Harukanaru Toki no Naka de: Your G rated off brand Fushigi Yuugi

I can't quite remember how I ran across Harutoki.  I might have been looking for romantic shows that were rated PG according to MyAnimeList.  What's odd though is that the Manga is rated Older Teen.  I wonder what's going on in there.  I might have to go check.
Specifically I will be talking about the 20 something episode TV series that ran somewhere around 2005... 9 years... ago.  ALMOST TEN YEARS.  I was in highschool then. You mean to tell me I was in High School almost TEN YEARS AGO!?  Time is spinning by so fast and I'm not doing anything.  Why does every show have to take place in highschool or Jr High?  I swear, these kids have it all.  Magic power, miracle romances that transcend time and space.  Oh hey, that's exactly what this show is about.
First off, I'd like to say that this is one of my favorite shows or series that I've ever encountered and it would not do it justice to compare it to Fushigi Yuugi.  These two shows have completely different overall messages and feelings.  Fushigi Yuugi seems as if it were the inspiration for the series since it does have similar themes.  It's almost like a company couldn't get the rights to adapt the story into a dating sim type game or it could be that they loved the series and thought "what if you could choose what idiot Miaka goes for?  That sounds like fun." That seems to be the main comparison that people have when they complain that this show is just a rip off.  What I'm certain of is that all Asian cultures have ancient tales of the four gods and that Harutoki uses the ancient myth as it's basis.

Anyway,  the anime of Harutoki is based off a very popular reverse harem dating sim that came out on the PS1.  There have been about 10 games made and NONE OF THEM have been translated.  I'm just waiting for some one to hack and translate one of the games.. unless some one has done it already.  I have been able to play the GBA remake but I didn't get too far because I really can't read much Kanji.  As you can see from the cover, the characters are all very attractive and beautiful men.  I'm also very happy to report that there are NO trigger warnings in the tv series.  They do mention seppuku once while talking about the samurai Yorihisa and it came off as an innocent joke.  Some of the characters are hinted at having sexual relations but nothing is shown.  There is no nudity or even naked, self contemplation, floating in space scenes.  You're probably wondering why you would even want to watch this then huh? Well...If you're mormon like me and you want a series that you can watch and fawn over with your other single mormon friends that also like anime (is this a thing or am I the only one?) this show is the one for you.
-THE STORY-
Akane, an every day highschool girl, along with her two friends are sucked into an ancient well and taken to the Heian Period.  That would be around 1100 AD.  In between her journey she is visited by the white dragon god that resides over the four lesser gods, byakko, Genbu, Suzaku and seiryu and bestowed with his power and the eight dragon jewels that will rest in the eight guardians called the Hachiyo.  The land that they end up in is called Kyou and is cursed with sickness, droughts, vengeful spirits and demons.  Akane must use her powers as priestess and cleanse the land of impurities and battle the leader of the demon clan, Akram.
THE GOOD
Just the culture and history of it all is very fascinating.  They really focus on the lives of the people during that time and the folklore.  They have a some interesting fight scenes and it's fun seeing the traditional monsters.
THE BAD
Unfortunately, harutoki is short and doesn't have much structure.  The 2nd and 3rd episode are the worst with pacing and keeping you interested.  The pacing is all over the place at times and to some, it may even be slow.  It's not boring though.  out of the short 20 episodes there are two or three filler episodes that contain characters and plots that have no effect on the central nonresistant plot.  What a waste.  What the show really shines in is the characters.

-THE CHARACTERS-
This is the center of the show.  Each character is very fleshed out and have their own tragic back stories and reasons for liking Akane.  Akane herself is actually a very strong and likable character that is relateable to highschool and even college aged girls.  I watch quite a bit of shojou and I've seen the whole gambit when it comes to female main characters.  Or it could be that she's really flat and easy for you to place yourself inside of.  While I didn't do this in my review of FuYu I will go over the 8 guys individually.  All express their love in a respectful and calm matter and the best part is you get to choose the ending and who she ends up with.  How cool is that?

TENMA is the first to admit that he has feeling for Akane.  He has good reason too.  He feels that she saved from a delinquent life after being held back a grade because he couldn't deal with the trauma of his younger sister being kidnapped.  He was sucked into the well with her and their friend Simon.  He has a hot temper and a deep sense of duty to protect Akane.  Their friendship is very natural and sweet.  He's also against authority and has a hard time following orders and rules.  His personality and backstory is exactly like Joey from Yugioh.

the shadows and  perfect nails give it away

In fact, this show feels a lot like Yugioh to me.  It was like everything that I loved about it without all the boring dueling.  That could be why I latched onto it so fast.  I recognized the art director, Kagami Takahiro, in the first episode from yugioh because of how they draw, position and shade hands.  He's one of my favorite animators of all time. You will now recognize Kagami's hands in any anime you watch that he was animation director on.

can you tell I ship them hard?

Up next we have YORIHISA.  He is the moral opposite of tenma with a calm and even temper and the utmost respect for authority.  He follows every order given to him by Akane and acts as her body guard.  He has a hard time talking about himself and his painful past of causing his older brother's death.  His seriousness actually leads to some of the best parts of the show because of how well his character plays off of Akane's sweetness.  I do believe that this is the most perfect cartoon man I ever had the joy to lay my eyes upon.  If only I could lay more than just my eyes upon him. oh ho ho ho.  In all seriousness though, he is probably the best character in the show.

SIMON was pulled into the well with Akane and tenma and acts as the woobie of the group.  He views Akane as an older sister.  He doesn't do much because every one in Kyou thinks that he is a demon with his blonde hair and blue eyes.  I use to have a problem with this because if their gonna play this trope, they have to play it strait and not have characters with purple or turquoise hair.  I eventually got over because it's hard to depict in anime but I'm assuming he has European blood in him and that's what the demon clan looks like.  It's odd thought because Tenma acts more like an american with all the english and swearing that spews from his mouth.  This character is actually a lot like Yugi from Yugioh.

INORI is his opposite.  He has a deep seeded hatred for demons and won't accept Simon as a hachiyo because of how he looks.  He has a a thirst for revenge because of all the pain that they brought to his city and family.  His older sister is pregnant and one of the lead demons is the father.  While they wish to stop the fighting between the two clans and raise their child in peace, inori believes that he's deceiving and using his older sister.  Poor inori as a character doesn't get much screen time or interaction with Akane so his omake ending seems really forced and out of nowhere.  He might have had more development in the game but I'll never know.



YASUAKI is an interesting little character.  He is the Taoist side of religion in Kyou and uses his powers to exersize and seal monsters.  He's the most useful of the group but comes off as rude.  He is an artificial human, created by his teacher he was born only recently and has no emotions until they are taught to him by Akane.  I'm assuming that the blue on his face is grafted skin and he has mismatching eyes.  I have a theory that he is pieced together from other humans like the monster of Frankenstein unless he was created by other means.  You won't get attached to this character until the last few episodes when he really starts to get interesting.

His opposite is the Buddist monk EISEN.  He is the most feminine of the group and is used as a decoy for a woman once.  All joking aside, he has a very sensitive heart and feels as if his life only causes is others pain.  He was in line to become emperor but gave up the duty to his half brother.  He has a very gentle disposition and lives his life in piece, avoiding conflict as much as he can.  His attraction to Akane give him much anxiety because of his status as monk, denouncing the world and wants such as desire and wanting.









We have arrived at the unbearably beautiful and laid back Lieutenant TOMOMASA.  He is an all around ladies man and spends his time lounging, drinking and wooing women.  He doesn't like seriousness or hard work and teases Akane with fake advances.  He's not past seductively pulling back her hair and whispering into her ear just to tease her.  He thinks that the destruction of the city would be interesting and is afraid of commitment.  He doesn't become a Hachiyou until halfway through the series while the other hachyou were found near the beginning.  I bet he smells like flowers.  His joking and apathy is pretty refreshing for a show where every one is gun-ho.




His opposite is TAKAMICHI.  He's a hard character for me to talk about because he reminds me so much of my late father.  He works very hard and takes everything with an overwhelming amount of seriousness.  Out of the hachiyou, he seems the most distant from Akane.  He seems to be more romantically inclined towards one of the main demons.  It's a nice little twist. He fights a lot with tomomasa because of the way he treats women and his lack of enthusiasm for his work.  He has a hard time interacting with the ladies and goes to tomomasa for advice.  He puts his work before himself and likes to be alone.  His omake ending feels very forced and unnatural.  Once again, he might be more fleshed out in the game.

THE GOOD
Every one is awesome.  Some may find Akane's cheerfulness and fear of her power annoying at first but you will get over it.  I really enjoyed her as a main character because she felt like some one I'd know.  Each character has a great personality and they clash interestingly with one anther.

THE BAD
Because the show is designed to have you choose the love interest in the end, you don't really get attached to one relationship.  They push Tenma and Yorihisa on the viewer while other ships don't get explored at all.  Some characters feel like dead weight and it's hard to follow all of them.

-THE ART-

Harutoki is a feast for the eyes.  It has my favorite anime style, color scheme, environments and backgrounds out of any anime besides place promised in our early days and 5cm per second.  the animation is very smooth and only drops quality one or two episodes where it's not really needed and it's hardly noticeable.  It's at it's best with Kagami directing animation with rich shadows, fluid movement and interesting outlines on the characters. 

THE GOOD
EVERYTHING

THE BAD
some of the action sequences have a hard time depicting weight when a character falls.  There are a few instances where some one will fall, bounce a while, roll over in mid air, and stand up while in mid bounce.  The main swords fight luckily avoid any awkwardness.  The music is also worth mentioning as well.  It's so calm and beautiful.  definitely worth a listen.

LETS GO TO THE SCOREBOARD
STORY: 5/10 The poor show suffers from game adaption troubles and no real focus.  There's no direction and the episodes seem really disconnected.  The endings are really loose, boring and lazy that don't explain where they are, if Akane decided to stay with them in the past or go home or what.  Does she even make it home?  I don't even know.

CHARACTERS: 9/10 All the characters were enjoyable and worked very well off each other, no one was annoying or too cliche.  Akane seems like some one you use to know in highschool and works well with almost all the men as a romantic interest.  Because there wasn't one love interest, the romance waves and falls into a pit of stagnant puppylove.  I'm alright with it sitting there.  Nobody kisses either.

ART: 10/10 The art stays beautiful to the very end with interesting character designs, beautiful outlines, interesting shading and beautiful backgrounds and environments.  The music is beautiful, organic and fits the series perfectly.

OVERALL SCORE AND FINAL THOUGHTS
6/10 I really wish more people knew about this series.  It may be slow for some people, it may be too held back for others that are looking for a good romance. It's horribly predictable and slow. It's created for women and filled with beautiful men so guys will have a hard time watching it without feeling uncomfortable (I'm seeing if my anime guru uncle will like it)  It's perfect if you want a reverse harem without trigger warnings or explicit sex and enjoy more beautiful smooth styles of anime.  It's just an interesting little series.  If you enjoy reverse harems, beautiful men and a more toned down happy show, this is for you.  Otherwise you can skip it

What I personally Took from the Show
I could watch this show non stop over and over.  I don't know what it is that catches me every time.  It's not suspenseful or thought provoking.  It's just there to please the eye.  One day I'll be able to play the games but we'll see.