My Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0

Tsukihime is a tale of a high school boy, Shiki Tohno, with the Gaze of Death and his encounters with a vampire princess named Arcueid Brunestud. Shiki is not your ordinary school boy. He is quite frail and often passes out. He also has the ability to see the world as a series of lines. By cutting along those lines, he can destroy anything - from humans to buildings.

Shiki had been living with his uncle for the past 8 years since an accident caused a major falling out between him and his father. His father recently passed away, so his sister, Akiha, invited him to return to the Tohno estate.

The day after he moved in, Shiki was walking home from school and was suddenly compelled to kill a blonde haired woman. Fortunately, that girl was not an ordinary human, but a vampire princess named Arcueid Brunestud. Using her abilities, Arc was able to revive herself and set her sights on acquiring Shiki's abilities for her own cause.

There has been a string of serial murders in Shiki's city recently. All victims had fang marks and their blood drained. Arc explains that these murders are caused by Proselyte vampires lurking in the shadows of the city. There are two types of vampires, the Primordials and the Proselytes. Primordials are almost a part of nature itself, similar to spirits. Proselytes are humans that had their blood sucked by Primordials. They're the typical vampires people think of. Primordials like herself don't need blood to survive. However, some suck blood for their enjoyment and that's how Proselytes were born. Arc hunts Proselytes and Shiki now has a duty to aid her.

Tsukihime is a twisted anime, and at times is difficult to follow. Just when things start making sense, they somehow get weirder. Initially you think Shiki has serious problems deciphering between his own dreams and reality, but as you watch the anime, you begin to see that he may be one of the saner characters. The anime is particularly interesting because many of the characters don't like each other and tend to offer a new perspective on the others.

I really liked this anime, and thought that the ending did it justice (unlike so many other endings). It's interesting to note that the story is based on a Japanese fighting game (it's surprisingly better than you might expect - particularly if you've watched other anime based on fighting games). From what I hear, the game was quite bizarre with 13 min of dialogue between fights...

Overall, I highly recommend the anime. It has a very Gothic feel and is better than most vampire animes out there. Sure, at points the story isn't completely cohesive, but it doesn't leave you hanging, and by the end, you have a pretty good idea of what just happened and who everyone is.

Animation:

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0

The animation style is beautiful with fluid movements for the most part. The color schemes tend to be more dark/gothic, though occasionally, the backgrounds are painted in rich colors.

Music:

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0

The music is very melancholic and ambient to add to the strangeness/Gothic-ness of the atmosphere. Very nice!

Character Design:

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0

In terms of characters, each of the main characters - Shiki, Akiha, Ciel, and Arcueid - are all interesting and mysterious in their own ways. The girls tend to despise each other, so much of the character development comes from their warnings to Shiki about the others. And, of course, each never quite reveals the 'true' story. Shiki and Arcueid's relationship grows substantially from one of loathing to one of mutual caring - the love story is actually quite cute and believable.