Deadjournal

A great anime with a beautiful storyline and a pleasant art style. While it might look childish, I personally enjoy this kind of drawing style. The plot isn’t the most groundbreaking and does have a few flaws, but I still think it’s excellent, especially compared to what I’ve seen recently. It strikes a harmonious balance between romance, detective, and mystery, which are my favorite genres.

I was also quite shocked to hear Russian in the ending song. At first, I didn’t even recognize my native language in it! And yes, the ending song was fantastic in both the Russian and Japanese versions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epmzDxsS4kc
https://youtu.be/Vd7X-o0MjoE

I finally got around to watching this anime, which I’ve heard about for many years. I can confidently say I wasn’t disappointed, I really enjoyed it, especially the ending. A pleasant bonus was that I watched the remastered version in 720p with a smooth 30fps framerate. That’s pretty decent quality for a 2003 anime.

Speaking of the smoothness, why don’t all anime look this fluid? It doesn’t require drawing more frames, as you can easily boost the fps from 23 to 30 with software. Anyway, for anyone interested in increasing framerate, I recommend using SVP4.

Now, about the visuals. The art style is pretty basic, even for 2003 standards. What saves it are the smooth motion and high resolution. As for the character designs, they didn’t appeal to me at all, especially Brandon after his "necrolyzed" transformation. A towering, three-meter-tall mass of muscle with a disproportionately small head? It just doesn’t look good.

The characters are probably the anime’s strongest aspect. Each one is well-developed, with their own philosophy, worldview, and unique perspective on the events. The one I disliked the most was Big Daddy. How could such a kind-hearted, saintly figure lead a massive criminal organization? That part of the story didn’t fully click for me.

The entire plot feels like it was built solely to set up the final episode, which is the culmination of everything. It’s in that last episode where themes of friendship and betrayal, love and forgiveness, fully come to life. I don’t understand why so many people hate the ending, I personally thought it was the highlight of the entire series.
Final Thoughts

Mika deserves a mention, she’s the one character who suffered the most throughout the story. By the final episode, it was no surprise that she was already showing signs of losing her sanity.

Off-topic: I think I’ll stop writing detailed thoughts on anime I watch. The more anime I watch (and at this point, I’ve seen over 800 titles), the more everything starts feeling formulaic. Writing about it just doesn’t seem as worthwhile anymore. At most, I’ll stick to leaving short comments on MAL.

Final Rating:

While Gungrave has its flaws, it’s an emotionally powerful experience, with its ending being the crown jewel. Highly recommended for those who value character-driven narratives.

I honestly think this is a great anime with clever humor and a unique visual style, but as an average gaijin pleb, I probably miss a lot of the references and nuances happening on screen. I wouldn’t call myself an expert on Japanese culture, but I’m not a complete novice either, and yet I only understood maybe 50–60% of the gags in the show. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to fully enjoy the experience. Even the jokes I did get didn’t feel strong enough to rate the anime higher than a 6/10. If I remember correctly, the previous seasons weren’t as dense with references and were easier to follow. Another issue with the third season is the repetitive structure of the episodes: each one starts with an event that sets up the theme for the jokes, followed by a series of gags based on that theme. It gets pretty monotonous after 3–4 episodes.

A sweet, calm, and pleasant anime, best enjoyed on a rainy day, wrapped in a warm blanket with a cup of hot chocolate in hand. The first few episodes nearly put me to sleep, but gradually, I found myself drawn into the world on the other side of the screen.

This anime is both clichéd and original at the same time. The plot is predictable and reminiscent of your typical dime novel, but it avoids most of the common anime clichés. I watched the entire series with ease, found the events on screen believable, and even empathized with the characters (even though, of course, I knew how it would end from the very start). The pacing is calm and slow, with a focus on slice-of-life moments rather than drama. There are no excessive emotions or other typical anime tropes, which is quite refreshing. That said, this is one of those shows that fades from memory almost as soon as you finish it.

I also read the manga and can say that the series stays pretty faithful to the source material.

I've read the original visual novel, but I only decided to watch the adaptation recently. I have to say, I was truly impressed by the visuals in this anime. It’s hard to believe it aired in 2006, the artwork, 3DCG, and special effects rival even some modern TV series.

The main issue with the adaptation is its fast pacing. With only 24 episodes, there’s not enough time to fully develop the plot. As a result, viewers who haven’t read the original visual novel may find themselves confused. On the other hand, this might serve as a great incentive to dive into the VN. For the average viewer unfamiliar with the source material, there will undoubtedly be plenty of unanswered questions by the end. Perhaps this explains why it has a relatively low score on MAL.

That said, it was still a pretty good adaptation overall.