defining a character’s personality. After hearing Momiji’s whining tune, I was convinced that there is nothing to the character design that would make me want to finish all 26 episodes in one night.

I was wrong. The second episode had me changing my mind. The more I learned about Kusanagi, his connection with the dreaded Aragami, and his eventual softening towards our central figure, the more I loved every minute of every episode that followed. It takes a while getting used to the other characters, though, but once you go beyond first impressions, you’ll discover that they aren’t as bad as their English voice actors portray them to be. I should warn young impressionable readers about something, however: Blue Seed is dripping with so many one-sided love affairs, it actually hurts to watch those people involved! Especially when some of them are featured in the Omake I mentioned above. (My heart cried: “Poor Sugishita! You don’t deserve to lose to an old fossil!”) The main love triangle, on the other hand, reminds me somewhat of the newer anime Inu-Yasha. It’s a Kikyo-Inuyasha-Kagome triangle, to be precise. It must hurt a lot to forever be in the shadow of someone so perfect, someone who is of the same image as yourself but so much more magnificent in so many ways…

Somewhere along the way, you’ll realize that Blue Seed is about the struggle for ecological balance–that the myth of the god Susano-oh and his wife Kushinada is a symbolic representation of the human psyche. To be exact, this happens in the 13th episode, where the legend becomes twisted and conflict sets in. Blue Seed suddenly becomes something more than your regular cheesy comedy series. It metamorphoses into an anime that beckons a subtle philosophical analysis. For this alone, my scales have tipped tremendously in its favor. I would recommend this title for those who are looking for something light yet not totally lacking in depth and for those who are after feel-good endings.

Individual Rating: Art/Animation 5; Story 8; Characters 9; Sounds 7

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