Introduction
The year is 972 A.D. in Kyoto, the capital of ancient Japan. Kyoto is becoming a corrupt and run-down city; selfish samurai and onmyoji, who care only about gaining political power are everywhere. To make matters worse the city is suffering from famine and widespread disease. Unable to ignore the condition of the city any longer, the Imperial Court decides to send Minamoto no Raiko, a famous samurai well-known for his archery skills, to recover a legendary gem said to hold mysterious power to save the world. However Raiko also falls ill to disease. Instead his youngest sister, Hikaru, decides secretely to make the journey in his place. Hikaru meets many people, and has many adventures while on her trip for the legendary gem.
(Source: ANN)
Audience reviews
7 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
kirazerorequiem
Otogizoushi was divided into two different arcs that felt like separate series with almost no explanation. The first arc i ended up not liking very much and stopped watching two episodes before the end. All i remember now from it is that it was in the medieval war setting and they are on a quest to obtain a stone. when i came back and continued the series it didn't seem nearly as bad as i thought as lost as i was.
The second arc felt less serious more of a slice of life, comedy, mystery. It was about Hikarus search for her missing brother while helping her (tenant?) Tsuna with his work of odd jobs related to the occult that later on tied in, how i felt was loosely, with the overall plot-line. The characters were portrayed well enough to attract your interests and were developed fine.
The…
Read at the sourceggultra2764
Watching Otogi Zoshi's two halves felt like I was watching two completely different titles of varying quality. The series is divided up into two different arcs with the first one taking place in Heian era Japan and the other set in Japan's modern era. The Heian arc was an enjoyable watch exploring the developments of Hikaru, under the guise of her brother Raikou, and her companions trying to gather up several magical magatama needed to halt the depraved conditions of many commoners throughout their kingdom. The arc offers solid developments on the challenges faced by Hikaru's group as they face life-threatening decisions, corruption involving those who task them with their adventure and Hikaru finding herself faced by the pressure to use her brother's identity to complete their adventure w…
Read at the sourcerockleefan
This is an odd one. I knew going in that the show completely changes half way through and I was expecting the second half to be less to my liking. Turns out I found the modern urban ghost story approach far more entertaining than the rather stale feuda-eral first half.
The animation is quite poor and it's very easy to spot the budget-saving moments of still backgrounds and stop animation scenes. The music is a lot more consistent though and I enjoyed the score for the first half. the sound in the second half is far more atmospheric.
In terms of character I thought the first half was very poor but the second half had some better characterization although it could have done with some stronger parallels with the first half.
Overall I'd say it's worth a watch if only for the brave move in sto…
Read at the sourceLemegeton
Ok this is going to be a long review as this anime contains 2 very different volumes so I feel they need to be addressed separately.
Volume 1:
Volume 1 is the Heian Chapter and it is set in the Heian period of and it is by far the strongest of the volumes. Focusing on the story of Hikaru and her quest to retrieve the stolen Magatama beads to save the capital of this volume focuses heavily on action and suspense and contains a huge plot twist that I did not see coming and was one of the best plot twists that I have seen in a long time. These days plot-twists can be seen coming a mile away but this one totally hit me for six and I love when a show/movie succeeds in doing that. Anyway the focus of the plot is the five Magatama beads which represent the 5 elements of earth, fire, wind, wat…
Read at the sourceTakai
-INTRODUCTION-
Someone told me that Otogizoushi has a very realistic portrayal of onmyoudo which was the main reason for my interest, along with the ancient Japan setting. Certain character designs caught my attention too, especially Mansairaku.
-STORY- 8/10
"Some day, I wish to dance only for Hikaru-dono..."
Otogizoushi consists of two story arcs. They are very different, I would even say that in a way they contrast each other. Looking at the two arcs together, I developed some very mixed feelings about the overall anime.
The Heian Arc was amazing. The first few minutes were enough to call it a masterpiece. War, epidemic, people are dying, the world is filled with despair. And among all that chaos, a seemingly strong yet vulnerable Hikaru and a mysterious dancer Mansairaku fall in l…
Read at the sourcenew_user
Character: Out of all the series I've seen, Otogizoshi probably had the most potential. Right from the start, we're immersed in the plot and enthralled by the main character Hikaru, who must struggle to pose as her brother and fulfill a quest he cannot. While the dialogue is spare, each character's personality comes across clearly, and you come to like Hikaru and Tsuna, even while you wonder about the mysterious character of Mansairaku. They are real and subtle people, so we are more interested in their plight. Hikaru is clearly a noblewoman in every aspect, but she is not squeaky or shrill like most heroines in anime today. Even while disguised as a man, she has an admirable, quiet dignity. If you're familiar with the Heian period, it's interesting to see it here, and if you're not, the s…
Read at the sourceCaptain-Pimp
Story - This is one of the most unique anime I've ever encountered. Otogi Zoushi is actually split into two arcs - The Heian Arc and the Tokyo Arc. While the plot for the Heian arc is pretty simple to follow (to retrieve all 5 Magatama), it gets interesting towards the end. The last episode of the Heian arc does affect, or rather, create the Tokyo arc's storyline. While it does have some supernatural theme in it, don't expect tons of action. Though it's fun to watch the reincarnation of the characters and how they live in the present time.
Art - Just knowing that Production I.G. is behind the animation for this anime gives you the idea that the animation will be top-notch. The art style however is different from most anime. The characters look a bit realistic, but if you're used to watch…
Read at the source