Berserk Complete Collection
- Label:
- MVM
- Certificate:
- 18
- Format:
- DVD
- Discs:
- 6. (25 episodes + extras)
- Running time:
- 695 mins approx
- Subtitles:
- English
- Video:
- 4:3
- Sound:
- English 2.0, Japanese 2.0
- Release date:
- 4th Oct 2010
- DVD RRP:
- £39.99 - Amazon - Play - MVM
Brief synopsis:
In a medieval world where people live and die by the sword, Guts is a solitary warrior, known the those who fear him as The Black Swordsman, who walks the land taking small mercenary jobs where he can get them all the while searching for where his true destiny will take him. When he finds himself crossing swords with the notorious mercenary group, The Band of the Hawks, Guts has his ass handed to him on a plate and is convinced by the group's leader that if he wants to grow stronger he should join them. Working his way up through he ranks, Guts fights alongside their leader and founder, Griffith, and his second in command and only female in the group, Caska, as they're drawn into a bloody and brutal conflict between the lands of Midland and Chuder which has been raging for the last 100 years.
Comments:
The misty past of 1989 saw the first publication of new swords and sorcery manga by the name of Berserk. What set this manga apart from other swords and sorcery tales of the time was that it tapped into the grim and gritty underside of the medieval fantasy world that many other authors do their best to gloss over or just sweep under the carpet. Almost from the outset Berserk was far more dark, twisted and gruesome then it's counterparts. Try to imagine the evil twin of the Slayers universe, nasty little goatee n' all, and you're part way to the insanely brutal realm where Berserk resides. Indeed, as the next twenty years passed since it's initial publication it's taken dark fantasy manga to a whole new level. Then, back in 1997, eight years into the manga's run, production company OLM Ltd animated the first major story arc which, though it required heavy editing in many countries in order to either be broadcast or sold, has remained a firm fan favourite ever since.
Animation wise, even taking into account that this series is now over a decade old, it's not that great. The animation quality's OK but nothing to get excited about. The colour pallet for the first few episodes looks a bit skewed but this seems to have been sorted out before it became a major irritation. It's interesting to note that this show came two years after 1995's Neon Genesis Evangelion, and only 6 months before 1998's Cowboy Bebop, but unfortunately looks a lot older, and a whole lot cheaper than either of these. Berserk may be many things but production company OLM's finest hour it isn't. This is somewhat of a shame as the Berserk manga has over the last two decades built it's self somewhat of a reputation as having some of the best, and most intense, artwork seen in recent years.
with many of his works such as Paprika and Paranoia Agent. While the original Japanese language track is solid straight off the bat, the dub version starts off as one of the most unintentionally funny dubs I've heard for a long time. Luckily it settles down after a few episodes as the actors grow into their roles and those that had been going for a more "Camp as Christmas" approach finally figure out that this is a dark fantasy for adults and not an exercise in musical theatre.
This collection gathers all six DVDs previously released back in 2007 - 2008 and covers much of the "Golden Age" storyline, this being the first major arc comprising the first dozen or so volumes of the manga. Unlike many other anime based on an ongoing manga, this show doesn't try to come up with it's own nice, tidy little plot resolution at the end of it's run. This leads to the assumption that the producers were hoping for a second series in which to continue the story which unfortunately never came meaning the anime's left on a rather nasty cliffhanger ending that will probably now never be resolved on screen. In this case I'd suggest that, if you're going to go into this series raw, i.e., if you haven't read the manga yet, make sure that you can beg, borrow or steal (OK, not that last part) copies of the printed works afterwards as you will be left wanting to know what happens next. Luckily Dark Horse have been already published the first 30 manga volumes though due to demand they are becoming quite scarce and rather expensive to obtain.
Extras:
There's text-less opening and closing animations; art galleries; production sketches; trailers; storyboards; "Paint in Berserk" promo; an interview with producer Toshio Nakatani and another with author/creator Kentarō Miura. My favourite extras on each disc however must be the "out-takes" which are just excuses for the dub cast to piss about and be silly. The highlight of these has to be when, in the midst of recording a rather grim scene, one of the actors bursts into a spontaneous rendition of "Part of that world" from Disney's The Little Mermaid.
Berserk Complete Collection will be available from most high streets and online retailers from 4th October 2009
Solty Rei Complete Collection
- Label:
- MVM
- Certificate:
- 15
- Format:
- DVD
- Discs:
- 6. (25 episodes +1 bonus episode)
- Running time:
- 625 mins approx
- Subtitles:
- English
- Video:
- 16:9 Anamorphic
- Sound:
- English 5.1, Japanese 2.0
- Release date:
- 30th Aug 2010
- DVD RRP:
- £39.99 - Amazon - Play - MVM
Press release:
It's been twelve years since the Blast Fall, an unexplained disaster that left countless dead and many more maimed. Society is divided and every citizen feels the burn, most of all the Resembles - people whose mangled bodies have been rebuilt with high-tech prosthetic devices. Bounty hunter Roy Revant has seen it all, walking alone in this shattered city. That is, until the day a strange little girl named Solty falls from the sky straight into his heart. The search for family turns into a search for meaning and those that wield harsh power over society won't go unnamed for long. Roy and Solty may seek different things... But who wants to search for truth alone?
Comments:
Much like Gunparade March, which we reviewed earlier in the year, Solty Rei’s main problem is that it’s not too sure what kind of show it wants to be. On one hand it tries to be an action adventure come tense political thriller while on the other it wants to be a heart warming show about the importance of families, where-ever you may find them and unfortunately it remains somewhat undecided from the beginning right up to the end. That said, when it does decide to do the action adventure thing it does it rather well. The animation is consistently good, the story is entertaining and, for the most part, the CGI blends in unobtrusively which is good news as production company GONZO are known to be quite hit and miss with their CGI.
Dub-wise this is one of the better adaptations as for the most part the English language version is arguably better crafted than the Japanese original even if it does take a while for the dub-cast to settle down into their roles. There are sterling performances from the likes of Colleen Clinkenbeard and Laura Bailey and if it weren’t for Solty’s voice actress Carrie Savage being just a touch too sweet and squeaky I’d have no problem recommending the Dub version over the original Japanese version.
Extras:
Disappointingly little. There’s Some Dub cast auditions, trailers and the ever-present text-less opening and closing animation.
Solty Rei Compete Collection is available from most high streets and online retailers now.