One note here...all images were taken, with permission, from Electric-Angel. All pictures are property of Kaori Yuki. Also they are all from the manga, not the movie. So all these are a lot prettier.
Seeing all the lovely artwork from the manga and hearing many wonderful things about this title I immidiately knew I had to have the DVD. I ordered it from Anime Nation and eagerly awaited it's arrival. Upon recieving it I nearly called in sick to work that day so I could sit home and watch it over and over. But I knew I needed to make more money to buy more anime so I went to work anyway. That night I prepared and put it in. I had downloaded some music from Napster back in the day. This opening music didn't sound like the opening I downloaded. I was disappointed. I had expected the animation to look like the manga pictures. All dark and full of attitude. I was disappionted. I didn't know much of anything about the characters, or the story. So I can't say whether this plot followed the manga very well or not.
Sara actually looking cool. 
Kira, Setsuna and Katan. I'm not saying that this was a bad anime. No, it's actually really good. However, that's what happens when you build something up in you're mind and are let down when you actually see it. The artwork was actually pretty good, not as detailed as the manga. The characters seem a bit less intense than they are trying to be. The writers are trying to cram too much story into too little time, what happens then is that the characters are placing importance in things that are very important but don't seem to be. If that made any sense at all. There was not a whole lot of character development. Only a very few scenes that stick out in my memory. There are lots of people introduced, they have their little time on screen, are forgotten, and then pop up again after you don't even remember who they are or why they are there. After a while it seems that the story just drags on and on. It ends on the type of cliffhanger that leaves you torn between relief that it's finally over and curiosity to see if they actually will make another one. The story is very twisted and complicated, and actually really good. In this movie it was just poorly executed. With all the talk of organic and inorganic angels you don't know what they're talking about half the time. And references to places and people that were never talked about. You don't know the histories of the characters such as that little demon girl and Arachne. They should have taken their time, gone back and told the story from the beginning. Also done a little better job on the animation.
Kira and Setsuna from the manga. The story starts in the middle, or it seemed that way to me anyway. When we are intorduced to Setsuna, a normal human guy, he is getting the crap kicked out of him. Just as his eyes start to glow and he goes crazy a female voice calls out his name. All the power goes out of him and he ends up bruised and hurting. Turns out it was his sister Sara calling to him. He goes to her and she admonishes him for fighting when he clearly was not the one that started it. Anyway, we are also introduced to Kira, a supercool stud that likes to read and who also saved Setsuna's cute little butt in that fight. We are shown that Setsuna obviously loves his sister in a way that brothers shouldn't. The story goes on and eventually we are introduced to Rocial and his loyal servant Katan. Both are angels. They reveal to Setsuna that he is actually Alexial, a female angel that had once waged war against God and lost. Now she has been reborn as a human boy, him. Also mixed in are Arachne and Kurai, demons. Kurai was saved from death at the hands of angels by Alexial a long time ago. Arachne is her cross-dressing cousin and tags along to help. So, most of this is Setsuna struggling to come to terms with his feelings for his sister(who returns them!) and figuring out what to do about all these strange beings trying to awaken the sleeping angel within him.
A lot of these characters have certain things that just bug me about them. Sara is bossy, annoying and cloyingly cute. Setsuna is a bit of a stuck up whiner. Rociel thinks he's so beautiful but looks like a very masculine woman with too much makeup on. The only two people who didn't get on my nerves were Kira and Katan, although Katan could use a good slap to see that Rocial is being a total jerk to him all the time. Kira's story is really interesting and I think he should be given a medal just for putting up with Setsuna's whining all the time. There are a lot of people that think that Setsuna and Kira are lovers, as well as Katan and Rocial. Perhaps they are in the manga judging from some of the pictures I have seen they look really intimate at the very least. Now that alone is a good reason for me to get it!
Rociel from the manga. All in all the final word on this anime is that it is average. Most of the artwork is about the same quality you would find in any OAV. There are bits and pieces that are very detailed and beautiful such as the one of Kira in the rain. Of course I would just say that 'cause it had Kira in it...gee, you can't tell who my favorite is... The music is nothing special. If you are a fan of angst anime this is good. I got the bi-lingual DVD and the few times I watched it I watched the sub, although I did check out the dub and it wasn't that bad. There are some really neat extras on here. A screenshot gallery, a quiz, character sketches and bios. Probably a behind the scenes "making of" documentary type thing and interviews with people, I can't remember right now. A good buy if you have a little extra money.
I just love this picture of Setsuna and wanted to share it.
