The End of the World

[Categories: OAVs, Movies and Full Series]

Hitsuji No Uta (Lament of the Lamb) OAV

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Lament of the Lamb]

Kei Toume’s manga series is one of the finest pieces of vampire fiction I’ve ever seen - it examines the emotional fallout from the affliction in detail, from the vampire’s perspective in a similar way that Anne Rice did with Interview with the Vampire; it also takes place in a modern setting, which adds some realism and makes the vampire’s situation a little easier to relate to. There’s no sign of Kiefer Sutherland or that kid from The Goonies though, sadly.

The character-driven story of Lament of the Lamb wouldn’t be my first choice for an OAV (a live-action movie would be marginally more appropriate, although I’d still have my reservations) since it is so heavily reliant on dialogue - there are plenty of flashback scenes but they worked fine as still frames on a page. Since OAVs are often made to promote the manga (that means you, Appleseed), there wasn’t much artistic reason for this series in the first place. Being the curious fan and Madhouse fanboy that I am, I decided to give it a fair chance anyway.

The plotline, that of Kazuna Takashiro falling ill with periodic attacks of blood-lust and discovering that he has a long-lost sister with the same disease, was never going to condense from seven volumes to four episodes without some finer points being left in the background or being left out altogether. All things considered, the editing didn’t play merry hell with the continuity nearly as much as I feared: Toume’s excellent character designs also translate pretty well onto the screen with incidentals and supporting characters stepping back to allow for attention to focus on the core themes. Chizuna ends up being at the centre, moreso than Yaegashi, the Edas and even Kazuna. She comes across as more vulnerable although her outward shows of emotional strength are downplayed and her plight takes centre stage. But then, I’m always fascinated by the tragic type of girl anyway. :p

The palette could have been hampered by the encoding/format of the file types I was watching but the colours seemed pretty lacklustre and washed-out; after reading through a b/w manga series, I was hoping for a bit more colour,especially when some shots had the potential to be quite beautiful. I’m guessing the low-key colour scheme was intentional and intended to draw attention to the depiction of blood and so on but it left me thinking “Is this really an OAV?” since it seemed to be so reluctant to impress.

In order to keep things lively it was decided to include the ‘horror’ aspect in addition to the characterisation. While I’m not a big horror fan (I actually dislike the term, but more of that another time) I can understand why this was done; it is a vampire tale of sorts, after all. Unfortunately, scenes featuring bouts of terror and bucketloads of teenage angst require a very deft directorial hand to prevent, at least, the results being toothless (pun intended) and at worst laughable. Fortunately this does not fall into the latter camp but still didn’t exert any effect on me at all.

What saves the OAV is that of the soundtrack. The end theme is a stunning ballad sung by the two leading seiyuus as a duet; the incidental BGM must have been a tough choice but the sparse industrial score fills the gaps and isn’t too overbearing. It’s not often I draw attention to the VAs but in this case they’re worth the extra mention: Megumi Hayashibara and Tomokazu Seki are, even to my untrained ears, superb in conveying the subtleties of their characters. Even the supporting cast, limited though it is, are of an enviable calibre - the vocal talent can make or break a production such as this.

Despite its plus points, this is still a very forgettable series that may have been better suited to live action or longer running time to allow for interesting side- and back-stories to make the viewing experience more rewarding. The story is a slow-burner than makes great use of relaxed pacing to give ample chance to get to know and empathise with the characters - after all, not much else is going on. Condensing a story of that type is a risky business, even moreso when moments of fear and anguish are so hard to portray effectively onscreen. Tune in for the VA performances by all means, but if the premise intrigues you I’d strongly recommend the manga instead.

[Filed under OAVs, Movies and Full Series]  [Tags: Lament of the Lamb]

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