This explanation is my culmination based on my 3 viewings of "Karas: the Prophecy", and four website explanations: Netflix, IMDb.com, and a quoted DVD text, and the official (English) website. Please note that this explanation is based on the English texts I have read and the English translation of the movie. It may not be 100% accurate, which if I have done this correctly, a more accurate explanation would really require knowing Japanese. E.g. "Eko" is actually Eku, and Yurine, is really "Yuri" and from the little Japanese I know, a single letter can drastically change the entire meaning of a word. OK, enough said.= THE PROPHECY = It was once foretold, that the battle for the future world will start and end - with Karas.= THE PLOT = The worlds of humans and demons have overlapped since time immemorial, and a spirit named Yurine (who represents the will of the people in the city) and her servant, Karas, have long maintained order and balance between the worlds. But humans have finally lost their beliefs of the demons and spirits. Disgusted by human arrogance, Karas turns his back on his role as guardian of the city, taking the name Eko, and plans an attack against the humans in the city. His goal is to have the humans once again believe in, and fear, demons.Eko and his followers live in the material realm in human form, but to continue doing so they must feed on the fluids of human bodies. Their periodic feasts result in massacres that leave only a single traumatized survivor. (There is no explanation given for this - it might be part of Eko's plan to re-instill fear into the hearts of humans.)Opposing Eko is the once demon Nue, who also lives in the material world in human form but refuses to drink blood. He wants to kill Eko b/c Eko trapped Nue's younger brother to help complete his evil plan. Also opposing Eko is Otoha, a human, who called out from his heart to Yurine - while he lies in a hospital bed in a coma. They make a contract and he becomes the new Karas.= THE KARAS = The "Karas", which means "crow" in Japanese, is their nom de plume as well as their title. There are others called Karas as well, Eko and Otoha are just the two most current and powerful. They can transform into any of various heavily armed vehicles. (There is much about "crows" but a lesson in ancient Japanese culture may explain that thread.)= The Humans = These "inexplicable" tragedies are the obsession of a marginalized police inspector whose daughter was the survivor of one such massacre. A young Leutenant is assigned to this "department". Beyond this simple role, they hardly have anything to do with the plot.Final comment: the first one is: "Karas: the Prohpecy" which has phenomenal CGI and action. 5/5* the second one is: "Karas: the Revelation" which has a cheaper version of the first CGI and typical anime action. 3/5*-LD______________________my faith: http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/jbc33/

I'm giving this an 8 ONLY because it is only part one of a series.The opening sequence will slowly pull you in, and then once the battle begins you want to turn down the lights and turn up the sound. Then you want to back up and do some of the sequences in Slo-Mo-- and you will be gratified to see that the details are there frame by frame by frame. Then you back up again and let the speed go back to normal and just hiss out the word: COOOOL!Then you get to the Title!Now to be fair-- even though this is a movie-- you will begin to see that it has the structure of an anime set episode-- just way longer. Yet the storyline hovers up in the adult level of appreciation as well as appealing to teens-- WITHOUT the usual anime non-stop attempts at creepy soft-kiddie-porn thank you so very much! It will take you a while to figure out exactly WHO is WHO, especially with the not-quite-linear cuts from one scene to another. But once you get the hang of it-- you will get the hang of the scene "sidesteps" and accept the fact that during the battles-- Human Time freezes, and Demon Time beginsIf anything, I'll bet that when this whole series is complete, it will give you the familiar ring of "Doomed Megalopolis" Ohh-- and last but not least-- the English Dubbing is VERY GOOD. For fun-- leave the English Subtitles on-- the differences between the spoken English and the subtitles can be intriguing.

i'm sorry if you guys didn't understand it, but it made prefect sense to me. but i totally get where your coming from, my boyfriend had to watch it a couple of times before he got it. i thought the animation was well done, and don't get me started on the action. to be honest the movie really did't call out to me in the store but my BF talked me into it. And i'm glad he did cuz i fell in love with this movie.i would be glad to explain the movie to anybody. i was jumping for joy when i found out it was part of a six part series. and i can't wait for the next installment. if anybody knows where i can buy any for cheap, that would be awesome.

The DVD summary box says: In a futuristic Tokyo, humans and spirits are sharing the same living space without realizing it, thanks in part to the guardian raven Karas and his masters, who maintain the precarious balance between both dimensions. But when a former Karas named Eko decides to challenge the system by seizing control, it's up to the entity Yurine, who represents the will of the Japanese people, to secure the future for humanity.This animation is a first-class piece of artwork. Visuals are stunning, and the audio (and audio options) on the DVD is as good as it can get. However if you don't know much about the anime, you WILL be lost in the first few minutes of the movie. On the plus side, you won't mind watching it again just because of all the cool CGI and fight sequences. I promise it makes more sense the second time around.Just keep in mind that the ending of this movie leaves something to be desired because this is supposed to be a two or three part production. Hopefully there won't be too long a wait for the sequel.