Millennium Old Journal: Tale of Genji

andrael★ 8

One guy going around seducing various women may seem like a pretty dodgy premise for an entire series. But it manages to avoid being just a trashy harem anime by delving into the characters of each of the women and Genji himself. If you've seen some of the previous work of director Osamu Dezaki, you will recognize his style in this series: a lot of pan shots and still frames with artful use of filter effects. Apart from helping make a fairly limited animation budget look good, this technique also punctuates the emotion or intensity of a scene and highlights the beautifully rendered costumesand environments. It's almost like watching a shoujo manga come to life. Even when I found myself thinking "What is he doing? Why is she angsting so much?" I couldn't help but be caught up in the emotion of the scene. Basically, if you're the type who likes romantic period dramas with lots of gorgeous costumes and soap opera relationships and a bit of political intrigue, then this is absolutely the anime for you. If you're not necessarily a fan of those things, but can appreciate an artistic and well-made interpersonal drama, then do check it out anyway.

WillMunny★ 9

This is an underrated gem. The visuals are stylized, but quite beautiful and well suited to the subject at hand. Centering on the amorous encounters of Hikaru, the series does in fact feature several intimate scenes, but they are not explicit and to focus on them is to miss the larger point of the work. This is ultimately a poetic, lingering examination of longing, attraction and the multi-faceted nature of love, all set to a dramatic and moving soundtrack.