Scryed

Released in 2001, Scryed is a 26 episode TV series. A true-to-the-mold anime sci-fi series, complete with hero and arch-nemesis, struggles against oppression and over the top action.. and of course a message to tell the grandchildren about.

In the not so distant future, an unexplained natural phenomena has created an emergent island known as The Lost Ground. The side effect of this event is the manifestation of Alter Users - people with an innate ability to manipulate matter, augmenting themselves or even creating separate entities called Alters. Of course, the Japanese government want to keep a tab on such matters and to this end HOLD, and its own division of Alter Users known as HOLY, is created. Kazuma is one such Alter user, and Scryed follows him as he fights against the forces of HOLY, who are forcing their presence on Kazuma and the other inhabitants of the Lost Ground in their efforts to regulate the native Alter User population.

Each character has a distinct personality. Throughout the series you can see these traits reinforced strongly - there is a lot of character interaction.

Kazuma - Loud and brash. He has strong issues as someone going up against HOLY and loves to take matters into his own hands

Kanami Yuta - Kazuma's *girl,* she is attached to Kazuma more strongly then he realises

Ryuhou - The arch-nemesis. A prominent character within Holy, he is much like Kazuma in that he has strong beliefs. He is also full of pride.

Visually, it's nothing to write home about. The character and background animation is clean and crisp. The action scenes flow nicely and the Alters are captured dynamically.

I've only seen the sub. The voices are chosen well to reflect the characters, and their mannerisms are realistic. Especially during the fight scenes, there is a lot of self-righteous shouting but it doesn't at all sound strained. The dialogue itself is typical and in some places almost predictable, so it loses points for that.