Aoi Bungaku Series

I had high hopes going into Aoi Bungaku. It tries to tackle serious subjects, adapting literary classics of Japan. And after seeing the first segment, I thought for certain I was in for something great. "No Longer Human" is a dark, somber, character-driven tale, with no real flaws beyond personal preference.

But then I got into 'In the Forest, Under the Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom'. That was a hilarious train-wreck of clashing tones, from typical humor to freaking dark. The same tone existed for "The Spider's Thread", where a story about greed and salvation is also treated as a generic action show. Why is this character, by all means a monster, also treated like some badass?

"Kokoro" and "Hell Screen" weren't awful, but they didn't hit any sweet spots. But, after watching the segments out of order, almost losing hope, I reached "Run, Melos!"...and was kinda amazed by a beautiful segment about friendship. Its at least an 8/10, maybe a 9.

In the end, instead of a beautiful, immersive show, we got a balance of great, average, and bad. If nothing else, watch episodes 1-4 and 9-10 for some great drama. You could watch the rest if you're interested, but I wouldn't recommend it to highly.