Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful guys
Review: I love this series! All the guys are gorgeous, even the evil bad guy. The setting is mystical, the heroes powers are totally cool and his attacks are awesome. The music is stunning too. I'm hoping the manga will be translated into English and released here soon. All four DVD's are excellent!
Rating:
Summary: A 13-year-old's veiw
Review: I recently received the the Japanese version for Christmas 2002, and fell in love with it. I am very curious as to how they will change the plot to make this show... well, 'down-beat' enough for American's. I want to get this very much.
But as for the Japanese version, I loved the plot twists. And *ahem* the Yaoi. This isn't a girly anime, but it is deffinatly not for guys. Scratch that, I know several guys who like this show. ^^ I personally became obsessed with Hisoka. lol, He has so much angst and is in so much emotional distress inside! If anyone who has seen this wonderful anime in English and would like to clue me in on how they went about it, please email me and do. >< Cause I most likely won't be getting it until May.
Last note:
I LOVE YAMI NO MATSUEI!! ^^ And I love Kurosaki-kun very much.
Rating: 
Summary: "A review NOT written by a giggly fangirl!"
Review: I want to start off by saying that I hadn't read the original manga of this, nor had I heard anything about "Descendants of Darkness" before I purchased it; so I went into viewing this as non-biased and not expecting too much. I've been hesitant to make purchases of anime these days, since the recent saturation of the market makes it harder for a person to decipher what's going to be quality and what just isn't. That said, I took a leap of faith in purchasing this DVD, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised. It's not 100% perfect or ground-breaking, but it IS pretty damn enjoyable. And although this first volume begins pretty weakly, it actually gets better as the series progresses. In the first episode, we are somewhat hastily introduced to our main protagonist Tsuzuki Asato, a likable, goofy guy who works for a detective agency--of Death(?) This isn't made too clear in the first episode, which I think was a weak start for this series, but over the next episodes we learn more about his occupation and what it entails. We also meet his new partner Hisoka, a young man who died of mysterious causes and now works for this agency. It was pretty confusing to someone who hadn't read the manga, and I feel that this factor added to episode one's weakness. Another gripe of mine are those "chickens" who work for the agency--I've never been a fan of cutesy mascots, and the fact that their existence was never explained or even questioned was another added weakness. I was a little put off by episode one, but I kept with it. Yes, it indeed got better, and I found myself entranced by the end of this disc. Over the next episodes we learn a little more about Tsuzuki and Hisoka, and we are introduced to the sinister villain Muraki--and this is where the "yaoi" element really comes into play. Yes, it seems as though all of the characters are gay, which I found to make the series all the more intriguing. This is probably why the series won't appeal to everyone, especially straight guys, but I thought it was handled well and not done in a way that was insulting to its gay characters (or gay members of its audience, for that matter). This volume covers a complete story arc involving a series of vampiric murders, and provides an insight to Hisoka's dark past. The series deals with some dark subject matter like death and rape, but overall there is a pleasant lightness to the show and the characters are all surprisingly likable--I say "surprisingly" because it's hard to view and anime these days and not be annoyed by at least ONE character. Overall, I really like this show and I'm going to make sure I view the entire series. So why only three stars? While enjoyable, the show isn't perfect (this disc in particular). The music, for one, is particularly grating. From the score to the ending and opening theme songs, the music is hard to take. By volume two it improves a bit, but the music on this volume is sometimes intolerable. The overall look of the show and the animation is hard to adjust to as well. It almost looks like it was done in the style of the show "Yu Gi Oh!"--brightly colored cel-animation badly mixed with CG. However, again, by volume 2 this improves considerably. And finally, since the show got off to a weak start, I had to deduct a star. "Descendants of Darkness" is an enjoyable series that improves as it progresses. I would recommend it to anyone who likes yaoi (I include myself in that audience), light comedy, action, a bit of drama, and occult themes. So, even if you're a nit-picky, jaded anime viewer like me, it might be worthwhile to give this series a try if those themes appeal to you. And did I say this allready? "It gets BETTER."
Rating: 
Summary: [Similar to]Clamp
Review: I was quite surprised when I discovered "Yami no Matsuei".. Of course it is nice to see, at least the drawings are fine, and the animation is OK. BUT for somebody who knows by heart Clamp's "Tokyo Babylon", it is quite difficult not to compare the two. I am talking about the "Tokyo Babylon" manga of course. You have those relationships between those men, OK. But when you have a young boy (Hisoka) who was cursed by an evil doctor (Muraki) because he witnessed a murder committed by this doctor under a sakura tree.. A sakura tree !!?? Come on !! Replace Hisoka by Subaru and Muraki the doctor by Seishiro the veterinarian and you'll get it.
This is just a small example of the obvious similarities between the two stories and atmospheres. Or should I say, "plagiat". Muraki especially is such a clone of Seishiro Sakurazuka (but of course not as great) that it makes me feel uncomfortable..
You have the same issues with magic, shikigami, and so on.. It's just too much. NB: Tokyo Babylon manga was made in the late 80's and Yami no Matsuei manga in the mid 90's..
Rating:
Summary: Wow.
Review: So I went ahead and bought the box set..... and it was definitely worth every dollar. I've only watched the first disc as of yet, which is why I'm reviewing it. After watching the first three episodes, I'm just about speechless. Yami no Matsuei is incredible. I even like the dub--which is saying quite a bit, as I was prepared to be unimpressed. The animation and character designs completely blew me away. They were as good as--if not better than--that of shows like Full Metal Panic, which has pretty much set current standards in terms of artwork and graphics. One of the things that really struck me was how realistically and smoothly the characters moved. The basic concept of the afterlife as a bureaucracy reminded me very much of Yu Yu Hakusho (particularly when those cosmic chickens appeared... talk about random). Interestingly enough, Tsuzuki's summons have the same names as YYH's Saint Beasts. I'd like to learn about the mythology behind that. Anyway, although the shonen-ai aspects certainly appealed to me, I think I would have loved this show even if, say, Hisoka were a girl. I can't wait to watch the rest. I don't know where on earth a series based on shonen-ai manga got the budget to pull off such perfect CG and special effects.... but I'm very glad it did. Lastly, ignore the previous review which blathers about on about the NA. I'm positive that absolutely nothing was cut. There's a slim possibility that the dub altered some dialogue during translation, as often happens in anime.... so if you want to avoid that, just watch the subtitled version.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and Magnificently Addicting
Review: There is a wealth of beauty to be found in this series. The characters, in all of their effeminate glory, go beyond lovely. The undercurrents of sexuality flow steadily throughout, and add a layer of luster to an already dazzling story. The story revolves around the Ministry of Hades, which is kinda like the CIA of the afterlife. The Ministry of Hades handles cases which involve people who were supposed to die, but for some reason continue to live. Tsuzuki has been an employee at the Ministry of Hades for 70 years. He appears to cherish food above all else, and he is both wonderfully childish and wantonly compassionate. Hisoka is Tsuzuki's newest, and somewhat unwilling, partner, a 16 boy with a tormented soul. Hisoka has joined the Ministry of Hades in the hopes of finding his murderer. Hisoka and Tsuzuki quickly form an unspoken bond, which suggests romance even when in the third volume the plot steers Hisoka towards a girl. It's weird, but you do find yourself wanting these two beautiful men to hook up. On the demonic villain side we have the cruel Muraki who is enamored with the gorgeous Tsuzuki (Tsuzuki's completely hot, so who wouldn't be) and who also wants to destroy him, at first Muraki seems somewhat handsome and intriguing, but when you look into his eyes his true ugliness shows itself. I won't get further into the plot, as I don't want to ruin it for you, but I will tell you that it gets better in each episode. I loved this series, but I know that Descendents of Darkness is not for everyone. Even in 2003 homophobia tends to still overshadow the American desire for broader horizons, but those with open minds and a eye for the mystical will be enraptured by this dark tale.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and Magnificently Addicting
Review: There is a wealth of beauty to be found in this series. The characters, in all of their effeminate glory, go beyond lovely. The undercurrents of sexuality flow steadily throughout, and add a layer of luster to an already dazzling story. The story revolves around the Ministry of Hades, which is kinda like the CIA of the afterlife. The Ministry of Hades handles cases which involve people who were supposed to die, but for some reason continue to live. Tsuzuki has been an employee at the Ministry of Hades for 70 years. He appears to cherish food above all else, and he is both wonderfully childish and wantonly compassionate. Hisoka is Tsuzuki's newest, and somewhat unwilling, partner, a 16 boy with a tormented soul. Hisoka has joined the Ministry of Hades in the hopes of finding his murderer. Hisoka and Tsuzuki quickly form an unspoken bond, which suggests romance even when in the third volume the plot steers Hisoka towards a girl. It's weird, but you do find yourself wanting these two beautiful men to hook up. On the demonic villain side we have the cruel Muraki who is enamored with the gorgeous Tsuzuki (Tsuzuki's completely hot, so who wouldn't be) and who also wants to destroy him, at first Muraki seems somewhat handsome and intriguing, but when you look into his eyes his true ugliness shows itself. I won't get further into the plot, as I don't want to ruin it for you, but I will tell you that it gets better in each episode. I loved this series, but I know that Descendents of Darkness is not for everyone. Even in 2003 homophobia tends to still overshadow the American desire for broader horizons, but those with open minds and a eye for the mystical will be enraptured by this dark tale.
Rating:
Summary: PLEASE don't judge by the cover art!
Review: This is one of the GREATEST series ever, in my humble opinion. I would have to admit though, that it probably won't find popularity with many guys. It's mainly aimed at chicks, and boy does it ever hit the mark. I was getting really tired of shows where a bunch of pretty-boys ran around and killed things, so Yami no Matsuei (Decendant of Darkness) is such a nice change of pace. Sure, ALL of the main characters are damn good looking, and that's half the fun. But beyond that, it's got an *extremely* good plot, and one of the most entertaining CONCEPTS of any anime out there. The premise: The hero, Tsuzuki Asato is an 'Angel of Death' responsible for bringing back souls that don't reach the afterlife, or solving cases involving mysterious or unliscensed deaths. This leads to an interesting cast of characters, and a VERY interesting look at some of the Japanese myths surrounding the afterlife, gods, etc. Not, I warn though, for the squeemish, or for those who have a problem with guys with...eh...*questionable* relationships with one another. i.e. - LOTS of fangirl service and a number of situations involving the main character and other (male) characters.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth it.
Review: Yami no Matsuei is a beautiful peice of work. I had been a fan of the series since 1999, and to find that they were bringing the anime series to America, I nearly [messed] my pants. My friend had the Japanese import of the seires and let me see it before, but now that I have my own copy of the Descendants of Darkness, I must say that I am in love. Not only are the animations as beautiful as the manga, but it's also very well CGed, and the story line is great. Trully, it is a must see for Shounen-ai fans. The Bishounen are totally worth it, and to see and hear Muraki from your own TV... it's definately worth your money. I don't regret spending my money on this DVD.
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