Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Toshiru
My expectations for this anime were fairly high, mainly because the core concept is genuinely interesting. The story follows a main character who willingly joins an ongoing war, treating it like a secret nightclub — a place where he can escape reality, relive the passion he once had, and feel relief from the life he left behind. His battles feel almost like a path to “heaven,” a temporary freedom from everything that frustrates him on Earth. On paper, this idea has a lot of potential.
Unfortunately, many elements of the execution are hard to understand, especially the portrayal of his wife. She is strongly opposed to him playing music, despite the fact that she used to be his fan and should clearly understand how important music is to him. He works, while she appears to stay at home, yet…
Read at the sourceSgtSalamander
Kachou Ouji is a fun romp from 1999 with an engaging premise and fun execution, limited both by the resources available to it at the time and by shortcomings well within their control to fix. The idea of Ouji being a regular salaryman, thrust into the limelight of a galactic war to save the earth centering around his passion for music is pure gold, but at the end of the day the execution fails to live up to its premise. The story as a whole is fun and cool, but also nonsensical, and not in a way the bones of the show feel ready to support. There are too many problems for the show to be taken seriously, but the show itself isn't stunningly cool or wacky enough to forgive those problems. Perhaps the biggest problem with this somewhat generic storyline with a twist is the fact that I had trou…
Read at the sourceKeiths219
Kachou Oji is a pretty old anime, but its story is original. You may think rock music and a space battle have nothing in common. Well, you are quite right, but it somehow works in this anime. A middle-aged ex-musician never lost his passion for rock music even though he has wife and a kid now. He decide to save an entire universe with his song. He is a very likeable character even though he is an average joe. I like how his relationship with his wife was presented. Music is nice, but there is just one or two songs which is devastating. Art isn't much to look at and characters look off model most of the time. Also this isn't an anime I normally enjoy so I gave it a 6. It is a definition of a fine anime. Nothing great nor bad.
Read at the sourceTroothful
This was a series that seemed to have so much going for it, and most of that potential ends up squandered. The plot sounded like something out of Heavy Metal, crossed with Interstella 5555, it featured some promo art gorgeous enough to hang on my wall (see the DVD cover if it's not on this site) and the opening theme was stunning in both audio and video. But as for the show itself... Well...
What I thought I'd be getting was a schlocky, pulpy, devil-may-care sci-fi story that lives up to the heavy metal lifestyle it seems to profess so much love for. Maybe my disappointment is my own fault for thinking the show was going to offer something that it wasn't prepared to offer. Instead, the bulk of the show is like a coming-of-middle-age slice of life... comedy? I feel compelled to use the que…
Read at the sourceAnimeTopScholar
Kachou Ouji (Legend of Black Heaven) is a 13 episode TV anime original produced by studio AIC and A.P.P.P. It was directed by Yasuhito Kikuchi (Macross Frontier) and aired from Jul 8 1999 to Oct 7 1999.
The story goes something like this. Ouji Tanaka is a middle-aged sallery worker, working a dead end job, and living in a tiny apartment together with his wife Yoshiko and their son Gen. Ouji is living his mundane everyday life with nothing exiting happening. The only thing to remind him of the exiting times of the past is his flying V electric guitar that he used to play when he was in a metal band called Legend of Black Heaven. One day a woman called Layla Yuki starts working at the company Ouji works for. She is very interested in Ouji, and it turns out that she is an alien who has come…
Read at the sourceTyrannicswine117
Warning possible Spoilers
Black Heaven is definitely one of those anime's where you can put two things that don't look like they would work, but somehow do well mostly.
The story is about Oji Tanaka who is a former lead guitarist of a band and now lives a normal boring life with his wife and son until one day a mysterious woman named Layla asks him to use his guitar to fight an intergalactic battle.
Now from seeing a story like that you know you're in for a wacky ride, but this was actually pretty serious as we see a former band leader who seems to look like he has nothing worthwhile in his life until he has been asked to do what he does best again and seeing how his character shifts from being lifeless to being full of life shows that getting old doesn't really snuff the fire in you and…
Read at the sourceHatul
Kachou Ouji or Legend of Black Heaven does stand out quite a bit. It's a slice of life that features a middle aged salary man with a mid life crisis as a protagonist (not very common in anime) who also happens to be a former rock star and misses his glory days. He has a wife and kid who don't understand his obsession with the past and the show itself plays out like a black comedy filled with sexual innuendos and features themes such as the difficulty of aging, nostalgia and the hope for a happy life despite losing your youth and glory.
Sounds like a great show right? Well, sadly it's hard for me to get on board with that even though I really wanted to.
Notice that this anime also has a 'sci fi' tag attached to it, and sadly this ends up being the show's biggest weakness in my view. Not on…
Read at the sourceZephSilver
Rock 'n' Roll, the sound of sexual liberation, youthful revolt, and living in excess. Since its early induction in film and other media, this genre of music has become synonymous with the "live-fast-die-young" lifestyle, almost becoming a checklist shorthand in the process. Whether it be used mockingly (This Is Spinal Tap) or genuinely embraced (Nana), rock 'n' roll has become a cornerstone in establishing tone and character. A correlative feature eventually made it a faux-literary device whenever brought up in any media that denotes the lifestyle mentioned.
All of which brings us to the anime in question, Kachou Ouji (Black Heaven). A show about a nine-to-five schmuck going through a midlife crisis, who, through a series of ridiculous events, is pleaded by a blonde bombshell from outer-…
Read at the source91blsw
It's slow and annoying, until about halfway where it gains some momentum, and the ending was a blast. That being said if you get too bored with episode 1, jump to episode 7 and watch to the ending then go back if you want to pick up the loose ends.
The music is IMO really good; shedding guitars, thumping bass, grooving drums, and keys straight from the 80's.
The art style especially on the sci-fi scenes really fits, but the best visual on the show is the psychedelic moments hands down. The everyday scenes I find less noteworthy.
Some of the characters really annoy me with just plain stupidity probably added for humor or something.
Overall had it not been for the extremely sluggish start it would have been quite good.
Read at the sourceBenjamin72227
*CLIFF-NOTES*
final rating: Two thumbs up
mode watched: official DUBS
age restrictions: They say "damn." 18+ (The kids wouldn't enjoy it anyways)
recommended viewing experience: Dub, alone, the fanciest headphones you have, sober/a little buzzed.
*FULL-SPIEL AHEAD*
Aight dawg, listen up. Black Heaven is not a one-time anime. You will watch it more than once. It's not deep. You dont have to rewatch to understand whats going on. You will remember this anime randomly sometime later in life and feel the need to watch it again. It's freaking great.
It's about passion, and sticking to it. its about friends, family, love and depression. But there is no story-book lesson to learn here. It's not a shounen moral piece. It follows a man who decides what he wants to do with his life, always choosing…
Read at the sourcegwern
I originally ran into _Black Heaven_ due to its inclusion in an _AMV Hell_, and then finished _Black Heaven_ while scanning an old anime encyclopedia (so all quite nostalgic). I wanted to like it because it seemed like a funny take on _Macross_, but the constantly repeated music, the slow and repetitive plot/pacing (in 13 episodes?!), and the occasionally very ugly animation all doomed it to pure mediocrity.
Read at the sourceangelsreview
I started watching it and in first impressions, I did wonder what the hell I was watching. It’s heard to rate something that does not have a definite feel to it and this one seemed almost all over. It’s a slice of life with a lot of other things mixed into it and it just feels… off a bit. It’s not bad, but its not good ether leaving it in what I call no mans land along with a couple others that I have watched. The characters are rather likeable, Oji not really being my all time favorite but I think it really wasn’t created for my age or gender. This feels more like it was made for those that were about 30 and up men that are in their mid-life crisis and find out that they lost several of their glory years stuck behind a desk. It’s something you might have to just go though before the chara…
Read at the sourceggultra2764
This was a fun title while it lasted. Black Heaven features office grunt and middle-aged man Oji reliving his days as a rock guitarist when he unknowingly becomes the major tool an alien race needs to combat an enemy threat that could wipe out the Earth if not stopped. The fun from the series comes from the show's mix of sci-fi/adventure and slice-of-life comedy as Oji's life turns topsy-turvy from interacting with Layla and the aliens. Oji gets his head too into the clouds over reliving his younger days with Black Heaven where it effects his work and home life, the aliens need his help at the most inopportune times and the three alien gals who serve under Layla contribute some of the best comedy relief I've seen in an anime thanks to their lack of common sense when it comes to understandi…
Read at the source5camp
Legend of Black Heaven was made in 1999 and made by AIC back when they didn’t rely on shitty fanservice harems and could pump out stuff like Black Heaven and Now and Then, Here and There. It tells the story of Oji, a generic Tokyo salaryman going through a midlife crisis. After despairing when his wife throws out his favourite electric guitar, a sexy alien co-worker tells him that he is the one man with the ability to power an intergalactic super weapon using his guitar playing.
Not that the space opera plot really matters that much. The super weapon runs on roughly the same energy that the robots in Gurren Lagann ran on, except this time it requires guitar playing to transform said spirit (which Black Heaven calls ‘groove’) into energy to run the weapon. We’re never give…
Read at the sourceZeroEnigma
Guitars, babes, saving the universe, hairmetal, and comedy--The Legend of Black Heaven is where it's at. Sure, it's an unrefined production effort that could be better, but it certainly stands out as a show that's worth watching at least once. After all, the series is only thirteen episodes and the pacing is fair enough that it could be finished in one or two sittings.
The bare plot of Black Heaven does leave something to be desired, though. Don't expect any great twists, deep characterization, or huge revelations. However, I feel, that's one of the coolest things working for the series. As a portrayal of the routine, usual life and diminishing dreams, it does well to stay away from those tropes and still be enjoyable.
What really sold the series to me, though, was the brilliant depictio…
Read at the sourcealstore
black heaven is one of those rare anime's that focus on music.
the story is threw you for a loop on a couple of points.
1:the main character is married. I felt that it hurt the over all because it ruins the whole rock and roll image. it's like watching a badass good guy for a while and latter you find out he is whiped by his wife. that is just lame.
2: the whole band quit and have lives of the own. not a bad thing , but it kind of hard for them to "sneak" out to play music.
3: the whole affair image was just filler. the whole office thought they did with good reason. i thought slowed down the story a bit. it was not need for it all. ether him single or have the alein layla be a guy. so there is no affair to slow the story. the art was good and the theme of it being a music anime was done g…
Read at the sourcegorki
For me this story has nothing to do with music, that's just accessory. The true jem about this anime is the story. With more money to avoid some scene repetition, this could have been one of the greatest anime i ever saw. This is definitly not for young people who are usually longing for strong,in rough emotions. When I saw this anime i took pleasure in seeing that the main character is an adult,simple, regular person. No fancy things just plain normal. He could have chosen a life to follow his dreams, but instead like a man, he took up his responsibilities, dedicated himself to his family. Nobody had to die, no overreaction. By contrast to many predictable, and drama queens animes, in Black Heaven there is no big drama, it's just simply sad. There is no blood sacrifices, no impossible, pl…
Read at the sourceRavenhart
I guess with more money, expertise and time this anime would have been brilliant. The main reason to watch this anime is the sound.
The story is really build up around the head character who is the mayor band leader. But in the whole story there are only like three different songs, of which one is played constantly. That's sad because the guitar player really is gifted, the music is great so it would drive everyone mad if there were more different songs!!!!!!
Read at the sourcenyarlathotepsama
The Legend of Black Heaven…well it is a slice of life/comedy about Rock and Roll and Space…the two are not in fact mutually exclusive you see. The series is pretty good for the year it was made in, which really doesn’t affect anything unless you are some sort of visual-anime-snob. The series is fun to watch and listen too, the music in my opinion is pretty good. You’ll enjoy this series if you like less slapstick styles of comedy (although there is some of that in there). I finished the series in a single night, which says something for it, but it does get a little repetitive and when the novelty of the ideas and themes wears off it can become slow in the middle, B+ effort, so sayth Lord Nyarlathotep…
Read at the sourceCrystelcaster
This is one of those Animes that will really throw you for a loop. It starts out pretty plain but by the end you are at the edge of your seat. The setting goes from a hapless salary man's every day life, to a battle that the fate of the universe rests on. The Legend of Black Heaven is a wild ride with some of, if not the best, music that you have ever heard in a Anime.
Story: I can honestly say that while the story is beyond a doubt a very original creation, it does lack some polish. Some events in the story take place much to slowly (around the beginning especially) but by the end of it, the writers get it right and you're trying desperately to find the next episode to find out what happens. Don't worry if the first few are a little bland, you'll thank yourself by the end.
Art: Art is p…
Read at the source