Rating: 
Summary: Ethical dilema of strangling animators....
Review: I was given this as a gift from a friend of mine for a birthday. First off I want to say that the idea behind this series is awesome! Its rare you find a good Fuedal Era Japan series but this definatly ranks up there with the best.I will get to the point quickly tho: why the 3 star review? Well like I said, the STORY is great but the animation is sorely lacking. Everything else about it (except maybe some of the english voice overs) are great, but for about 2/3 of the series you just want to walk away from the bad animation. Some people say that only the parts where they switched animators is where it falls apart, but I disagree. If you watch even the first episode you catch little nuances that are very very annoying. I am going to cut this short but be advised, I STRONGLY recomend a rental (if you can) before you buy this. Or better yet, get a friend to buy it and watch it that way ;)
Rating:
Summary: Ethical dilema of strangling animators....
Review: I was given this as a gift from a friend of mine for a birthday. First off I want to say that the idea behind this series is awesome! Its rare you find a good Fuedal Era Japan series but this definatly ranks up there with the best. I will get to the point quickly tho: why the 3 star review? Well like I said, the STORY is great but the animation is sorely lacking. Everything else about it (except maybe some of the english voice overs) are great, but for about 2/3 of the series you just want to walk away from the bad animation. Some people say that only the parts where they switched animators is where it falls apart, but I disagree. If you watch even the first episode you catch little nuances that are very very annoying. I am going to cut this short but be advised, I STRONGLY recomend a rental (if you can) before you buy this. Or better yet, get a friend to buy it and watch it that way ;)
Rating: 
Summary: If only they hadn't run out of funding....
Review: I watched this entire series in one sitting several years ago with some friends - right after it was realeased actually. The storyline has great depth, both in plot and character. We all watched it again about 6 months later because it was so good. I only wish the makers had not run out of funding before finishing the series. The artwork is great when it's good, and disappointing when it's bad. One good thing is that the bad artwork is not enough to kill the storyline, which keeps you hooked waiting for the next episode. I give it 5 stars because there are plenty of poorly drawn anime, but none of them hold you with their storyline like The Dog Warriors. Make sure you watch the subtitled version though. We saw one episode of the dubbed version and the story lost a lot of it's meaning (same fate many kung-fu movies suffer). Hakkenden is a series I really appreciate for it's more mature storyline and good artwork (when it is good). Whether you buy this one or not, watch it - it's worth every minute.
Rating:
Summary: If only they hadn't run out of funding....
Review: I watched this entire series in one sitting several years ago with some friends - right after it was realeased actually. The storyline has great depth, both in plot and character. We all watched it again about 6 months later because it was so good. I only wish the makers had not run out of funding before finishing the series. The artwork is great when it's good, and disappointing when it's bad. One good thing is that the bad artwork is not enough to kill the storyline, which keeps you hooked waiting for the next episode. I give it 5 stars because there are plenty of poorly drawn anime, but none of them hold you with their storyline like The Dog Warriors. Make sure you watch the subtitled version though. We saw one episode of the dubbed version and the story lost a lot of it's meaning (same fate many kung-fu movies suffer). Hakkenden is a series I really appreciate for it's more mature storyline and good artwork (when it is good). Whether you buy this one or not, watch it - it's worth every minute.
Rating: 
Summary: An authentic Feudal Japanese anime
Review: The first thing that hits you about this series is it's atmosphere. Based on a 200 year old novel, and set in the Feudal era of Japan, this series drips of the mysticism and and deadly grace of that era, with it's haunting background music, it's bloody sword battles and war scenes, and it's defined characters. The story is unusual; two clans are at war; the Satomi and Anza. The Satomi is at a brutal disadvantage, and in desperation and jest, the lord of the Satomi clan makes a pact with his dog. The result is amazing; among other things, it includes a curse, prayer-beads and eight warriors who we are yet to meet, and who are yet to meet each other. All this is made pretty clear in the first 1/2 hour episode of the series; what really keeps blowing me away is just how much of the plot is fitted in to each episode. Even after just episode one, the cares of the Satomi clan became my own. So, why didn't it get five stars then? Well, for all it's wonderful plot, the animation was a bit cruddy at places. I read somewhere that a lot of different creators took turns in producing each episode, and there are marked differences in the quality from episode to episode, even within an episode. When the quality is good, it really is something to behold, but when it's not....UGH!! -_-;; However, don't let that deter you, if you're into anime with a strong plot and diverse and equally strong characters. It's definitely a series to watch if you're an anime fan, or a fan of Samurai stories, or (like me) you're both!
Rating:
Summary: Who says history can't kick butt?
Review: The Hakkenden animated series is based on a very old Japanese novel (Nanso Satomi Hakkenden) that has a story that is anything but out-dated. It has historical dates and figures in it but has a fair dossage of supernatural bad guys and great action sequences. The simplified plot is that a Japanese Lord's daughter is forced to marry her pet dog that saved her province from an overly-oppressive Shogun. This was because the Lord jokingly said to the dog that if he killed the Shogun, he could have his daughter's hand in marriage. After living with the dog for many years, she released eight spirits from a beaded necklace when she died. These spirits would later become known as the Eight Dog Warriors. I really liked the first video in this series. The story can be mighty hard to follow at times but it's obvious there is a very good plot in the works early on. The animation is good and not so good depending on the part of the show. Talking scenes and more idle moments in the show tend to have animation of a questionable quality. Once the fight scenes kick in however, it is top notch! So if you are already a fan of anime and are looking for something with more of a historical slant to it and a very complex story, then the Hakkenden is just what you're looking for.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: The Hakkenden is blessed with an intriguing storyline, realistic characters which I actually cared about, excellent action sequences, and great animation. The plot revolves around eight "Dog Warriors", who are gathered together for unknown purposes. With supernatural forces opposing them, the eight brothers must choose were their loyalties lie. I loved this anime, and shortly after renting the series, found it my pleasure to buy each and every one of it's seven videos. It's not sexually graphic like Ninja Scroll, but I found that refreshing. The last this this anime needed was something that would corrupt it's deep, feudal Japan atmosphere.
Rating:
Summary: For the most part, pretty good
Review: The Hakkenden is the story of eight warriors reincarnated from the bizaare union of a woman and a dog. Sounds weird but it's presented in a mature (not explicit) manner. This is complicated by the fact that they don't know each other, so the story is basically their meeting and what transpires.
From other reviews, it seems that changing animation styles within the series is the biggest complaint, so let me address that. The first three episodes have consistent animation which is quite good. Episode four is a different style, but it's not too offensive. By the end of the episode, I liked it. Episodes 4-8 and 11-13 all have the same style, which is similar to the first one. Episode 9 is very basic, but you probably won't wince too much. Episode 10 is a joke. It contains the worst, most comically bad animation I've ever seen. At times the characters' faces are little more than blobs. I spent most of the episode laughing at the animation, so all in all I probably got my money's worth. Bottom line on the animation: it's not as big a deal as lots of people make it out to be. Read on.
The story is pretty intriguing in many places. It seems confusing at first because they dump a hundred different names on you at once, but you really only need to know a small fraction of those names for it to make sense. The characters are not brilliantly developed, but most of them are still interesting. The villain is well done and creepy, although he gets no closure at all. Having a few more episodes to flesh out the eight warriors wouldn't have hurt.
One thing I liked was the atmosphere. Especially in the last three episodes, the feudal Japanese style is really well done, aided by some very good combat animation. When characters fight they do so with grace and fluidity and best of all, most fights are brief and decisive.
So all in all the Hakkenden is an enjoyable, pretty well done anime. It has its flaws, but so does everything. (plus, it's affordable. doesn't that [upset you]when a series has thirteen episodes and they want over a hundred dollars for it? what's the deal?) Anyway, that's the story on The Hakkenden.
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: This sure is a great series and you can be sure that the ending will have you biting your nails of. The conflict betwen the dog brothers is what I liked best about these episodes. Some questions are answered just to be replaced by a bunch of new ones. The only thing I want to complain about is that the series is too short. We never got to know all the dog warriors well enough.
Rating:
Summary: Unbalanced, averages out
Review: Watching this series made me think of the evolution of anime. You begin by watching akira style art of the 70's and 80's then watch as it changes from average animation, to absolutely horrifying, to good animation. I honestly can't remember the music because i was almost crying over how bad a few of the episodes' art and animation was. The storyline remained consistant, thank god. and the last three episodes were enjoyable.
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