|
Shadow Star Narutaru vol. 1 | |
|
Review Shiina is an outgoing girl in the 6th grade. Her father works at an airport so she is able to fly to her granparents house for the summer. While there, she finds a weird creature under the ocean while she is swimming. This cute, star-shaped creature can't talk, but in a way it seems to understand her and it has the ability to fly and change shape. It takes a liking to her, so she names it Hoshimaru and she takes it back home with her when she leaves her grandparents house. Now that summer has ended, Shiina is back at school and makes friends with a new girl, Akira. Akira has a little star creature, too, which later becomes known as a "dragon's child." She has some problems though because there are times where she considers committing suicide. Akira's mind is linked to her dragon's child which causes her to see things she doesn't want to. There are times in the middle of class where she will suddenly feel as if she was falling from the sky, only return to herself a few minutes later, vomiting on the floor in the middle of the room. Shiina wants to show Akira the airport her dad works at, but on their way there they run into another dragon's child in a sword-like shape just sitting in the grass. Shiina believes that it's friendly and goes up close to it only to have it try and and stab her through the face. Lucky, Hoshimaru pulls her out of the way just in time and she jumps on top of him as they fly through the forest chasing it down. When they catch up to it, Hoshimaru is beaten down with one blow and the dragon's child starts assaulting Shiina. The dragon child's owner shows up and it's apparent he has trained it to be a killer. Shiina comes very close to death on a number of occasions as this lunatic toys with her and just gets more pissed off as she taunts him. It wasn't until after the scene was over that I noticed how tense and on edge my body was from the intensity, which is quite an accomplishment. I was genuinely concerned for Shiina as she is driven into some dangerous situations. I really enjoy how unpredictable and profound this show is, I kept guessing what would happen next. The characters are dynamic and very likeable, especially Shiina, and give the show more depth. The dragon's children are really fascinating creatures, and I found myself wondering what was going through Hoshimaru's head as he just stands there, staring blankly at Shiina as she tries to communicate with it. The only real negative aspect of the show so far is the animation which uses some shortcuts and movements look limited at times. There isn't much here that makes it a real standout title, but I was hooked from the start and on the edge of my seat for a lot of it. It's an original, thought provoking show and these episodes flew by and left me craving more. Extras
Overall:
 |
Publisher: Central Park Media Run Time: 100 Minutes Type: TV Series Genre: Adventure Reviewed by: Marc Date reviewed: 05/02/05 
|