Introduction
The world of the humans and the world of the demons (youkai) have overlapped one another, leaving humans to walk the streets of life as they normally would, while demons walk, hidden from the naked eye, down the very same streets. A seemingly young woman named Yurine and her servant, the Karas (from the Japanese word for "Crow"), have long maintained order and balance between the overlapped worlds, ultimately keeping the demons from interrupting the lives of humans. However, humans have come to forget and jest at the existence of demons, and no longer understand the privilege it is to live without fear. Disgusted by this arrogance, an old Karas turns his back on the laws he had once upheld, and in his human form, named Eko, he creates an army of Mikura, or mechanized demons, to ready an attack on the human race.
A young man named Otoha inherits the powers of the Karas and takes his place at the side of Yurine, who claims that his soul called out for her while he lived the life of a human. They live in the world of the demons. It is now up to Otoha to prove himself as a Karas, and restore the balance that Eko threatens to upset.
Meanwhile, a superstitious police officer named Sagisaka and his rational new recruit, Kure, follow the trail of the murders dealt by Eko's Mikura, as well as the trail of a rogue Mikura named Nue. The prophecy unfolds from here into a grave revelation for all in the city.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Audience reviews
19 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
PhylloNakamura
When going into this series I really didn't know what to expect, it's only 6 episodes but it also took two years to make. When looking at the art for the series you can really see why it had taken them 2 years to finish this OVA. The art is beautiful and so is the music to each episode. I found the music to be quite the touch a scene needed to really impact the story. However that's where my compliments to this series end. At times the blend between 2D and 3D felt jarring and brought me out of the story(though this may be due to being an artist for a living). I found the over all plot to be way too confusing and feel it would've been better told in a 12 episode series over 6. Everything felt rushed and didn't give me proper time to built up and allow me to get invested in the series. The c…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Karas is a six episode, original OVA written by Yoshida Shin and brought to us by Tatsunoko. That's right, the same studio that brought us Kyattou Ninden Teyandee, SKET Dance & C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control. Karas was actually their 40th anniversary work, beginning release in 2005 and ending in '07. So, they must have put a lot of effort into it, right? Well, let's look and see.
Story:
There's an unseen world alongside ours. The world of youkai. Unseen, they live alongside us in relative peace, or they did. Youkai with physical bodies combined with machines are threatening the balance and they're out for human blood. It's up to Yurine, the spirit of the city and her servant Karas, a being that's neither fully human nor youkai, to bring down these youkai and their leader.…
Read at the sourceGarlandReese
When most recommend a grown-up Anime to someone, they typically go for something along the lines of "Death Note" or "FMA" or "Hellsing" to graduate from a "DBZ" or "Bleach" or something like that. When I recommend a grown-up Anime to someone, I recommend "Karas"
"Karas" combines a lot of popular aspects that people find appealing in adult oriented Anime. There's fighting and violence, interesting characters, some horror, some human drama, and a less than simple story. Add all of it up and you get a two-part series that has something for everyone. The fight scenes are the best thing about this series by a long way. They stand up to any other series out there with a mix of sword play, dog fights, giant monsters, and flashy finishers.
The art is very good with a top-notch soundtrack that s…
Read at the sourceBenduski
Karas
Karas or Crow was a surprise for me, i really thought that it was going to be good but turned out to be great with amazing fighting scenes and amazing visuals.
Story
Karas tells the story of Otoha, a former yakuza living in a fictional version of Shinjuku Tokyo populated by humans and Yokai (Japanese spirits). He is one of the titular Karas, humans appointed as superpowered agents of the land. Able to transform into a car, an aircraft, and an armored crusader; The story presents themes on the conflicts between cultural traditions and modern society and the relationship between people. The story is fast paced, maybe not in the first 2 eps. but it could be complicated for some people to follow what's going on with the story after that, but if you get to understand it right away like i…
Read at the sourceCaraniel
Slightly confusing but absolutely stunning animation and brilliant action scenes.
PLOT: Well the plot is both complicated and simplistic. Complicated in that there is quite a lot of side stories going on and simplistic in that the main plot exists only to link together extended action pieces. That being said I enjoyed the show a great deal, although I sometimes found myself more interested in the actions of side characters rather than the 2 central conflicting forces. This is mainly due to the fact that Eiko & Otoha are usually too busy fighting to talk much! As an action series this series excels but has enough interesting characters to keep those who like a plot happy. I watched the 6 episode OVA version rather than the movie compilation version so don’t know how much they differ.
ANIM…
Read at the sourceShura-shurato
Definetly one of those newskool anime ( anime after 2001, cuz then mostly 3[d elements came into the picture) that has an outstanding animation and-3d mix that can be enjoyed in the fullest, the city backgrounds,colors , characters development and enemies design, but mostly: the karas design is just BADASS, fights BADASS moves BADASS plus the story they involve in, music is very well done at most scenes that makes u feel comfort with it. This is an reccomentation!
Read at the sourceXai16
SO! COOL!
This was one of those video-games turn anime. My friend told me about the game (hard-core gamer, most of the VG Animes I have or will watch will probably be by his recomendation) and how awesome Karas was and told me about his OC that he based visually off of Karas so I decided that I had to see this. It didn't disappoint.
It would be outside my abilities to competantly praise this anime. The artwork was 1st rate, the music was calm when neccesary and vice versa with the suspence. The characters seem to have this ordinary feel about them but all in all, they come off very intersting as they interact with the supernatural situations unraveling around them.
The story was, at some times, hard for me personally to follow but maybe that's because I didn't play the game. As far as I…
Read at the sourcePaski
Story: The weakest part of the anime, There is just soo much going on, and so little information to explain anything. Because this series was condensed into such a short time frame, these ova just dont get to the full potential it might have had with a classic 26 ep series. Honestly i was just lost for the first few episodes until you finally get into the flow of the anime and just accept what is happening in each plot line try and piece everything together on your own. I would love to give a plot summary of this series but in all honesty i dont think i could do a good job.
5/10
Art: Described in one word; Beautiful. I have not seen a series that can come close to matching karas. The CG as well as the animation are put together seemlessly, every aspect fits and is just amazing to look at…
Read at the sourcemightyUnderdog
Karas is one of those rare jems, which you don't fully appreciate until the second or third episode. The stunning artwork and visuals make themselves apparent immediately. The characters and their development is slow moving but not so slow that you lose interest. The story is really good, but very confusing at first. Just enjoy the beautiful art that this anime offers and let the story progress at it's own pace.Watch and enjoy.
Read at the sourceFullmetal-Locke
So a short series featuring a sort of adult orientated Power Rangers & the kind of storyline you'd expect from WildStorm Comics. Yep, it's as fucking awesome as it sounds.
So the story? What little there is (or I could understand, at least) was well...simple. There because it was the only way to push to the next fight scene without seeming like it had no substance at all. But pointless story is only there to waste time and make more money. So good on them for not including that! But if you came to this series (or movies depending on how you look at it) expecting an amazing story then you're an idiot. However the devices it used were pretty cool. Setting up what would make an amazing universe if they ever decided to make more episodes (which they probably won't). However I did feel toward…
Read at the sourcenolongerusingbye
STORY: 7/10
In my opinion, I thought the story plot was the weakest part of Karas. It took me until two episodes or so to understand what even went on, although once you get the hang of the characters and such, the plot does come together. Perhaps one of the reasons why the plot is so difficult to understand is that the series has been condensed to a mere six episodes. If it were spread out like other anime (13 or 26 episodes), if anything, I think the plot would have been amazing. If you really do pull all the story lines that weaved Karas, they're very intense, with the idea of what's good and evil, and the obvious supernatural.
ART: 10/10
For those that hate complex story plots, but still have the curiosity of watching Karas, I really do recommend that you do, because the art is beauti…
Read at the sourceArachneia
Karas is mostly style over substance. But it's the kind of style that very few anime can beat.
The plot of the first movie (or the first three episodes, depending on which format you're watching) is left 100% in the dark. Bear with it. Enjoy the beautiful animation, the variety of characters, the amazing fight scenes. The second movie explains everything the first one failed to, giving you much-needed background information on top of even more amazing action. Because of this huge disparity in the pacing, it's the kind of anime that gets better and better the more you re-watch it.
Even if you manage to somehow disassociate yourself from the story and the characters, this is worth watching for the animation alone. Go for it.
Read at the sourceHiraga
Story:
When I first started the anime, I didn't really get anything from it. I started to understand it from around episode 3. The real problem with the story is that we just get into the middle of it. When the plot started, I felt like I missed 2 or 3 eps before it. That's why I give a 6 for this.
Art:
I have to tell this first, this anime has very computerish graphic. But it's amazingly beautiful. I don't really like animes with very computerish graphic, but Karas has one of the greatest animation I've ever seen in anime. From this aspect, Karas gets 10+++ from me ^^
Sound:
I didn't really pay attention to this part. But from what I remember (and from the greatness of the opening and ending song) I rate this 8.
Character:
The characters are very nicely drawn, and most of the chara…
Read at the sourceDogfather-PuA
A rather very confusing sci-fi movie i have ever seen. Just too many Plot-holes to come by.
It's like watching Evangelion all over again and Arjuna.
Read at the sourceBrother-X
In the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo, humans unknowingly live side by side with spirits and other apparitions, who exist in a dimension parallel to our own. But the balance is being upset by the Mikura, demons who have taken physical form and must then kill to survive. Only Karas, the shadowy guardian crow of the city, can stop the Mikura and maintain the balance with the help of the mysterious Yurine. But the Mikura are being led by Eko, a former Karas who has turned his back on humanity and aims to destroy everything. Can Otoha, Yurine's newly recruited Karas, stop the renegade and his forces, without drawing attention from the locals, police and others with their own agenda?
This OVA (Original Video Animation to you non-otaku), is the 40th anniversary project of Tatsunoko Productions, the fol…
Read at the sourceagphoenix
The first thing you need to do before reading this review is to decide if you are the type of person who doesn't mind CG meets traditional anime art. I know there are people who believe it's blasphemy, there are others who don't mind it and then there are those who absolutely love the intercourse between the two. I tend to lean towards the last.
Assuming you don't mind, or love the CG/traditional mix Karas will rate highly on your list of anime. The first 5 minutes of the 1st episode will leave your jaw dropped on the floor. And it will be difficult to pick it back up for a while. The characters are capable of morphing between space-fighters and iron-clad ninjas/samurai with superpowers like flashy virtual shields and duplicating swords. All the animation is superb; from the fight scenes t…
Read at the sourceAyria
Story: I guess it's better to say there was no real story. I was completely confused throughout the first half, we were plunged into the middle of the story with no explanation and no idea what was going on. The second half was filled with predictable cliches and I found it was more stimulating to have no idea what was going on as it drove me to continue to watch in order to figure out what was happening. Overall, the plot was boring and something we have seen a thousand times before, only a lot more vague.
Art: The series is undeniably beautiful, the animation ranks up there with the likes of Gankutsuou. I'll even go far as to say that Karas, just like Trinity Blood, doesn't deserve such beautiful animation. If you want to watch this series then just mute the DVD, listen to your favorit…
Read at the sourceNeonToppaTotoro
STORY: The story or stories within Karas stem from several archetypal anime genres. We have a story of redemption, a story of discovering oneself, a story of the super-natural versus the corporeal, a story of good against evil and the blurry line between. In fact there is a ton of story in here that, with proper plot development, could easily fill an entire 25-27 episode season. And therein lies the problem of Karas's story. There are just too many many plot lines being developed in this movie. Also, the show paces itself slowly, telling the audience only the bare minimum of what needs to be known at the time and ultimately hindering the viewer's involvement. While this amount is sufficient in understanding the full story, the story loses its intrigue that draws in the viewer. There is vas…
Read at the sourceanime_junkie
Great anime!! Its got everything an anime should have. Great story that you can reflect on with "what ifs?"; delivered in a partially non-linear form, superb animation, you have to see to believe it, great sound with a fitting score, characters that grow even in just 6 eps. Its starts of with a bang and ends in a satisfying yet quiet way. The story may be confusing in the beginning but everything slowly irons out and its all completed at the end. I personally like the references to japanese folklore, it made it modern with an traditional twist.
Read at the source