Seikyou Academy is a school whose
history is steeped in myth and folktales, so much so that it even has
a club dedicated to the investigation of the paranormal. Its members
include Teiichi, a humble and unassuming boy; Kirie, a curt tomboy;
Momoe, a ditsy and childish girl; and Yuuko, a flirtatious young
woman. Oh, and Yuuko is actually a ghost who died in the basement of
the school fifty years ago and the entire club is just a front put in
place by Teiichi so that he can investigate the circumstances
surrounding Yuuko's mysterious death. Yep. Anime.
In pure technicalities, Dusk Maiden is
a pretty good-looking series. Productions which feature an element of
horror or mystery can sometimes be guilty of straying too far to the
“dark” side, but this show's color palette is all about contrast,
with the high oranges and yellows of the titular dusk splendidly
highlighting the deep purples, greens, and reds of the gloomy
setting, as well as the pale features of key characters. The designs
are pleasant, if leaning a little towards generic, the backgrounds
are solidly detailed, and with the exception of a few off-model
moments the art is of above-average quality. Some interesting choices
in direction add heartily to the show, and they merit special
mention. Many shots are angled to make rooms and hallways appear
either smaller or larger than they are, adding an aura of
claustrophobia or ominous openness to the setting. During moments of
exposition, cuts to a brief black-and-white flashback or a series of
still images illustrating a story are sometimes made—these are
animation budget saving tactics, sure, but they're creatively used
and mesh well with the folklore/legend motif that persists throughout
much of the series, so I say “bravo.” The end result is that this
show is almost never boring to look at. Quite the opposite; its
visuals add greatly to the overall experience.
As impressive, though seldom as
noticeable, is the musical score. It tends toward atmospheric noise,
often relying on the eerie, echoic notes of a piano to gain the
desired effect. Older, more traditional-sounding drums and chimes,
slow and foreboding, sound right at home in the remnants of the
decaying school building. Drama is sometimes accompanied by more
complex orchestral compositions, but even these are usually
integrated with a fair amount of subtlety. The most standout piece, a
haunting vocal ballad, is used sparingly but effectively. The score
can also be goofy, as the show can, but even the more lighthearted
tracks usually have a thin coat of creepy applied to them, as if to
present a playfully demented take on the school comedy soundtrack.
That's a nice touch. Overall, the music does a lot while still
feeling relatively minimal and unobtrusive, and I see no problem with
that.
If there’s a recurring theme in Dusk
Maiden, it’s the thought that unpleasant feelings cannot simply be
shied away from; whether consciously or unconsciously, people will be
affected by their fears and insecurities. This is most evident in the
form of Yuuko, who is literally torn in two by denial. She’s able
to maintain her jovial and lighthearted demeanor only because she has
dissociated herself from her anger, jealousy, and the memories of her
unjust death, which manifest themselves as a malevolent black entity
termed Shadow Yuuko. Like the repressed doubts she represents, Shadow
Yuuko always lingers in the background, waiting for a moment of
weakness to exploit. Moreover, the series uses interesting internal
logic to explain the appearances of ghosts. When the students look at
a spirit, it takes a shape that is reminiscent of their own emotions.
Those who are calm and have no preconceived notions about terrible
things lurking about might see something benevolent, like Yuuko. But
those who walk the dark halls of the school with anxieties eating
away at them might see something altogether more sinister in her
place. This is a theme of reasonable weight, and it’s both conveyed
consistently throughout the duration of the show and interwoven with
the show's audiovisuals to create an atmosphere that can be rather
entrancing.
Yuuko as a character is an interesting
concept; a decent amount of thought is given to what it would really
be like to be a ghost, weird as that may sound. She is starved for
human contact, and understandably so—most people can't see her, and
those who can usually see her as something to run from, the Yuuko of
urban legends. The series is good at conveying the feeling that most
of what we're seeing isn't Yuuko as she was in life, but a Yuuko who
is a product of her stale environment and the cruel way that her life
ended—a teenaged girl trying a little too hard to be a teenaged
girl, her carefree and bubbly nature concealing all kinds of
resentment, anger, and bitter desires which are all the more
frightening because they're understandable.
Ultimately, though, the series
struggles to break away from the traditional trappings of high-school
romances: despite the good showing of tantalizing ideas and the fair
amount of effective artistry, it still desperately strives to be,
above all else, a show about a guy with all the verve of a dried-up
sponge who is inexplicably loved by three girls. Teiichi himself is
poorly characterized, and while he's often described by the rest of
the cast as “gentle,” “earnest,” and “dependable,” these
traits are perhaps more of a ghost story than anything in the series,
discussed in whispers but never truly shown or elaborated on. A more
accurate description of him would read along the lines of “he is
there” and “he is the main character.” To be sure, he performs
what the show dictates are the proper actions, never taking advantage
of the loneliness and vulnerability of his female friends, helping
Yuuko track down information about herself. Yet, there's no
indication that it's because of his personality (and, for that
matter, there's no indication that he has a personality). Rather,
he's the male protagonist in a romance, and that's just what the male
protagonists in romances are expected to do. He's a nice person
because he helps people and he helps people because he's a nice
person; forgive me for thinking that's far from compelling writing.
The result is that most generic of characters, someone who is
difficult to dislike but also difficult to notice or care about in
the first place.
Equally damaging are the show’s
shifts in tone, which are as frequent as they are jarring. Sharp
interjections of half-witted slapstick, usually centering on comedic
relief character Momoe, sometimes abruptly decapitate more serious
moments. Fanservice and boob humor are plentiful and unsubtle,
inserted at all of the wrong instances, often overstaying whatever
welcome they might have originally had. There’s no avoiding that
much of what goes on is fluff unrelated to what could loosely be
referred to as the story, an observation epitomized by the fact that
they somehow managed to cram a swimsuit episode in here somewhere.
And, worst of all, the show’s appreciable atmosphere of somber,
reflective melancholy can often give way to a soapy melodrama of
poorly thought out and repetitive dialogue (“I’m so lonely…so
sad…in so much pain…”) that is downright difficult to listen
to, much less take seriously. Drama, romance and mystery seem closer
to the real heart of the series, but its peripheral elements end up
distracting from, rather than enhancing, its strengths, and some of
its strengths aren't that strong to begin with. The series looks
good, sounds good, and knows how to get the viewer caught up in the
moment—qualities, make no mistake, that I appreciate. However, it's
also the kind of show that's very vulnerable to hindsight, and
looking back it's clear that there are plenty of issues with pacing,
characterization, and tone.
But when it comes down to it, I don’t
think it’s unfair to let this series scrape by with a pass. It does
a decent amount of things well, and the things it doesn’t do well
are frequently irritating but arguably not deal-breaking. Be warned,
though, that Dusk Maiden is one show likely to split audiences down
the middle; if you don’t mind the sound of some of the attributes
I’ve labeled as weaknesses, you’ll probably appreciate the show a
lot more than I've indicated, and if you do mind the sound of same,
you might not choose to give it the benefit of the doubt, as I have.
Score: 6/10; cautious recommendation.
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