3X3 Eyes

By: ChichiriAXS

One night, I had just finished watching Cowboy Bebop on that toon block supposed to be for the "mature" audience. Anyway, I decided to flip through my movie channels just to check them out. I hardly checked the Action Channel, because it usually doesn't have my taste of films (Jackie Chan mania). But, that night, I decided what the hell, I would check it. Next thing I'm reading the words 3x3 Eyes. I was very excited, seeing how I'm hardly ever able to find anime on TV not used to brain control kids (coughPOKEMONcoughYU-GI-OHcough). That's the point, it's not for young kids. The Action Channel would later on show the four episodes of 3x3 Eyes in three parts.  

The entire story line of 3x3 Eyes revolves around a girl named Pai (who has three diamond-shaped scars on her forehead in the beginning) and her protector, Yakumo. The story starts out with Pai hanging out with her friends. She had just gotten in trouble for posing in a dirty magazine with her school uniform on (sure she didn't know it was a dirty magazine). She and her friends are walking along having fun when they see a young homeless person. They comment on how sad this is. The guy (not named yet) notices Pai and calls her name. She notices he has the magazine and starts to run. The guy follows her into an alley. Here Pai hears a ringing noise. The guy catches up with Pai when he is hit by a bus. Blood splashes out of his mouth. Pai screams. Two of her diamond-shaped scars pop out and a large monster lifts her from the ground into the air. Everything goes black.  

This might be confusing for some, but we get a lot of information when Pai wakes up. To make a long story short, Pai is basically the last surviving member of an ancient group of people called the Sanjiyan, a powerful people with three eyes. Though these people lived in relative peace, one of their own, Kaiyanwang, became corrupt and fought the people for power. He overpowered everyone except Parvati IV, his fiance. She also comes back in the present as Pai's alter ego (comes out when Pai is in danger). During the fight with Kaiyanwang, Parvati gave up her immortality to become a human and lock up Kaiyanwang. Yakumo was also giving immortality to protect Pai (that's right, we get to see him get the crap beat out of him [oh, the blood] over and over again). Now, as Pai realizes that she had this past life, her and Yakumo set out to find her past and the truth about the situation. But when Pai finally finds her past, will she accept it or want to go back to her old life?  

3x3 Eyes is a very intense anime. It is definitely not for little kids who think of anime as the great wonder of Pokemon or Yu-gi-oh (sure, they're real deep). This anime does not involve much nudity, sexual situations, or even sexual innuendos. The big problem comes with the amount of blood and gore in this anime. I have personally never seen as much blood in three minutes of 3x3 Eyes than in all the anime I've watched. Maybe all the blood was used to liven up the animation. It was fine, but I have seen much better. The color pallet was a bit dull and the monsters were a bit weird, but I admit that the shadowing and the fight scenes were pretty good. Plus, I have to give it credit for the year it was made.  

I could see 3x3 Eyes as being a great anime story, but I don't feel the storyline was brought out as much as it could have been. Everything went a little too fast for my liking, which didn't give me enough time to connect with the main characters, Pai and Yakumo. The worst was the ending. All the information of Pai's past and her existence, along with the rest of the end, was crammed into ten or fifteen final minutes. This was a big mistake in my opinion. All of that could have been dragged out to make a more dramatic, spectacular finish. Instead, you're left with a feeling of emptiness. Plus, the ending is left open for a sequel (the bad guy was never destroyed). That would be fine if everything hadn't moved so fast. Maybe this can be corrected by a sequel.  

In my opinion, 3x3 Eyes is a pretty average anime. It wasn't the worst story line but it wasn't the best. The storyline was good, but underdeveloped. The animation was good, but a bit dull. I must admit I expected more from the anime I heard so much about, but it was worth watching anyway. I would recommend others to watch it if they have accessibility to it. Don't go too out of your way to see it, though, because you might be a little dissapointed. You can find it at animenation.com for $53.98 (I'm starting to sound like their very own advertisement, but hey, I love that store).  

If I have made any errors on any part of the information, not opinion, email me at ChichiriAXS@yahoo.com. If you have a difference of opinion, email Meiko your own review on the subject.