Kaikan Phrase

Santa

Yuki

Sakuya

Atsuro

Towa

Towa, Atsuro, Santa, Yuki

Towa and Yuki

Based on the long-running, somewhat ecchi shoujo manga, the anime Kaikan Phrase focuses on the rise to fame of the J-Rock band Lucifer. An actual live band called Lucifer sings the songs for the animated band, and has released several CDs. Great music, hot guys, and a very simple plot make Kaikan Phrase thoroughly and easily enjoyable for the bishounen fan.

The anime begins several months before the manga, before Lucifer has even formed. The early episodes show Santa and Yuki, the band's core members, leaving their last rock band to form a new one, and trying to gather the best musicians on the local scene. Santa is the blond, short-tempered drummer with the drive and determination to be Japan's number one band, while his best friend and guitarist Yuki is quieter, more thoughtful, a black-haired bishounen who comes from a long line of Noh actors. Together, they recruit bassist Towa, a sweet and caring boy who leaves his original band just as they are about to sign a recording contract, because he wants to be appreciated for his talent and not his pretty face. High school student Atsuro joins to play guitar despite the objections of his family and his obligations to his schoolwork.

Finding a vocalist proves more difficult. Lucifer knows who they want to sing for them: dark, mysterious, tight-lipped Sakyua who has an incredible voice but no ability or desire to work with others. Much of the early episodes focus on the band members' efforts to get Sakuya to join the band, stay with the band, not leave the band, and perform with the band. These episodes are filled with slashy potential, as Santa, Yuki, Towa and Atsuro all talk amongst themselves about "falling in love with Sakyua's voice."

Once all of the members have finally been collected, then the story of Lucifer's rise to fame begins. Their search for a "live house" (a club or bar to perform at in front of an audience) is hampered when Sakyua gets into a fight with some patrons. The band enters a contest, but Sakyua's inconsistent nature and Yuki's family obligations lead to a lot of tension over whether or not they can actually perform. Atsuro struggles with his family's expectations and even moves in with Towa for a brief time, providing the most shounen-ai scene in the entire first season.

For the most part, Kaikan Phrase is a very slow-moving anime. There is very little action, but a lot of close-up animation of the five biseinen of Lucifer, as well as a lot of dialogue between them. The plot is predictable and hardly suspenseful, but not too slow as to become tiresome. Toward the end of the first season, the anime picks up the manga storyline and introduces Aine, a female love interest for Sakuya. At this point the plot of the anime actually starts to pick up and seems to be going somewhere.

Though the digisub screenshots accompanying this review don't really show it, the animation is good and clean, very colorful and vibrant. The character designs, along with their unique sense of fashion, are more fleshed-out and less wispy than their manga counterparts with a good overall effect. These are definitely characters that you won't mind looking at -- a good thing since you see a whole lot of them sitting still, talking, and looking pensive.

An added bonus to Kaikan Phrase is the great J-Rock music that runs through every episode. "Datenshi Blue" is Lucifer's first big single and the only song that they play through the first dozen or so episodes. Luckily it's an energetic song with extremely evocative lyrics ("If you want me to remove the handcuffs / Roll your hips and beg"), and I at least didn't mind hearing it over and over again. You'll also get very used to "Daikishimeru hoka nani ga deirundarou," which is the piano song that Sakuya plays and sings during the episodes where Lucifer is trying to recruit him. "C no Binetsu" crops up later during the Aine storyline, and is probably the best song out of the first season. "Midnight Crow" plays over the next episode previews and is another good one. All of these songs are available on the real-life band Lucifer's CD Limit Control, which is available through CD Japan.

Kaikan Phrase is a slasher's dream: five hot guys who are completely inter-slashable, very few female characters to interrupt, and a healthy but not overpowering dose of personal angst for each individual member. Though the action is slow and the songs can be repetitive, this series is highly enjoyable for any fan of J-Rock biseinen.