geovanny77 - 2014-11-22 22:29:55

This is actually one of my favorite anime series.
It's easy to pass off this anime as just another fanservice show, but this show doesn't degrade its characters with its fanservice, (unlike many other shows I could mention), so in that regard it gets a free pass from me. And though, yes, the main character is boring, he's more than made up for by the supporting cast, all of whom are memorable, at least for me.

Having read the manga and watched the anime, I can say with some certainty that the manga is slightly better. It has less fanservice, for one. But if you can't stand reading, the anime covers the same ground, more or less. The plot is intricate, dark and interesting. There were many moments where I got chills when the characters uncovered bits of Yuuko's past. The atmosphere is excellent. One thing I really like is that this series doesn't get too gory, but holds a sad, creepy tone throughout.

Production-wise, the designs of the characters are appealing, the camera angles are interesting and visually the colors are vibrant, yet still appropriate for a horror story. This show escapes the trap of bland saturation, unlike others in the genre.
The music is also worth noting, particularly the ending theme, which is memorable and haunting.

So if you want a creepy anime with a dash of humor, and no jumpscares or gore, this is a perfect series for you. Also recommended: Kiben Gakuha, Yotsuya-senpai no Kaidan.

wintheiser.janis - 2014-06-10 12:41:26

When I see that the anime's genre is horror, I expect it to be bloody with an interesting plot. This was not the case in this anime. It was some kind of a romantic comedy. If you're not into romance and looking for some gore, there's no need for you to watch it. You'll be disappointed like I was.

elna.lynch - 2014-05-31 16:29:58

the feels doe.

crunte - 2013-12-25 11:07:38

I had 3 friends recommending this show to me, so I was like 'why the hell not?' and decided to watch this on first glance promising show with an interesting storyline.

The story starts of rather slowly. Normally I really don't mind that, but this time it was well... boring. I felt like it added nothing to the story at all. However, the story increased in quality over time and actually got very, very interesting. I loved the idea of a boy falling in love with a ghost (''impossible love'' kind of storyline). I actually still find myself thinking about the two lovebirds sometimes, since the anime stops without really telling the whole story, leaving the viewers with quite some questions. Now, about the ending. This was a very, very big flaw in my opinion. I really did not like what they did with it. Not gonna spoil anything! You have to watch for yourself to find out, hehe.

It's not the animation of the main characters I have a problem with. They looked very, very good, which made the contrast between the main characters and its surroundings even more stand out. The backgrounds were, meh, average... But the students... geez. Black faces with no details whatsoever. Personally, I really didn't like that, but I know some people who didn't give a rats ass about that, so don't get discouraged by this.

The soundtracks of this show were actually one of its strong points. It really added to the vibe of the scene. For example, a quite sad one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0qFMjQgXjc

Even though this show has quite some flaws, I don't regret watching this show; overall it was good. However, it's not one of those ''must watch'' shows, but hey, if you've got some time to spare, 'why the hell not', right?

(Apologies for any grammar errors and what not. English is not my first language. I hope that this review will be of use to you.)

mckenzie24 - 2013-10-09 16:22:56

I think this has been one of the very few anime lately that I've really enjoyed. I think that the most remarkable thing with this anime is the good mix between horror/supernatural and comedy, and it's something that the creators manage to do perfectly.

Something that I really enjoy in entertainment is when it plays with your emotions, and invoke strong emotion through the piece, and that is when I truly feel alive. That is something that Tasogare Otome x Amnesia does very well, and I find it hard to believe that any person who has emotions won't feel the effect of this anime.

Through the course of this anime you will feel sadness, happiness, you will laugh, you will feel angry and see the cruelty portrayed in the anime. There is also some interesting romance portrayed in this anime, which is the kind of romance that I really enjoy.

Do keep in mind that in the middle, around episode 5 and 6, the story might get into a bit of a stalemate, but even so I think it's worth it to finish this anime, because the ending is really good, and I really enjoyed it, but there was a small thing in the ending that I didn't like, which I don't want to spoil in this review.

If this is your thing, you should definitely check out this anime.

feeney.amparo - 2013-07-24 03:57:29

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia has a good take on the Romance genre, with the coupling between that of Teiichi, the average high school student, and Kanoe Yuuko, a ghost. Not only does the show have an interesting take on romance but it also shows how easy it is for people to trick themselves into being scared of what is not really there, which has to be what will overall separate this anime from the others.Story: The story is what I said before, that of a romance between a normal high school boy and a ghost with the addition of human fear. The story progressed very well and I didn't really notice any filler, or at least didn't mind any that they threw in. It was fleshed out well and ended perfectly. The only thing that I did not care for was that at some points they seemed to back track because of a condition that you will learn that Yuuko has, but this was somewhat necessary to express the seriousness of her disorder. Only because the story does not go above and beyond will I leave this section with a 9/10Art: Nothing special in this area. The artwork was consistent but it didn't seem to stand out as original. Not only that but I have seen better from a lot of other anime that I have watched from this year that stood above this one. Of course, it may just be my own favoritism towards certain styles. I will nail this section with an 8/10Sound: This section stood out very well. Several points in the anime did I have to pause so that I could search for the songs used. The intro was great and the ending was good too, not only that but the background music was very noticeable and well done, which is why I will give sound a 9/10Enjoyment: I enjoyed the anime a good amount. I didn't just burn through every episode in one day however. I watched the first couple episodes then came back to see the rest another day. At no part however did I force myself to move on, I chose to because I enjoyed it and wanted to see what the next episode had in store for our favorite ghost. I'll land this section with an 8/10Overall: Well to get an overall look at the story, it performs all of the listed genres well, but when factoring in my personal enjoyment and preference in animation, its overall rating seems to suffer. I believe that many people could find this anime to be a 9/10 and some even a 10/10, so I recommend that you check it out but as for me, I'm going to give it an 8/10

abdul27 - 2013-07-23 13:28:51

I went into Dusk Maiden of Amnesia expecting a dark dramatic horror-style thrill ride with a hint of mystery, Instead I got all that and a light hearted rom-com as-well. Now you're probably thinking how is that even possible and wouldn't that formula equate to a pretty messed-up anime? well the answer is no, It actually creates a very enjoyable unique viewing experience which the anime industry needs more of.Despite saying that, the story isn't very appealing or great by itself, It is when the spectacular art direction comes in, the story's full potential is realized.= Story (8) = As mentioned earlier, the story features a lot of genres not usually seen accompanying one another, but it still works out great. The problem doesn't lie there, though rather with the stories appeal and entertainment value. You see the old 'character with amnesia' and 'ghost and human forbidden love' plot points have been used quite a number of times, spanning across books, movie 's and TV series and makes the story feel quite clichéd. However, with character back-stories, the intriguing setting, numerous slice-of-life type sub-plots and the presence of some very unusual plot devices cancel out that clichéd feeling and makes the story seem rather unique.= Art (9) & Art Direction (10) = Art is very well done, the studio has managed to capture the right sort of tone and look for the series. Character designs aren't anything special but they don't have to be.Art Direction is something that people don't really look for in a series, usually since there's nothing special about it compared with all the other thousands of anime series out there. Though, the direction in this series is extremely noticeable and rather incredible. The way the director uses lighting is especially brilliant and very artistic, he manages to manipulate the tone of the story with ease. The director (Shin Ōnuma btw) also uses a number of screen effects to make the series more compelling, such as using manga type composition. Another interesting trick the director uses is the 'blacking out' of all background characters, which I think adds a little something to the series.One other thing I'd like to add is that first-person effect episodes were excellently crafted and very memorable. = Character (8) =The small amount of characters in this anime were all interesting, especially Yukko's character which I found very compelling. It's a shame however that the other three main characters were shunned a bit and more development could've easily been made, especially Okonogi, who we really know hardly anything about and significance in the main story is hardly felt. = Sound (8) =I didn't have any problem with the seiyuu's chosen for their respective parts and I think all performances were done rather good. The OST fitted nicely though nothing memorable, The OP and ED weren't really to my taste though resonated with the story nicely.= Enjoyment (9) =The series is very enjoyable from start to finish, you'll be laughing, scared sh*tless and maybe even crying throughout the twelve episodes and probably even wanting more once you finish the series. = Overall (8.5) =Overall, Dusk Maiden or Tasogare x Otome is a great series, It's very unique for it's blending of genres, It's intriguing story, the splendid art and art direction which is simply a masterpiece, It's alright sound, the characters, even though there could've been more development for them and the series enjoyment levels.

langosh.ransom - 2013-06-23 13:19:36

After seeing enough anime to say that there are really good and really bad romance stories with original storylines I can only say this. After seeing this series I will not be able to forget it. The story is really nice with enough emotion to make me on the verge of tears at the end. I would simply love a next season for this show as it made me aware of the fact that there are still series created that can make you feel so sad, happy and downright angry at faith as this one. I must say that in the start you have sidetracking all over but when you get past that you will see one of the most amazing stories I have ever seen. I can honestly not say that there is any show on the top of my mind that left such a hugh impression on me, giving me such a sad feeling while starting as a series where I wanted to quit watching because I was creeped out by the amazingly good sounds.

The characters are amazing and even though you will not see many side characters there is a high amount of quality put into creating this really good animated main cast and background making it even better than the story allready is.

Again, I will not forget the feeling while watching this anime, making me very clear on the choice to say to everyone that you should watch it, while it might not be perfect by a long stretch, it does feel perfect for me, being the first anime that made me so close to actualy crying my eyes out.

schamberger.janet - 2013-03-17 12:41:58

I feel that this is an anime that really does not know what it wants to be. Half the time it is a semi-dark romance that is wonderfully complemented by the heavily orange artstyle, and the rest of the time is a happy-go-lucky comedy. It switches between these two styles so erratically that it is impossible to say if there was really a theme to the show. The plot follows Teiichi as he finds himself wandering in the deserted old section of his school. He vaguely recalls a story in which a ghost haunts whoever looks in a certain mirror. Needless to say, he finds this mirror and looks into it, he is definitely haunted, but not in the way you would suspect. The ghost is a surprisingly attractive girl named Yuuko. Yuuko has amnesia and Teiichi promises to help Yuuko get her memories back, as such he begins the “Paranormal Investigations Club” which is used to help Yuuko learn about her past, and how she died.What pisses me off is that this show opened up great, with one of the most clever opening episodes I have seen in a long time. This episode had the ability to make the exact same scene infinitely more entertaining by changing a few details and airing it twice. As well we got introductions to all the characters and leaves us with some important questions that need to be answered, needless to say this first episode was brilliant, it had everything it needed and was supported by a wonderful art style that fit the style of show perfectly. After this episode I was hooked, thinking that this show was going to be amazing.From there on it just gets worse, instead of answering the questions we were left with, it decides to launch a barrage of comedy episodes at us, whose only purpose is to make us laugh. It does this until episode eight in which it decides to switch back to the theme that they were conveying in the first episode. These episodes finally began to answer the questions we had, I only felt that it was a little late. I had forgotten the questions we were left with due to the many comedy episodes before episode 8 so to finally get a plot now felt a little dull. That being said, these episodes were good, and I would have really enjoyed them if they happened sooner, but sadly they didn’t. The show seems to try and please everybody, it switches themes erratically in order to make sure that everybody has something they could enjoy. The problem comes when this makes that you can’t enjoy every second of it, no matter what side of the fence you are on. If you want a upbeat comedy, then I am sure that you will enjoy episodes 2-7. However, you will feel that there is too much going on with the other episodes and that may turn you off. On the opposite end, if you are looking for an emotional mystery/romance then you will be turned away by the series of episodes that blocks you from this theme. These alterations in themes are no more prevalent than in the final episode, where I can only assume there was an argument over what the theme really was. Usually an episode of the show sticks to its own theme and doesn’t really change it, but this episode alters the style it is going for many times. It’s happy, then it’s melancholy, it proceeds to switch to a romantic theme, before switching to the emotional and bittersweet ending... Except it would be the ending if it were actually the ending, but it’s not. In an unneeded twist it switches theme once more to a happy-go-lucky comedy that we saw in episodes 2-7. This ending was simply weak, it was hard to tell which emotion it wanted me to feel and overall made me feel none. If it had ended at the bittersweet part where it felt like a natural ending, then I would have been genuinely depressed and it would have left a much larger impression on me. Similarly if it had skipped the bittersweet part and moved straight to the “everything is happy” part, I would have been laughing and smiling like an idiot. However, in the way that it toyed with my emotions it made it impossible for me to enjoy the ending at all.All this said, there were a few episodes that I really liked, some of them were just enjoyable, and some experimented with the way that they could show a story. Episodes 10 and 11 were my favourite episodes in the series, even above the opening episode. These episodes showed Niiya viewing Yuuko’s past through her own eyes. This was clever, and showed a unique art style that you don’t see in anime often. Because of the situation, the entire episode was told from a first person point of view. We see life through one person’s eyes and this kept me intrigued throughout these episodes. As well these episodes heavily played into the plot and finally answered the question that we all had from the very beginning, how exactly did Yuuko die?I would also like to point out the art style, which works almost half the time. When it is a comedy it falls flat as the art style is just a bit too dark. However it really works perfectly when it goes for the supernatural mystery/romance tone. When this happens the art style perfectly complements the tone of the story and makes it much, much more enjoyable. I think it was the art style that made me want the darker side of the story more as it just fit better. If the art style were to be adapted into something a bit more cheerful then perhaps I would have enjoyed the comedy episodes the most.This anime is an anime that tries to be everything, but fails with deciding what it really is. It could have been really great if it had picked one theme and stuck with it. It did not and the plot and overall enjoyment suffered greatly because of this. The plot was intriguing and I was interested to find out what really happened, but it decided to put off the plot in favor of cracking some jokes. This show had a ton of potential but in the end gets only a 6/10.

caitlyn.balistreri - 2013-03-16 17:34:55

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia definitely seems like an acceptable anime with the little plots, synopsis, and summaries written about it. Ultimately, it is your normal anime with a dark feel, and a lot of comedy and romance latched onto it. However, the anime mostly contains comedy and romance which I find it to be quite ironic. Usually the summaries written about this anime give you the feel of horror and mystery, but when you watch the episodes you see too much romance. The only times you have a feeling of horror and mystery into it is when you see the Paranormal Investigation Club trying their very best to find clues about Yuuko’s death, or when Yuuko is pretending to be a ghost just to scare the crap out of the main characters which is only a total of four. Lastly, the anime is way too fast paced, I kept on getting confused on like how much time has passed during the anime. To summarize it all up, I believe “Dusk Maiden of Amnesia” does a terrible job at showing any type of plot development because it gives me the feel that it is mainly concentrating on showing the relationship between Yuuko and Teiichi. 

Characters:
The main characters in this anime either show an advanced character development or an extreme lack of character development. The characters Yuuko and Teiichi are seen throughout this anime 80% of the time. I believe these two show too much character development because in just a short amount of time they already act like lovers who’ve been together since childhood or something. The problem with this is that you see the same scene almost all the time: Yuuko seducing Teiichi, Yuuko making fun of Teiichi, Yuuko touching Teiichi, Teiichi touching Yuuko, and both of them all lovey dovey. I love romance and all, but this is too much, I mean in just the first day they meet and you already see them on top of each other, it’s too much of a fast development for me. The other main characters Momoe and Kirie are pretty much shown 20% of the time throughout the whole entire series; they barely receive any amount of screen time which results into barely any character development. As a result, I believe the creators only made them to act as ‘extra’ club members.

The other problem I have with this anime is that it lacks background characters. I understand perfectly well that background characters are not that important to the anime, but seriously throughout the whole anime you just see four characters and their all the main characters! I don’t know if you understand this, but minor and background characters may not be that important to an anime, however when you see the same characters every episode, and no other characters at all, you slowly understand that minor and background characters play the crucial role of making it seem more realistic to the viewer. I mean think about it, if you were a person trying their very best to find clues to some death at a school than you expect to see some people who know some information about it, or at least you see just some random people off into the distance chatting about God knows what! But this anime doesn’t have any of that, just four characters in some big ass school. This anime takes place at a school, and at a school you have students, teachers, and all those other people, but there aren’t any of them around in this anime; it makes me think to myself “Where the hell are the other students? I mean I’m only seeing four characters the whole entire time, doesn’t anybody go to this school?” The only time I saw some actual background characters in this anime so far was on episode five, even if it was just a little bit it made me feel happy to know that some other people actually exist in this anime. 

Art:
The art style of this anime seems like the only darn thing that is 100% perfectly fine! Even though the plot is all messed up, the art is like the only thing that makes me give this anime a decent score of 7 out of 10. The colors used in this anime were so pretty it makes me feel like I’m looking at some painting. The animation was also very well done it had a great use of graphics and effects. Yep art perfect in every way. Indeed the background artists could do a bit more better job at making the backgrounds seem older to give the overall anime feel a bit of pizzazz, but it’s still fine just the way it is. Oh and did you guys know that the people who drew this anime did a great job at showing some fan service? Well now you know, so if you like these sort of animes with fan service than you might actually think “Holy crap, I’m in Heaven.”

Sound:
Seems okay, I have no problems with the voices used in this anime nor the opening and ending songs of the anime. Though I don't know why, but both opening and ending songs didn't seem to attract much attention to me, I didn't really like them that much, but I still thought it was good for the whole mood. The only thing that needs fixing is the better use of background music to better add the mood of the events occurring throughout the show. If the anime had some special sound effects or my favorite, motivational music than I bet I would have rated the anime a little higher maybe up to a 7.5 if that option existed in MyAnimeList.net, I wish it did, it would make my reviews a lot more accurate. 

Enjoyment:
My overall enjoyment to “Tasogare Otome x Amnesia” was definitely nothing special, I pretty much thought that it was boring. I didn't feel any type of suspense in this anime, no chair gripping, hair biting, mommy I’m scared moments. It was just me sitting there, staring at the computer pretty much bored out of my mind watching Yuuko and Teiichi have some fun. Some parts in the anime did make me awe in adoration or laugh out loud towards the characters or some moments happening in it. Though I mainly just felt bored throughout the whole thing. I did feel a bit of jealously watching this anime since Yuuko and Teiichi’s relationship together seem so perfect, they rarely have any arguments and such or some difficult obstacles they have to face in order for them to be together forever or something like that. I mean throughout the anime their always together, their love just seems perfect and all with no strings attached. God, you don’t know how much I want a relationship like theirs; just watching them all lovey dovey makes me feel like I’ll be forever alone.