Hi everybody! In preparation for Connecticon, I’m pumping out two reviews this week. By keeping them nearly back to back, I’ll have more time getting ready for my trip. With that said, my apologies if they’re not quite as good as what I’ve posting up so far during this 4-month marathon of anime reviews. With that out of the way, let’s look at the first review this week, and it’s a doozy. Let’s take a look at the dramatic 6-episode series, Crying Freeman.
Story/Setup
Taken from the Wikipedia page:
“Yo- Hinomura, a Japanese potter, comes into the possession of some film showing an assassination by an agent of the 108 Dragons, a powerful Chinese mafia. When he refuses to turn the film over to them, they kidnap him. Hypnotized, he is trained as an assassin for them and his body is tattooed with dragons. He is given the codename "Crying Freeman," because he cries after a kill and longs to be free.
One of his killings is witnessed by Emu Hino, a lonely and beautiful Japanese artist. Knowing he must kill her, she paints his portrait and waits for him to come. When he does so, she tells him that she is tired of being alone and wishes to end her life. She asks for a favor before he kills her - to make love to her, so that she will not die as a virgin. He grants her wish, but finds he cannot kill her and they fall in love. The killing she witnessed was of a yakuza boss, however, so the yakuza want to find her so that they can find the killer. One of the yakuza attempts to enter Emu's home and force her to disclose the name of the killer, critically injuring her. Freeman takes her to the hospital and tells her to meet him at Hinomura Kiln, where he intends to part with her. Instead, she accompanies him back to the 108 Dragons, where he tattoos her with tigers and they marry.
The heads of the 108 Dragons decide to name Freeman as their heir. He is given the Chinese name Lóng Tài-Yáng, and Emu is renamed Hu Qing-Lán, as both pass the tests given to them. It proves not as easy as that, however, as they must contend with challenges to the leadership from Bái-Yá Shàn, the granddaughter of the leaders of the 108 Dragons, and attempts to destroy the Dragons from other underground organizations.”
This is a very intricate story. It’s filled to the brim with action, drama, suspense, love, organized crime, and betrayal. Characters criss-cross frequently, and the plot spans all over the globe. If you aren’t paying complete to near-complete attention to the story, you’re gonna get lost. If you do manage to pay attention, then you’ll understand what’s going on.
Setting
Crying Freeman has to be one of the most diverse anime I’ve watched so far, as far as locales are concerned. Yo travels not only to China, but he also goes to Africa, Italy, his homeland of Japan, and the United States (Specifically, the city of Los Angeles). It’s pretty impressive, especially when you consider the fact that a massive, massive majority of Anime takes place in Japan (Duh!). The variety of settings is more impressive when you factor in the animation quality of the time (More on this in a bit).
Characters
Crying Freeman has a small but colorful cast of characters. Everybody in this show, whether minor or major, plays a role in the overarching story. Some do die off, but only before they provided something to the plot. I won’t go into every single one of them, as doing that would tame up too much time & space. For the purposes of this part of the review, I’m just going to go over what I consider to be the most important.
Let’s start off with the lead male, Yo. In his humble beginnings, he’s a surprisingly good pottery artist, enjoying a life of peace. After the an unfortunately series of events, he’s kidnaped by the 108 Dragons, and through a long period of torture & hypnosis, becomes the ruthless Lóng Tài-Yáng (Translated as Dragon Sun). His 5 senses have become nearly superhuman, has incredible strength & speed, and is knowledgeable in martial arts, firearms, and assassination techniques. He’s also considered to be incredibly handsome as well, as no woman has ever been able to resist his charm. He gains the nickname “Crying Freeman” because he cries after he’s killed his assigned target, and is a character that’s given a lot of screentime.
Next character I’ll talk about is Emu Hino. Like Yo, she is an inspiring artist, with a grasp on paintings. Also like Yo, she was living a life of peace, until she witnessed one of his killings, and somehow fell in love with him (Weird, ain’t it?). After the two escape to Hong Kong, they eventually marry, and she’s taken in by the 108 Dragons due to her will & resolve. She’s given the name Hu Qing Lán by the 108 Dragons (Hu Qing Lan is translated into Tiger Pure-Orchid), and manages to become even more resourceful than her husband, eventually become a master swordsman (Or Swordswoman, in this case).
Animation
Visually, Crying Freeman is a dark & gritty looking show. Not in the way shows like Angel Cop & Bio-Hunter looked: this show has a more artful style to everything. The women (For the most part) are gorgeous, the men range from handsome to okay/gruff looking, and the various locales throughout the show look incredibly realistic (Think Crimson Wolf, but minus the supernatural aspects). The darker scenes actually work relatively well in this show, as they don’t get so obnoxiously dark as the previously mentioned show.
Voice Acting
Like Crimson Wolf, Crying Freeman is a Streamline dub. Like Crimson Wolf, the voice acting in this series fluctuates in terms of underwheming/overwhelming characters. Other than that, there’s nothing else to really talk about.
Episodes & Episode Length
Crying Freeman is a rather hefty series. Like Angel Cop, this on comes in at 6 episodes. Unlike AC, each episode in this show runs for a substantially longer amount of time. Around 50 minutes, to be exact (Although one of the episodes (I think it was either episode 3 or 4) runs a little over 54 minutes). Due to this increased running time, the show goes on longer, and you gain a feel for the characters & what’s going on more so than in Angel Cop.
Availability & Pricing
Compared to the other shows I’ve reviewed so far, Crying Freeman is actually quite available! Although I wasn’t able to find it in stores, and the older releases are almost non-existent, there’s plenty of copies of the 2011 complete collection re-release over on amazon. Pricing for the collection is pretty fair as well, with prices starting at 16 dollars. I may have downloaded this, but I’m definitely gonna pick this series up sometime in the coming months!
Extras/Other
Since I downloaded this, I don’t know what the extras are.
General Impression & Rating
Crying Freeman is not for me. It’s not that I don’t like serious shows, as I occasionally prefer something a little less goofy & silly. Having said that, I found this one to be a little too serious for my taste. It’s too depressing, dark, and most of the people in this show are just not all that pleasant. With that aside I do recommend picking this up, either for curiosity’s sake, or for serious watching.
Crying Freeman gets a 7.5 out of 10.
See you all sometime this Wednesday, then it’s off to Connecticon this coming Friday! Until Wednesday, stay Otaku!
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If you would like to read a more extensive look at Crying Freeman, click on the link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crying_Freeman
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