If you are a anime fan of any serious length, you will at least have heard of "Type-Moon" and it's author Kinoko Nasu. The "Nasu-verse," as many fans call it, is a known collection of franchises with a shared universe or with similar themes and styles to them, first as visual-novels and literature by the author, but commonly adapted into anime. "Fate/Stay Night" remains its biggest property. But while the anime around these series reached a peak in quality by the late 2000's, they weren't particularly good at first. The biggest suspect is the adaptation of "Tsukihime," translated in English as "Lunar Legend - Tsukihime," released in 2003. In the first episode, we see a flashback to a child's memories in a hospital, where he wakes up and sees red lines on everything. These are lifelines, such that when traced precisely, the object or lifeform breaks apart. This boy, named Shiki, recalls another memory under a tree, where a stranger (a mage) gives him a pair of glasses to block out the strange ability, allowing him to continue his everyday life. As a high-school student, Shiki moves back with her sister after the passing of their father, living in an empty mansion belonging to the wealthy family. Shiki is warned not to go out past his curfew of 7pm. Rumors about the cause of murders throughout the city spread among the school. Shiki has a dream of killing a lone woman in a playground, but awakes in his house. The next day, he sees the woman again, alive and well. She says "hello."A bit of a mess, and yet I think I described the events of the first episode much better than the episode itself does. The show is supposed to be about vampires, a clan that hunts them, and a family secret. However, the show does a poor job portraying any of it. This can be attributed to poor writing, poor direction, and poor characterization.The woman who was killed, named Arcueid, is a true vampire, cursed to live forever, doing her best to avoid attacking humans and instead devotes herself to hunting a powerful demon that keeps attacking others, and keeps reincarnating each time he is killed. Naturally, Shiki is horrified when Arcueid reavels to him that the murder was real, and that she is still alive only because she is a vampire. No longer at her full strength, she recruits Shiki to help find and fight vampires at night, against the wishes and concerns of his sister. Arcueid has a unique but simple design of a purple dress and white turtle-neck sweater, and her initial cool demeanor makes her a highlight at first. But quickly, she appears to grow fond of Shiki, using their relationship as an excuse to go on dates, much to Shiki's confusion and annoyance. Arcueid is understandably lonely after centuries of living, but the way this is shoehorned into the plot makes it seem like she betrays her characterization. This is just one example: almost all the characters have inconsistent or poorly written motivations.I feel one of the biggest issues with "Tsukihime" is that it takes itself far too seriously. It revels in its self-importance, taking its time to reach any important parts of the story. This makes the show seem unbearably slow and dense, making it difficult to enjoy properly. There are a couple plot twists, but the ending doesn't feel satisfying in the slightest, leaving a lot of open threads and unexplained mysteries. Did I mention this was based on a "adult" visual novel? Unlike most anime, the two lead characters do indeed have sex, but fanservice isn't really present to interest anyone. This is a horror/mystery/romance, with a fair share of violent blood and gore.
Speaking of the visuals... this show was made around the time when Japan was just starting to use digital software to produce their anime. Due to that, and also the original source material, the show shows its age with dated character designs. They aren't horrible respective to the period it was made, but definitely a weak point. Even worse is the animation: while competent at first, after a few episodes the production really struggles. Awkward walking animation, no animation at all when there should be some, or inconsistencies between cuts occur at too high a frequency. You could easily teach a class on what NOT to do in animation with "Tsukihime" as the subject. Seriously, it's laughably bad. The English dub is also pretty bad for its time, slow and flat with emotion, not helping improve the flat and confusion direction. Definitely, the Japanese dub is better, but not enough so to fix things. The highlight is the music, the one part that still comes across well today, but the synth-sounds and vocal choirs are still limited, repetitive, and at its worst, distracting.But is "Lunar Legend - Tsukihime" a complete throw-away? Not necessarily. As confusing as it is, there is a certain style the show has that is distinct from other anime, for its use of sunsets and moonlight, and a romantic sense of foreboding. This same style is unique to "Type-Moon" works, and would be seen again in later shows. Certain aspects and story ideas, from Shiki's name and ability, to the concept of vampires and mages, would be rewritten into new stories like "The Garden of Sinners" and "Fate/Zero." In 2003, I'm sure some viewers might have even found the "Tsukihime" anime to be kind of cool.However, today "Lunar Legend - Tsukihime" is really just best viewed by fans curious about where "Type/Moon" anime began. Or perhaps as a laugh-out-loud example of how bad some anime can be. Most die-hard fans of this universe even deny that this anime ever existed, instead pining for a future remake to tell the story properly. After a brief read of the plot of the visual novel on Wikipedia, I admit it sounds like opportunity exists to tell a compelling story with updated production values. Until that time comes, you might be best sticking with one of the other, more successful, "Type/Moon" shows.