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				Review* Full Moon wo Sagashite by Zachary Hardison (Kyo) Original Air Date: April 04, 2002 - March 29, 2003 Network: TV Tokyo Official Web Site: Click Here
			The synopsis of this anime didn't sound that appealing to me in the beginning; "a 12 year-old girl has a tumor in her throat, but longs to sing. After hearing that she only has one year left to live by the Shinigami (death-angel, god people) she strives to fulfill her dream to become a singer." Some 52 episodes later, I retract my apprehension about the series. It was appealing on a few levels. To start, the usual appeal of girls in anime is kind of weird when its about a 12 year-old girl. But, to our rescue, one of the two Shinigami that approaches her is a very nice, pink-haired, skimpy-outfit-wearing, young woman named Meroko. Also, the 12 year-old girl, Mitsuki, turns into a 16 year-old when she wants to sing. 16 still isn't legal, but hey, it's a lot better than 12 right? Anyways, she is changed because for her first audition, you have to be at least 16, and her other Shinigami, Takuto, sympathizes with her and changes her to be herself as she would be when she's 16, also outfitted with blonde hair (she's normally a brunette). Lo and behold, she passes, and they her road to idol fame starts. But wait, she's still supposed to die in a year! Yeah well that part blows, but the way they turn out the ending works well with the story. So all's well that ends well. Meanwhile, Mitsuki has such a determination to become a singer because of a childhood promise (to a boy of course) to Eichi, who was at the same orphanage with her for two years until he was adopted. Eichi is 6 years older than Mitsuki, age doesn't really seem to matter in this anime concerning love. So we see the classic 'oh I love you, you make your dreams come true and I will mine, and we'll meet again, I promise," kind of scene a bit. So while Eichi is over in America trying to become an astronomer, Mitsuki is still in Japan trying to become a singer, and still dying'fun times. Some support characters really help the story along greatly, including Mitsuki's grandmother (you'll love this) who hates music, nice. Mitsuki's doctor, Wakouji, who is connected to music also, but that's a spoiler so I'll leave that be. There's Mitsuki's friends from school (she doesn't have any at first), who even take on some side note stories. A few others Mitsuki meets as her alter ego singing idol, Full Moon. A very vicious rival of Full Moon, Madoka, who you will hate at some points. Full Moon's manager Ooshige. And one other very merciless, tricky Shinigami, Izumi, who has a very cool look to him. Being an anime of this length, there's episodes filled with humor, romance, love, happiness, sadness, and miscellaneous heart-warming moments. Part of the time you will want to keep watching just to continue the story line and see what happens to Mitsuki because all the while, she is still dying. And other times you'll want to continue it for other character developments. There's plenty of those cliffhanger, suspense moments that drive you crazy. All in all though, it's very much worth watching. Why else would I watch 52 episodes of something that sucked? Just to be able to say, "Yeah I watched it, it sucked." Neine, we only want rock-on, wicked-sweet, oh-my-this-is-why-I -love-anime, types of anime don't we? Of course. Later days. -Kyo-