Introduction/Blurb: Full Moon wo Sagashite is telling the story of the 12yearold girl and orphan Mitsuki who is currently living with her grandmother. Mitsuki loves to sing since her childhood but unfortunately her illness made singing impossible for her. Nevertheless she wants to achieve her dream of becoming a singer herself and with that she wants to keep the promise she had made with her childhood friend and first love Eichi. One day she discovers her ability to see Shinigami while being visited by the fullfledged Shinigami Meroko and the halfbaked not yet Shinigami Takuto. With the message presented that Mitsuki would only have one more year to live she takes the decision to make her dream come true while also asking the Shinigami to help her out with their supernatural powers until she would reach her predetermined day of death. Background/Relations: As Ive only seen the anime and not yet read the manga of Full Moon wo Sagashitehttps://anilist.co/manga/30008/FullMoonwoSagashite/ which was created by Arina Tanemurahttps://anilist.co/staff/96878/ArinaTanemura this review of the series has to be seen as a standalone and not as a description of how well it adopts the story from the manga to the anime. Furthermore a little research based on other opinions/discussions has shown that the Anime and Manga differ in many aspects. Some things seem to be told in the anime with a different approach some aspects have been changed and some things have even been left out completely. Arina Tanemura is besides Full Moon wo Sagashite mostly known for her shoujo manga as I.O.N.https://anilist.co/manga/31113/ION/ Kamikaze Kaitou Jeannehttps://anilist.co/manga/30036/KamikazeKaitouJeanne/ and Time Stranger Kyokohttps://anilist.co/manga/30086/TimeStrangerKyoko/. Viewers that have watched the anime Kamikaze Kaitou Jeannehttps://anilist.co/anime/142/KamikazeKaitouJeanne/ before might be reminded at it art stylewise while watching Full Moon wo Sagashite. Although it should be mentioned that these two works have been adapted by different animation studios. Full Moon wo Sagashite by Studio DEENhttps://anilist.co/studio/37/StudioDEEN and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne by Toei Animationhttps://anilist.co/studio/18/ToeiAnimation The animation seems to be okay/acceptable for the time in which it was published 20022003 and it also seems to be held close to the typical art style of Arina Tanemura. Nothing outstanding but still enjoyable. Story/Setting Overview: The most important topics in the story are: Youth and Growing up Music the Music Industry Love Friendship/Family Supernatural occurrences the Illness WrapUp: Minor spoilers included The story surrounds the question if ones destiny/fate can be changed or not. About duties which need to be fulfilled but also about rightfulness friendship and love. It shows clearly what it means to fight and the importance and ability to change certain things. In its storytelling it even achieves to portray not only the protagonists but also the antagonists in a relatable way so that the viewer is even able to sympathize with them. Instead of showing one singer making it on her own there are many people friends/team/staff etc surrounding and supporting and depicts therefore a little insight into the japanese music industry and the different steps which are to be taken as a young artist. The pacing of the 52episode long series seems a little off though. While the beginning was rather slowpaced the end seems to be finished/closed rather quickly as if the story was not from the beginning planned to be that long /or short. A little bit more consistency wouldnt have been bad in retrospect as there were many complex topics mixed up in each other even to an extent where one would say that the story would have been better off without these. The extent of the supernatural aspects are indeed a matter of taste but the story could have been told nicely even without it or with less. Overall the story is enjoyable while the audio might or might not be to ones taste. While I got more used specific songs/performances which seemed to be rather odd in the beginning it suited the series itself well. Definitively the series is enjoyable although some aspects seemed rather odd to me and left often a wthwasthatexactlyexpression on my face and in my thoughts. For sure this series delivers some unexpected things and might even be good to clear away ones cobwebs. An interesting and nowadays unusual watch for sure.