Devil May Cry: The Animation vol. 3 — Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage vol. 1 — Glass Fleet vol. 6 — Shuffle! vol 5 — anime — dvd reviews
And, we’re back. I’ve finally had time to sit down and watch a few of the anime titles sent us, and you know what? There were actually some great shows this time around. Some shows I’ve reviewed previously only continued to derail, but the vast majority of the others surprised me with their quality. Since there are a lot of titles to cover, I’ll make this short and sweet. Expect a few more of these capsule reviews until I’m able to whittle down the queue a bit. —Chris
Devil May Cry: The Animation – vol. 3 . I hate it when this happens. I discover an awesome show with its final disc. Most videogame-anime adaptations suck harder than our 24-amp Eureka (see: Tekken, Art of Fighting, Battle Arena Toshinden, etc.), but this one’s actually pretty good. The story’s pretty straightforward, and even if you’re jumping into the end of the series like me, you’ll have more than enough time to figure out what is going on: Low ranking demon starts collecting occult wards in order to unlock super-demon-powers. Cocky demon-turned hero, Dante, has other plans. Ultra-stylish chaos ensues. And really, what amazing style it is. The series was handled by Madhouse, who also produced my the majority of my old-school faves (Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D, Demon City Shinjuku, etc. etc.). And like those, it’s old school action anime, with ultra-smooth, ultra-detailed, ultra-flashy bouts of ultra-violence.
Fans of Devil May Cry will love the series’ efforts towards fleshing out the admittedly shallow mythology of the game, delivering back-story and much needed motivation to the supporting team members. Rounding out the cast familiar faces Trish (Devil May Cry 1) and Lady (Devil May Cry 3), as well as a host of new characters, including a pint-size neat freak, Patty Lowell, and Dante’s “liaison”, Morrison. Of these, I’d definitely say I dug Lady’s contributions the best, bringing in massive firepower and a healthy dose of bad-assery to the proceedings. The four episodes on this disc cover a poker match where souls are part of the winning pot, a duel between sword-slinging demons, and the series ultimate showdown, which spans the final two episodes.
It’s also worth noting that this is one of the titles Funimation rescued from ADV’s catalog, but unlike their releases of Geneon rescues, there’s nothing to indicate the former license holder aside from the individual episode credits. English voice recordings were done in the ADV studios, and while relatively competent, they have a strange echo-chamber quality in many situations. Likely this was to indicate the spaciousness of the room in which the characters were conversing, but it smacks more of poor sound engineering. The disc also features a few cut scenes from Devil May Cry 4 as extras. If you’ve played the game, you probably won’t need to watch these, but if you have not, they’ll get you to try it out.
In closing, the show is completely slick. In fact, it has me pumped to play Devil May Cry 4 on 360. Effective advertising, and an entertaining show. Check it out.
Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage, vol 1. And another surprise. I’d heard Black Lagoon was good, but hadn’t had a chance to pick up the original Geneon releases. This is the second season of the show, spanning 12 episodes, and further chronicling the tales of the Lagoon Company mercenaries. This time around the crew is faces a pair of “vampire” twins, Hansel and Gretel. Suffice it to say, these two little kids are decidedly creepy, with a penchant for torture and large-scale demolition — quite formidable foes despite their appearance. The story is decently complex, and surprisingly adult, with a sizable amount of military strategy and intrigue to complement its frenzied action. And yes, this series has more than its fair share of action. The first disc introduces the twins, necessary backstory, as well as a few new allies. I’ll leave it at that, so as not to spoil anything.
Unlike the Devil May Cry disc, above, Funimation has released Black Lagoon with its Geneon ties completely intact. All Geneon trademarking, packaging, menus, and trailers are still intact. All voice over work for the series was completed before Geneon’s “demise”, so for fans who were lucky enough to pick up the first season, the transition between releasing houses should be transparent. Again, this is a very entertaining, surprisingly intelligent show, and a whole lot of fun. I might just have to go back and check out the previous season now.
Glass Fleet Vol. 6 . A thrilling end to the inter-stellar swashbuckling series. I never understood the hate leveled at this series. I loved the intelligent take on honor, destiny, family and feud, religion, corruption, and best of all, politics. The final four episodes see Cleo and crew meeting Vetti and the actual Glass Fleet of legend in a rousing battle that nearly destroys the empire. It’s dangerous, exciting, and a whole lot of fun. Like I said before, it’s quite a bit like Alexandre Dumas in space.
A note to parents though. There are a few scenes in here that go way beyond the TV PG rating, including Cleo and Michel getting very sweaty, and a strange bit of metaphysical homo-erotic dream-sequence featuring Cleo and Vetti (I’m guessing to “service” the female/Yaoi fanbase). But aside from that, this could be watched by anyone with an open mind. Check it out.
Shuffle! vol 5. This show just keeps getting worse. I was willing to stretch my suspension of disbelief regarding Rin’s harem, and the girl’s inexplicable attraction to him, due to his kind-hearted nature, and the lessons the show seemed to be purporting to the horny youths that would watch the show, but with this disc, I’ve lost all faith in Shuffle!. The previous disc’s creepy focus on Primula left me worried, but still hopeful for a swift recovery. Sadly, that was not the case. Volume 5 savages everything that came before, exposing the various girls in the harem to be just as catty and stupid as any sexist stereotype would have you believe. Sia becomes a complete slut, doing everything in her power to entice Rin with her exposed flesh (though this is explained away with a case of Possession later on). Kaede is exposed as a controlling, jealous, psycho bitch, who’s not above violence if it means getting her way. Asa’s intriguingly confident tomboy is exposed as a weakling in need of protection, in part due to her suddenly poor constution. Primula and Nerine? I don’t even care anymore. Then there’s Rin’s completely unbelievable restraint, bordering even on retardation when opportunity finally knocks. Is this guy that much of a dolt? The episodes on the disc feature Sia’s slutty escapades, a chaperoned date with Asa, Asa getting sick, Kaede freaking out, and Rin becoming even more pathetic. There’s only one more disc to go, but as it stands now, I hate this show.
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