NoaIzumiAnime Review: Fake
January 11th 2009 05:09
When Dee goes on vacation with Ryo to England, he thinks this might be his big chance. He just didn’t plan on the serial killer who targets Japanese. Or the ghost, for that matter.
The anime Fake is based on a story from the second volume of the manga. As readers know, I was a pretty big fan of the manga, but the anime does not live up.
First of all, the creators chose one of the weakest manga chapters to animate. I mean, a mystery about a serial killer and a ghost story and Dee’s attempts to seduce Ryo? It’s too busy. I’m sure it sounded great inside the artist’s head, but the execution is too flat. And, since it starts after the introductory stories, the secondary characters are left unexplained. Who is Bicky and why does he live with Ryo? Who is Carol and why are she and Bicky so interested in Ryo’s sex life? And who is this JJ and why is he such a love-sick idiot when it comes to Dee? Explanations aren’t strictly necessary to enjoy the story, but it would have been nice (assuming you haven’t read the manga) to know who these people were.
And the changes they made to the story were not generally for the better. The inclusion of guest characters does allow us to explore Ryo’s feelings for Dee, but their final fate was blatant emotional manipulation (OK, feel angry now! Feel sad now! Do it!). And was it really necessary to show us the actual killing of the first victim? In the manga, we were there with Dee and Ryo when they found the body, but that was it. Worst of all, at the end, the creators want us to feel sorry for the serial killer! In the anime, as in the manga, he is driven homicidal by a horrible wrong done to him, but once you start slaughtering innocent people left and right, you’ve lost all claim to sympathy in my book. I think it was that part which turned me off to this anime for than anything else.
It’s not all bad. The slapstick moments provide some levity, and the source material is so good that it’s very hard to completely ruin it. It’s just a shame that the creators put their poorest foot forward.
The OVA’s opening (which is rather catchy) includes shots of all the characters from the manga, including some that weren’t in this anime, which makes it apparent that the makers were hoping to spin it into a series. There’s enough material in the manga for 13 episodes at least, and I really do hope it comes to pass someday. Readers of this blog know I totally dug the manga, and it deserves a good, complete anime adaptation. Sadly, this isn’t it.
Summary: Not bad, but a shadow of the original. My advice, read the manga instead. Grade: C
Extras: None (not even trailers)
Age rating: 15 and up, for violence and depictions of “alternative lifestyle”.
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