The idea of immortality in fiction has many different ways to which they become interesting based on who writes the story. Sometimes a character and live forever and be forced to deal with the hardship of life changing around them, often times their immortality can expose their weakness by a removal of a limb which supports the body, whereas the idea of immortality can have a connection with another person and the fate is tied to them. The difficulties with the ability to live forever is realizing what effect it has on your life, but also everyone else around you and what will happen should this curse not be lifted, the good thing about 3x3 eyes is it manages to look into a concept while it’s very linear and makes a rather exciting but also very enjoyable adventure.
Based off the manga by Yuzo Takada that ran from 1987 to 2002, 3x3 Eyes tells the story of Yakumo Fuji, a young man who due to strange events becomes the immortal slave to a girl named Pai (the last surviving member of a 3 eyed race of immortals). To regain his mortality as well as make Pai human as well, both set off on a journey to regain an artefact known as the Ningen no Zō (the Statue of Humanity) which has the power to grant mortality, however the slight problem is that Pai has multiple personality disorder which brings out a cheerful and naive girl but also a no-nonsense and violent persona of Parvati IV.
The OVA of 3x3 Eyes splits off into 2 arcs. The first arc consisting of 4 episodes focuses on Yakumo as he meets up with Pai, who finds out she was traveling with his father who was an archaeology professor and would-be monster hunter who visited Tibet in search of the legends of the immortal Sanjiyans. Upon being fatally wounded he becomes immortal and thus begins his search for the Ningen no Zō, it’s revealed that followers of an ancient god named Kaiyanwang are after the artefact to resurrect the fallen god and gain immortality of their own. Through the story we see that Yakumo Fuji can no longer live a normal life as he is now immortal, so by saying goodbye to his “Gang” he and Pai set off back to Hong Kong to regain the Ningen no Zō, however Pai is having to make a big choice by the end of the arc which could throw Yakumo’s life in danger.
The second arc - 3x3 Eyes Seima Densetsu consists of 3 episodes and takes place 4 years after the previous OVA. We see that Yakumo has trained and searched for the missing Pai, after finding her however it’s revealed that she has lost her memory and is living a completely different life under a different name. Now with the purpose to restore her lost memory, both Pai & Yakumo set off to the Holy Land to the birthplace of the Sanjiyans, all while that is happening the resurrection of Kaiyanwang is drawing very near.
As an adaptation 3x3 eyes does take a big risk at being more condensed and very trimmed down due to its running time which makes the story feel much scaled back. The story of 3x3 eyes is a very large and heavily deeply mythological, from the backstory of Sanjiyans to the wide variety of characters that have such an impact on the story, The anime while it’s only 7 episodes short it manages to make the most of what it has with it’s story and give out the wide cast but place them in small roles and still have an importance to the goal of the main character.
The characters of 3x3 eyes have so much to offer in the story, possessing both likeability but also a fair amount of comradery the further the story develops. The main character of Yakumo Fuji is an interesting and fun leading protagonist who’s journey makes him mature and more determined to regain his mortality but also be willing to help Pai grant her wish, what also helps most of all is his relationship that he builds with Pai and what it will eventually mean once she becomes human herself/but also regain her memory. Pai/ Parvati IV/Pabo as a second protagonist sadly doesn’t get that much depth in the anime due to her whole goal is just to become human herself, however her character is likeable, reliable and possesses a warm naivety which makes her character very enduring, especially when you learn more about her race and what will happen to her at the end of her journey. The supporting characters which while their roles are somewhat small each help make the story enjoyable but the goal worth pursuing follow…
• Lee Ling Ling – An editor of Yougekisha who at first seems pretty into the occult, until it turns out she is more into the idea of profits.
• Jake McDonald – An assholish, but likeable treasure hunter looking for the secret of immortality.
• Steve Long – A Taoist, skilled with using paper charms and can sense demonic energy.
• Meixing Long – Sister of Steve Long, an excellent martial artist.
And many others who each play an important involvement in the story, while it’s a let-down that the roles the supporting cast are thinned down somewhat in the anime compared to how they are in the manga there is something very enjoyable about what they contribute to the story.
• Lee Ling Ling – An editor of Yougekisha who at first seems pretty into the occult, until it turns out she is more into the idea of profits.
• Jake McDonald – An assholish, but likeable treasure hunter looking for the secret of immortality.
• Steve Long – A Taoist, skilled with using paper charms and can sense demonic energy.
• Meixing Long – Sister of Steve Long, an excellent martial artist.
And many others who each play an important involvement in the story, while it’s a let-down that the roles the supporting cast are thinned down somewhat in the anime compared to how they are in the manga there is something very enjoyable about what they contribute to the story.
Production for this is an interesting one, interesting in regards to the differences in the style. Directed by Daisuke Nishio (Dragon Ball) The first ova animated by Toei Animation shows its age but also manages to stay somewhat closer to the early art style by Yuzo Takada in the first few years of the manga. The animation is pretty good for displaying some of the action; it does a good job of emoting the characters and providing some rather well animated expressions, the level of detail gone into the environment shows how much time went into the production. Character designs by Kouichi Arai manage to match Takada’s style a small amount and manage to move in pretty good motion in this. The second ova animated by Hal Film Maker (Princess Tutu, Boys Be...) and directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi has a slightly different change in colour, everything appears slightly brighter and displays as much of the gore and violence a little more so than the first ova, character designs by Tetsuya Kumagai (Skip Beat!, Spriggan, Arjuna) are slightly rounder and drift away from the style of the first ova and it can be a little distracting to see in motion, especially since it’s easier to get used to the older style of the characters a little more.
From an audio perspective, 3x3 eyes has so much to offer. The score by Karou Wada is sweeping in different places; tracks such as “Main Theme” which have a good mix of the violin but the drums beating in the background display a rich authenticity to the story, “Ran-Pao-Pao” which is a heavy orchestra track which starts off foreboding and then becomes intense once the beat changes and increases and “At the end of my Journey” which starts off as a jaunting little ditty but then becomes a softer flute tune and really brings some level of warmth to the scene. One particular note regarding the score is how songs such as “Pai Longing” bare a very strong similarity to the theme of Braveheart from 1995 composed by the late James Horner, honestly there is some similarity but as one was inspired by the other is entirely unsure.
For the English dub of this is where things are slightly torn. There are two English dubs for 3x3 eyes, one done by Streamline in the 1990’s and a redub done by Pioneer in 2000, The English dub by Streamline is pretty okay in some places but stands out really badly in others. For the cast you have Eddie Frierson as Pai who is pretty good and manages to make the character believable, Rebecca Forstadt as Pai is a little bit too high pitched for the character but she manages to put in some good amount of emotion into her character. Supporting character such as Jake McDonald played by Steve Blum don’t stand out very well, although this was one of Steve Blum’s early roles it there isn’t really anything that special about it too much. Names like Lia Sargent, Kirk Thornton, and Steve Bulen etc do decent jobs in this, so while the dub is okay in some places it’s very aged though.
The second English dub is an entirely different beast and offers something a little out of the ordinary, the Pioneer English dub was voice directed by Greg Weisman (the creator of Gargoyles) and features the voices of well-known voice actors such as Keith David (Spawn), Bill Fagerbakke (Spongebob Squarepants, Ed Asner (Freakazoid), Thom Adcox-Hernandez (Young Justice) etc who have had a pedigree in Disney’s Gargoyles. The second dub even makes several references in the form of a vagrant humming the theme song to the line "What could make claw marks in solid stone?”. For the leading characters you have Christian Campbell as Yakumo Fuji who really fits well into the character and makes him sound hot-headed but determined, likeable but also stubborn and manages to bring some humanity to the character. For the main antagonist of Benares you have Earl Boen (Le-Chuck from Monkey Island, Dr. Silberman from Terminator, Mr Bleakman from Clifford the Big Red Dog) and he plays the character exactly like a forboding and threatening villain, slightly more malicious and cunning than Dave Povall & Kirk Thornton of the Streamline dub who whilst they sound okay, they don’t give the character any level of depth to make him sound threatening. For the role of Pai you have actress Bridgette Bako, she’s a mixed bag throughout the voice acting process of this dub, she plays the character of Pai a little all over the place and she really is trying her best to give a good performance however at because of how distinctive it sounds at times it’s hard to pinpoint the right level of emotion in her performance where it’s found. At times she sounds like she’s restraining herself way too much or when she is overacting her performance just abit too much, examples of this where she plays the split personality of Parvati IV and she has to sound evil and threatening. At times it’s taken seriously, but then other times when she is doing an evil laugh it sounds too forced to take seriously. Aside from the cast of Disney’s Gargoyles playing the majority of the cast, other names such as William Katt (The Greatest American Hero), Ralph Lister (Hellsing), Keith Szarabajka (Darksiders), Gregg Rainwater (Street Fighter) are interesting choices in this, they play their characters very well and offer something very different.
One particular reason why I think the second dub is the better dub despite a few of the lumps is because it falls into a rather unique category. You have an English dub where several of the actors who despite having experience in voice acting in western animation have had 0 background in voice acting in anime, very similar to what the English dubs of Studio Ghibli experiment with by having actors who have had parts on film & tv for western audiences, this stands out because it tries something a little bit different. What also helps move this along is the re-translation of the script and how the story of the anime is explained a little deeper and sounds slightly different compared to the Streamline dub, a good example where at the rarest of times if you have a good voice director and a writer who can translate the original Japanese of the anime into something that roles off the tongue a little better for western audiences then everything works okay and it doesn’t sound like a word by word react of the original.
Despite some of the highs in this anime, there is one rather big low and that’s the ending. At the time this anime was still running the manga was still in production and hadn’t reached its ending run. The ending of the anime is somewhat anti-climactic and abrupt especially when the build-up of this anime is really good, but the payoff is unwelcomely sudden and leaves you sort of wanting more.
When all is said and done however the anime adaptation of 3x3 Eyes is a very good anime, the characters are likeable, the story is engaging and gets interesting the further it pushes ahead, the action is enjoyable and while the animation does shift rather weirdly the show’s strength is its mythology and depth for exploring the background of the Sanjiyans. However for more depth in the characters as well as a deeper look at the story, the manga is the best place to read it as it gives the characters richer development and succeeds where the anime slightly fails in doing that, that said this anime is still very good.
Recommended.
Recommended.
Sami Sadek is a lifelong Transformers and Anime fan, and can often be found propping up bars or appearing in the background of Auto Assembly vids. He has also talks on Youtube, Tumbls on Tumblr, Tweets on Twitter, doodles on Deviantart and is a regular co-host on this very site's Cyberritz. He has never had a swordfight atop a church whilst a crow watches. Honest.
