DO NOT CONFUSE THIS WITH NARUTO!
Genre: Serious, Fantasy
Score: (complicated)
Rating: 18 for so many reasons
A girl on holiday finds and adopts a strange creature, one that turns out to be psychic and powerful, and becomes her familiar. She’s not alone: other children have found these ‘dragons’ as well. The dragons themselves seem to become reflections of their owner, in both powers and behaviour. And not everyone has the same ideas about how to use them.
I have a reputation for enjoying the dark and serious stories, full of suffering and tears. But this short series has too much of both for even my taste. I haven’t given this a score because I’m not even sure myself: it’s very insightful into the inner lives of innocent-looking children, but from a seemingly gentle beginning it’s increasingly unflinching, leading to an end that is so nasty it’s difficult to watch. Only touch this if you have a solid stomach and a lot of resolve.
Minotaur adds:
I’ve watched a hell of a lot of dark, depressing, emotionally flaying, and in some cases downright harrowing anime, but this one pushes the boat out further. A lot further.
I kid you not, this is by some margin the most disturbing series I’ve seen. Live action or anime. Ever.
I’ve watched this series over the last couple of nights. It’s a very interesting story about children, the way they interact with each other, and particularly how they treat those who fall outside their narrow expectations. The use (and misuse) of their new-found powers is fascinating, and there’s no shortage of violence, death and wanton slaughter. It’s an interesting look at what might happen if people really did have superpowers without the intellectual or emotional maturity to use them.