Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom FULL REVIEW

Score: 89/100

Summary:

A spate of mafia assassinations occurs in America, the work of the mysterious organization named Inferno. "Phantom" is their strongest and capable assassin, however a lone tourist witnesses Phantom's latest act of murder. He unwittingly exposes the top assassin's true identity, a young girl named Ein. Witnesses are usually killed, but the man is captured and taken to be brainwashed into "Zwei", Inferno's newest assassin, with no memory of who he is. From this point on, Zwei is drawn into a world of conspiracy, deceit and violence.
(Source: ANN)


Overview

Pros:

Intriguing Plot
Great Music and Sound Effects
Art Style

Cons

Plot Irregularities
Horrible Dub
Obscurity
Too Short

Story 22/25

Split into three parts, the story of Phantom Requiem for the Phantom is refreshing and intriguing. It avoids many typical Anime cliche's, such as Big breasted super woman with super accuracy and overactive tentacle sex desires. Instead, Phantom: Requiem for the phantom provides us with characters that have depth and character; even though they have lost their memory and start out with no hope and no direction(other than what they are told). Perhaps it is due to this fact that the Anime creates characters whose outlooks and emotions you can relate with, because you see what they had to deal with. However due to the whole "Oh man i got amnesia! whats going on" the first two episodes are spent explaining this fact and makes it frustrating. This is balanced by the fact that one of the characters will regain their knowledge of their life early on, and this creates a new moral dilemma for the character. The stories not perfect due to an ending which leaves some plot holes and a few plot devices which leave the viewer saying "oh yeah right, how the hell did he survive that". While the anime doesn't try to be completely realistic, one part of the story may leave some feeling that the outcome shouldn't have favored the protagonists.

Music & Sound 22/25

The Anime's orchestral score coupled with its supurb initial opening and sweet character backdrops makes one want to obtain the soundtrack. If you enjoy an Anime with good music look no futher. That being said, the English dub of the series is one of the worst I have EVER seen. The emotional subtext and drama of the original Japanese version(which i watched first) conveys the emotions of the characters much more eloquently than the English dubbed version. Even though i cannot understand Japanese, reading the subtitles and hearing the voices gave more emotional information than the English dub, which i felt interpreted the voices and motives of the characters in those voices poorly at best, and abominable at worst. if you want the full effect of this Anime do not watch the dub!

Art Style 25/25

The art style of Phantom Requiem for the Phantom captures modern Anime's clarity and detail. Watching the high definition version of the series makes you appreciate the beauty of the cities and the grunge of their underbelly. Taking place across America and Japan and other places gave the series unique and varied environments, from the Beaches in LA to the sky scrapers of NY to the Suburbs of Japan and more. The art style isn't unique, but its caliber and polish allows the series to shine.

Lasting Appeal 20/25

Phantom Requiem for the Phantom is not one of the big three and is not the most well known Anime out there. This is a mixed blessing, as the fan community for Phantom in America is hard to find, and merchandise must be imported. This is slowly changing and therefore more American fans are most likely going to pop up soon with the advent of the dub(unless they hate it because its such a horrible dub. However, being less popular has blessings, chief among them is your ability to show people an uncommon Anime and show them that its not all about big breasted woman fighting tentacles or heroes wielding huge swords that are twice their body weight.