Audience reviews
11 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
jabutigemido
Genji Monogatari is a true example of an authentic avant-garde anime, just like its brother Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru, or the so glamorous Kanashimi no Belladonna, but, like an truly vanguardist anime, isn't as famous or praised as the others.
The structure of this film is quite strange. The star of the show isn't the characters or the relationships between then, nor is the animation, the actual star is the backgrounds and specially the blend between scenarios and soundtrack. So there's a lot of slow or static shots that doesn't show any character, with the focus being on the background art and the music that is keeping it company. And even when it does shows the characters, they sometimes feel "small" when compared to the background. The director belives that the scenario can impact as much…
Read at the sourceSaberCross19k
The Tale of Genji (1987) was a unique watching for me. All stories share one very common goal, telling a story. There are many forms of story telling based on the format an author chooses to present his or her story to the audience, and each form of story telling has its own strengths and limitations depending on the format. Books are some of the oldest form of storytelling, and they rely on the literary skills of the author to tell the audience what is going one using only words. A movie needs visuals, environments, acting, and many other factors on top of a well written script in order to effectively tell a story. Filmmakers have to find the perfect balance between visuals and dialogue to tell their stories based on what the story they want to write demands. In the Tale of Genji (1987),…
Read at the sourceMasaaro
This is the kind of movie you saw because you saw some art or maybe a gif, maybe you even know about the novel but then this is disappointment over disappoint
Genji (I believe is a representation of his era) is just an awful person, that wouldn't be so bad if it were entertaining to watch but it really feels like there's no plot, so you have over an hour (because there's a lot of transitions and ¨blank¨ spaces) of Genji being an awful person to every woman he interacts with.
take the slice of life concept and elevate that in 10
I actually watched it on x2 speed and still it seemed so slow
Read at the sourcevbrabandt
So let me be clear I hadn't read the novel, but what I did do was watched the anime series adaptation from 2009 Genji Monogatari Sennenki, I'd mostly enjoyed it and game it 8/10 (7.5/10, if there was the option), so that lead me to find that there was an older anime film adaptation and it peaked my interest, so I'd watched it and oh I was both impressed and kinda disappointed at the same time.
I felt that this film had compressed the original story too much, if I hadn't seen the anime series adaptation and read the wikipedia page of the novel, I wouldn't actually know what's going on in the film, there were some scenes which were cutted out and there's basically no character introduction which makes the film frankly hard to follow, so that's my main criticism really.
Animation wise thoug…
Read at the sourcetacaloking
this could of been good but its to focus on visuals which are good but everything else ends up a mess
story 3
there needed to be more narration. while normally with movies and shows it should try tell things more with showing. do to the history and connections there needed to be more telling. to help the viewer to understand the connections and characters. the main character and the emperor are the only connections and place in the story that is clear. when it comes to the women it is pretty hard to follow and becomes incoherent. which is bad as in a way there connections to the main character is the most important things.this means so much of the value of watching this tail is lost .
art 8
like i said this part is very good. which it better be as the movie gets so distracted by the visu…
Read at the sourcetoothline
Tries toooo hard to be artistic!! Wayyy too slow! This is insulting to the original novel "Genji Monogatari"
The art and sound is fine, I don't have much complaints about it ^^
The story of the original novel is grim, fascinating while the movie just turns it into storyboarding hell!! Walking from one place to another should not take that long!
I get scenarios like Evangelion's elevator scene but this?? I don't see the meaning or purpose behind these dreadfully slow motions and I feel like it's just...pretentious.
The art itself is quite beautiful, I must admit. and there's minimal sound (or when it's used it's very appropriate). Just like Ergo Proxy and Evangelion, it doesn't really tell you what's going on- but with Genji Monogatari's case it's way too vague...someone who have not re…
Read at the sourceKillJoy913
Genji Monogatari is the type of film that will only be enjoyable to certain types of people. It seems to be the type of film that you either find brilliant or a waste of time, no in between. If you are patient and can enjoy a film for more than just its story, then I think you will find Genji Monogatari to be a valuable cinematic experience.
I came across this film randomly one night in my YouTube recommended. I thought the thumbnail picture was interesting, so I clicked it and only planned to watch the first five minutes to see what it was like so I could decide if I wanted to watch it some other time. (This was at midnight as I was scrolling my phone before bed.) Instead, I ended up watching the entire movie right then, staying up way later than I usually do just because I was too fasci…
Read at the sourceCzarine
As I have not read the Genji Monogatari, I thought I should give my view on this. I'm not really familiar with Heian period, even though I like stories that take place in ancient Japan. The only thing I knew of Genji Monogatari was that it revolved around a man named Genji and his love life.
Story: 3
I think the story would have been more enjoyable was it not sooooo sloooow. I almost fell asleep at one point, which I rarely do. This anime has not utilized the time they got efficiently enough. It could have either reduced the time for the plot, or made the plot more complex. Trying to keep up with the plot was difficult, because the characters were too similar with each other (both visually and characteristically). Also I think the focus was too much in Genji, because I couldn't really gra…
Read at the sourcediadora
Beautifull art revealing a romantical story under the mystical sound splendid aisian music...
Art and music - pure 10.
This movie has its own unique style and approach to the Tale of Genji.
The storyline is not my favorite cupó'tea but the historical set compensates greatly. My overall enjoyment - 8, as it lacks dynamics, which i love in anime ( not being very patient lol)
100% Must watch old school classic for everyone who treasure rare gems, like this one.
Read at the sourceGiroro
Two points of view in one for your entertainment:
1- Me, who didn't know anything about Genji Monogatari prior to seeing this movie. Conclusion: it's boring like hell, slow, the story makes little sense (it does make sense, but is uninteresting), with too many "artistic" slooooow parts.
2- Japanese girlfriend, who is a big fan of Genji Monogatari. Conclusion: This movie is, I quote, "an insult to Genji Monogatari" and the director is "heta kuso" (let's say it means he's shitty weak). Main reason: the story doesn't make much sense even if you have read the story several times in the past, lots of parts are missing.
Read at the sourcetokyo_shorty
I read 源氏物語 (Genji Monogatari) last semester for school, and absolutely fell in love with Murasaki Shikibu's work. Naturally, when I discovered an anime based off the tale, I had to watch it. (It can be found on YouTube)
The anime adds a very unique twist to the tale, focusing most on Lady Rokujo's venegeful spirit. With that slightly horror-esque environment, Genji's liaisons have a whole new element, and Genji himself seems more dimensional than in some translations of the tale. If you don't know what I'm talking about, this anime may not make a whole lot of sense to you. The story is vastly enriched from allusions to the text, which is why I can give the enjoyment a 9 and the story only an 8. The anime does not go into the arc with Niou and Kaoru.
Overall, my recommendation is:
If…
Read at the source