Blue Seed - Perfect Collection
Momiji Fujimiya believes she's just an ordinary Japanese teenager--until she learns that she's actually the hereditary princess Kushinada and her blood is mankind's most powerful weapon against the shape-shifting monsters the Aragami. As the centuries-old war between humanity and the Aragami is heating up, Momiji goes to Tokyo to work with the government agency fighting the monsters. She's joined by the roguish Mamoru Kusanagi: as a child he was kidnapped by a powerful Aragami and given seven souls, ormitama(symbolized by the "Blue Seed" of the title). In battle Kusanagi transforms into a werewolfish version of himself with sword blades in his forearms. He's challenged by the Jim Morrison-esque Murakomo, a servant of the Aragami lords who possesses eightmitama. The plot takes an unsettling turn with the rebirth of the god of darkness, Susano-Oh, whom Murakomo tends with Momiji's twin sister, Kaede--who died in the first episode. The adventures and romance are played against an ecological message that's wrapped in right-wing rhetoric reminiscent of the ultraconservative cabal inGasaraki: contemporary Japanese culture is damned as "barren," "dead," and "cannibalistic". Although she tends to dither, Momiji never indulges in the whining and tantrums that make many other magical girls so annoying; the dashing Kusanagi assumes the role of protector-lover without losing his outlaw élan as Tamahome does inFushigi Yugi. Unrated; suitable for ages 12 and up: Violence, minor profanity and sexual humor.--Charles Solomon