Funimation has sent us a number of impressive box sets in the past couple months, but my increasingly hectic schedule hasn’t allowed me much time to sit down and evaluate them in their entirety. However, in an effort to give some of these the attention they deserve, I’ll just go ahead and give you my first impressions on the box sets. First up: Solty Rei, Peach Girl, and Speed Grapher. Each set comes in a paper digipack gatefold case, and featuring an average of 24 episodes on 6 discs. In the case of Speed Grapher set, you are getting all the special edition volumes in one collection, complete with the original guidebook/inserts from those individual releases (very nice). But, enough about the packaging. On to the reviews.

Solty Rei . Something of a mashup sci-fi, Solty Rei cribs elements from Blade Runner, Bugglegum Crisis, mech-action, and cyberpunk. But while those landmark films, shows, and genres stood as distinctly unique and alluring, what I’ve seen of Solty Rei is distinctly blah. The basic story concerns a grizzled bounty-hunter and former-father, coming into contact with a teenage robot with amazing physical powers. She’s a naive free spirit, he a hardened, grumpy old man — just connect the dots. The show has its moments of cool, but for the most part these are buried behind moments of sickly-sweet dialog, sappy melodrama, and all around lameness. This last element is due in large part to the show’s wildly inconsistent tone, going from scenes of gritty future-noir, cybernetic shootouts, and chest-penetrating fistfights to brightly colored domestics, friendly outings, and “father-daughter” drama. Character designs, too, seem decidedly disjointed. Roy Revant, the Deckard/Dirty Harry ripoff, is legitimately cool, complete with scruffy facial hair, noir suspenders, brown trenchcoat, and a massive firearm. The show’s replicant-equivalent, Solty, on the other hand, looks like a reject for a Playstation RPG, complete with green Princess Amidala hair, a skin-tight orange jumpsuit, and lame Final Fantasy XII style vest. I’ve only had time to watch the first four episodes of the show, so there’s a fair chance that things will improve. There’s an interesting component involving an aurora-force field surrounding the show’s city, preventing any sort of air travel, and the Bubblegum Crisis officer-girls promise some good match-ups for Solty in later episodes. In the end, I would say my final verdict is still out on Solty Rei. For now I’ll just say only pick this one up if you know you like the series.

Peach Girl . OMG. This one’s got, like, sooooo much drama. You see, Momo’s a student at the local higschool. She’s got a crush on a cute guy, but she’s afraid to mention it because her ultra jealous best friend is likely to steal the guy right out from under her. To prevent her from catching on, she says she likes the hottest guy in school, and then finds out he likes her back!!! *SQUEEEEAAAL* But there’s this thing about her looks. You see, her water polo career has given her an ultra dark tan, which combined with her peroxide-blonde do makes all her classmates think she’s a ganguro slut. Luckily her two suitors can see past her freaky facade to the wonderful, intelligent person they see inside… I mean, it’s not possible they just like the ganguro thing, right? Peach Girl is not something I would have ever gone out of my way to watch, but — I’m somewhat ashamed to admit it – what I saw was pretty entertaining. A simple twenty-two minute show sees more drama than a season of Dawson’s Creek, even that first one where Pacey was making out with his teacher and Joey was trying to get in Dawson’s… Um, I only know this because I wanted to see what else Kevin Williamson could do after Scream (yah, that’s the ticket!). Better cut this review off quick, before I embarrass myself further. Peach Girl’s a decent set, and worth a pickup for female fans of teen drama. All others, beware. A brush with this series might lead to a closet Peach Girl obsession.

Speed Grapher . Now here’s the standout of these three sets. Speed Grapher is an amazingly adult anime, dark, disturbing, sexy, and strange. The story centers around Saiga, an ex-war photographer turned tabloid go-to man, a former “hero” turned dreg of society. One such assignment leads him to an underground den of social elite, where supernatural, orgiastic clandestine rituals are carried out in an effort toward fulfilling their darkest of human desires (think something like Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut meets Ken Russel’s The Devils). In fact, at the very ritual Saiga finds himself attending, a lucky member is scheduled to be granted his deepest desire by a teenage “goddess.” Finding that this bestowment might involve the sacrifice of the young woman, Saiga is once again made the reluctant hero, immediately setting about rescuing the girl, and being saddled with a destructive supernatural ability in the process. In order not to spoil anything too much, I’ll just leave it at that. What follows is one of the most twisted, action packed, intriguing, and wonderfully animated anime shows I’ve seen in quite some time. There’s something here for everyone, including Ninja Scroll-style super-battles, grity film noir anti-heroics, and a surprisingly human narrative concerning guilt, pain, loss, and love. In short, it’s a return to everything you loved way back in the the wild and woolly day of pre-mainstream anime. And as such, a warning is in order: Parents, this is not one you should let your kids watch. And kids, if you’re actually watching this series, don’t let your parents know. I haven’t quite finished this series, but once I do, you can expect a full review of this box set. Highly recommended.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been an off and on anime fan since the days of Streamline Pictures. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.