Anime Review: Violinist of Hamelin

Review Violinist of Hamelin

Hamelin is a violin player in the village of Stacato and is a girl who is his childhood friend. One day the happen upon a wounded traveler and take him despite the village's law against accepting strangers. This is just a trap set by demons though. The attack caused by the demons launched the second war of Sforzend with both Hamelin and Flute playing very big parts in the war do to the unusual heritage of each of them. Flute is actually the princess of Sforzend, raised in Stacato so she would understand the common people. Hamelin on the other hand is more of a mystery, but the horn on his head is a clue.

The Violinist of Hamelin is a fairly obscure anime show and by some accounts is considered to be one of the unknown classics. The show is a fantasy title and a serious one for a change. This may seem a bit odd given that the characters look kind of comical. The plot however is deep and intricate, with many plot twists.

The animation is a mixed bag however. The frame rate in some parts is utterly horrendous with still shots being overused. The actual quality of the pictures is rather good. On top of this there is good music, including a good selection of famous classical music pieces that Hamelin or others use for magic.

The Violinist of Hamelin is currently only available through fansubs and given the relative age of the series is very possible that it may never be licensed. If you can get your hands on it I recommend it to most anime fans. That is if you can get past the stilted animation that plagues the show in spots. I give the Violinist of Hamelin a rating of very good.