Review of Moon Phase: Phase 4

Introduction

My Christmas anime feast continues with the fourth volume of Moon Phase. The early volumes heralded a curiously interesting show, a blend of cuteness and spookiness that promises to charm viewers into liking it. It`s your usual anime fish out of water premise, with a cute teenage vampire living with a family renowned for defeating supernatural phenomenon. What makes Moon Phase stand out is the way in which it blends the comedy with the story. Instead of settling for the usual harem mayhem antics, Moon Phase has one eye firmly on the overreaching story, and mood and atmosphere count for more than opting for the easy pratfall. If the show keeps up this standard, then Moon Phase could turn out to be special indeed.

Kouhei Morioka is a psychic photographer who works for a paranormal magazine. He comes from a family of exorcists, but is unique in that he has an immunity to psychic phenomenon. His life changes when he goes on assignment to a mysterious castle in Germany, and winds up releasing from her imprisonment, a teenage vampire named Hazuki with a penchant for wearing kitten ears.

The next four episodes of Moon Phase are presented on this fourth volume from Revelation. Previously, Count Kinkel`s attempts to awaken Hazuki`s Lady Luna persona had caused an unexpected development, the creation of a new personality that was the melding of both Hazuki and Luna.

15. It`s More Than A Responsibility
With the next full moon coming, it`s time for all vampires to feed. But with Kouhei refusing to be Hazuki`s slave, and with Hazuki pointedly ignoring him, there is more than a degree of awkwardness in the household. Elfriede advises Hazuki to find a new slave, and her bloodlust soon sends her out on a hunt. With all the crossed signals and misinterpreted messages, could Hazuki and Kouhei`s time together be coming to an end?

16. I Have To Eat Cat-Ear Buns!
Hazuki is back to normal, well as normal as she usually gets. Her penchant for all things cat related has returned, and she is currently tormented by a couple of crows that are intent on stealing her snack food. She sets a trap for them, but when Kouhei sees how effortlessly she can stalk her prey, he`s inspired to use Hazuki as a model. But there is a new, stronger threat looking for Hazuki, and trouble is guaranteed when Kouhei`s editor Hiromi publishes the photograph.

17. Big Brother, Why Is This Happening?
Kouhei is stressed about his inability to protect Hazuki, and his lack of ability when it comes to all things supernatural. He`s pestering his grandfather for some extra training, but by the time grandpa relents it is too late. Mario has arrived looking to take Hazuki back, and this foe is stronger than any they have faced before. The wards on the antiques shop are no impediment to one as powerful as he.

18. Yahoo! I`ll See You Soon
Eight months have passed, and Hazuki is at the Mido family shrine, spending time with Kouhei`s cousins Hikaru and Kaoru and hiding from the vampires. She can only see Kouhei once a month, as he`s secreted away in the forest, undergoing the strictest of training regimens. His newfound abilities are about to be put to the test though.

Video

Moon Phase gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer consistent with most modern anime series, and given that it is barely three years old, there is little to complain about with the original source material. The transfer itself is adequate, there are little of the NTSC-PAL symptoms immediately apparent, and the image is clear and sharp most of the time. There are odd moments of indistinctness when the scene gets particularly dark and misty, but nothing too noteworthy. The credit sequences still suffer from aliasing though. Fortunately there are textless credits in the extras so you can see them unsullied.

Moon Phase has a toned down palette suitable for its more gothic subject matter, although the cute character designs are at odds with this. The animation varies from average to impressive, with some dynamic animation offering a different perspective on the characters, and also following through to the action sequences. While the average comedy scene will have the straightforward animation that you would expect from the genre, there is a lot of moody animation that goes with the spooky feel. There is a greater tendency to experiment with the animation style, and it certainly holds the attention.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 5.1 and 2.0 English, DD 2.0 Japanese, all supplemented by a translated English subtitle track, or a signs only track. You know you are entering cute territory as soon as you hear the infuriatingly catchy theme tune, "Neko Mimi Mode". In my opinion, as practically always, the original Japanese track is the way to go, and the stereo track offered here has no problems. The dialogue is clear, and the action gets a decent amount of separation. The 5.1 track does offer more in terms of ambience and directionality, but it is still predominately a front-focussed affair. The English dub is accomplished and easy to listen to, although some Japanese phrases like `bento` or `neko mimi` aren`t translated, requiring a little familiarity with Japanese culture (or you can just work it out from the context).

Features

There are just your basic anime extras on this disc. You get the jaggie free textless credit sequences, as well as trailers for Suzuka and Peach Girl.

Conclusion

It happens more often than not in anime, the mid-season slump. It`s usually typified by a strategically placed clip show, a recap designed to help weary animators rest their wizened fingers. Not always though, as sometimes you just get a stretch of episodes that lack the spark that typifies the rest of the series, and you wind up looking at your watch to see how much time is left. That happened with volume 4 of Moon Phase, and given that the first three volumes set such a high standard, the falloff here is even more obvious.

The characters are there, the quirky writing is still there, but I really felt as if the show was just spinning its wheels for a volume, and especially for the first two episodes, not a lot happened. Moon Phase is at its best when the overall story is being advanced, and up till now we`ve had action packed dramatic storylines interleaved with brief, comedy oriented character interludes. The character comedy is evident in episodes 15 and 16, continuing on from the previous volume, making this the longest stretch yet, and the shtick is beginning to wear thin. A couple more episodes of Kouhei being dense, and Hazuki being cute but infuriating ensue, and I was getting the feeling that we had seen it all before, random pans dropping from the sky and all. Of course little bits of story keep unfolding in the background, but the central focus just covers old ground.

That story comes back with a vengeance in episode 17, with a new foe arriving on Japanese soil to stalk Hazuki. But the episode unfolds slowly, it`s a gradual build up of tension, some poignant back-story is unveiled before the big confrontation in the episodes dying minutes. It`s a powerful bit of storytelling, some unexpected developments, and you`re left on the edge of your seat, bristling with tension. And then the show blows it all with episode 18, which jumps ahead 8 months, wasting all that dramatic build up and getting us straight back into a light fluffy comedy place. Black Cat did just the same thing recently with its second volume, and I find it just as annoying and disappointing here as I did then. A little more disappointing in fact, as Moon Phase is by far the stronger show.

Of course reviewing these things one volume at a time means that episodes have to be taken out of context, and that in the grand scheme of things, these four episodes will make perfect and logical sense. But evaluating the volume by itself, I have to say that three of these episodes just don`t cut the mustard, and the one that does seems forlorn and out of place as the filling in a mediocre sandwich. That`s a little hyperbole there, as this volume isn`t that bad. Compared to many other anime, this is still a worthwhile series, and if you are collecting Moon Phase, it goes without saying that it`s an indispensable purchase. Don`t forget that with Revelation`s release schedule for 2008, volume 5 will be arriving on a quarterly schedule. Look for it on the shop shelves as the cherry blossoms are falling.