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Angel Yuki wanders the streets of Harajuku in search of a visual band that disappeared years ago. In the process, he stumbles upon a guerrilla battle between the duo ECLIPSE and LOST EDEN. Things got weird when a red moon loomed, and fans in the audience turned into energy balls. He learns that it’s a manifestation of Vision Prison, a musical competition between visionary singing vampires hosted by Scarlet Moon, who himself is a vampire, half human, half vampire.
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Introduction:
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Ange Yuki Wander the streets of Harajuku in search of a visual band that disappeared years ago. In the process, he stumbles upon a guerrilla battle between the duo ECLIPSE and LOST EDEN. Things got weird when a red moon loomed, and fans in the audience turned into energy balls. He learns that it’s a manifestation of Vision Prison, a musical competition between visionary singing vampires hosted by Scarlet Moon, who himself is a vampire, half human, half vampire. |
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300 man, also Remember the visual department? The later period was all the rage among anime fans ‘sand, back to when I first got into the hobby. Fans discuss Malice Mizer and
| etc. Band Direction Gray right next to their favorite collection, though they don’t have any obvious connection, and drag singers Mana and |
just as popular role play pretty much any given anime character. While the movement seems to be largely in decline these days, at least among American fans, here’s a reminder of its glory days. 90 For those who can’t keep up, it can be hard to grasp what the visual department is. If you ask a dozen different people to describe it in terms of Western music genres, you’ll get a dozen different answers. In terms of sound, personally, I would call it a cross between goth rock and metal. The band members’ looks are also emphasized – hence the “visual” part of the name – and their flaunting hair, makeup and clothing styles are often somewhere between glam rock and goth rock. Their lyrics tend to be flamboyant expressions of anxiety, filled with all kinds of metaphors for pain and heartbreak. It’s all about big expressions of big emotions, filtered through big hair and sophisticated makeup and outfits. 90 So, you can see why it’s a perfect backdrop, basically it boils down to an idol series featuring vampires. 90 Yes, I know that visual faculties as a genre of music are worlds apart from the glossy, over-produced world of idol music, although both do emphasize showmanship and spectacle. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the plot structure has a lot in common with most idol series. You have a group of beautiful boys who compete with each other, ranging from “pretty masculine” to “completely neutral”; rivalry and friendship between groups, including twins, because I’ve never seen a male idol series without twins; Zero significant female characters; and a plot structure that sets the stakes and introduces different groups in the first few episodes, into a mostly plot segment that combines backstory and ensemble, and culminates when the actor hits some sort of roadblock in a large before the concert. 90 I’ve been critical of male idol shows in the past because they tend to operate on a surreal level that I find alienating. The way the characters speak, think, and interact is an abstraction of abstraction, many layers away from anything resembling a human being. However, it turns out that when the character in question is a vampire, performing a visual department for a red moon that only they can see, I find the oddity enjoyable rather than alienating. 90 Don’t get me wrong, I still wouldn’t necessarily call it “good”, but it was really fun. Ancient vampires in heavy makeup singing rock ‘n’ roll to the moon before entering queer-coded hijinx? That’s camp, baby. While everyone is hanging out at the resort eve took a bite of a burger and was possessed by the soul of the original vampire Camilla, who played an elaborate supernatural shenanigans? What else could it be besides camping? Manifesto that women can’t be vampires despite multiple female characters? Well, it might be a bit misogynistic, but also, it’s camp for me. There’s a lot of charm in how the series takes a wild turn between embracing its inherent stupidity and then taking its absurdity seriously, and I find myself chuckling a lot. 90 Honestly, for visual fans, I can’t say enough about the quality of the music – my taste in its heyday was more towards L’Arc~en~Ciel and do infinite –but As someone who has never understood it in depth, that’s okay. Each of these three groups has their own style, which is tied to their overall image. I’m glad Oz is the main band, because that means they have the most musical numbers, and their folk-oriented style suits me better than Lost Eden’s metal-esque sound or Eclipse’s drama. None of this is something I would listen to myself, but I did find it more interesting overall than the average poppy icon. 90 Overall the visuals are as strong as expected from the series produced) A1-Picture . It is fully integrated into the vampire/visual department aesthetic, defining itself with a lighting palette of predominantly pure blacks, reds and blues to create a moody, anxious vibe. The boys (maybe? For
did not give Any explanation eve or Elizabeth’s gender identity) is beautiful in and out of stage makeup. In many episodes, narrative singing voices are transformed into hand-drawn animated non-narrative music videos, some or all of which are composed of Yamada Naoko189 pen name “Ando Dragon”. 90 However, stage performances are another story. I know CG equipment has come a long way and many musicals use them very effectively, but they simply don’t work here. They’re great for choreography, but one of the fundamental elements of a visual department performance is its raw angst, or at least how it looks. The computer graphics they use for performances cannot express the full weight or movement of the human body, such as when Angie bends back and yells at the moon. This was great in the OP, but the animators couldn’t replicate it in the show because of their tools. 90 Listen, I’m not going to pretend it’s for everyone; instead, it’s probably only going to appeal to a small group of fans. But if you like musical anime that’s not afraid of weird and goofy, or if you think it’s a raucous good time, then at least give it a try. |
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