Basilisk Complete Collection

Label:

MVM

Certificate:

15

Format:

DVD

Discs:

6.

Running time:

507 mins approx

Subtitles:

English

Video:

16:9 anamorphic

Sound:

English 5.1, Japanese 2.0

Release date:

6th December 2010

RRP:

£39.99 - Amazon - Play - MVM

Synopsis:

Japan 1614. A long term and somewhat fragile peace has only been maintained between two warring ninja clans, the Iga and the Kouga, through the means of a non-aggression pact forged many generations ago by the great Hattori Hanzō. While trying to decide which of his two grandsons will eventually take over the Shogunate, former Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu decides to dissolve the truce between the two clans and, assigning each of the two to represent one of his grandsons, declares that whichever of the clans wipes out the ten best warriors from the other clan first will win the reins of power for the prospective Shogun that they represent. Also whichever of the ten best warriors remain alive for the winning clan will win the favour of the Shogunate for the next 1000 years while the losing clan will fall from favour.

The young heads of both clans, Lord Gennosuke and Lady Oboro, very much in love even with the heavy disapproval of their clansmen, had planned to marry in hopes of elevating the centuries old grudges and generations of ingrained bad blood and finally uniting both clans under a single banner of peace. These plans are torn asunder as they find that love and honour may not be a match for long-felt hate and mistrust. Will there ever be peace between the Iga and the Kouga or will they be eternally destined to follow a path of mutual destruction?

Comments:

First up I have to say that there are three types of anime that I generally avoid wherever possible; historical, martial arts and magical girl shows. As this show ticks two of those three boxes (the first two, there’s definitely no mahou-shoujo baton spinning action going on here) I’ve never actually seen his show before. After watching it for the purposes of this review I can honestly report that it’s left me pleasantly surprised and more than willing to rethink my stance on those first two genres. I’m still steering well away from magical girl shows though.

Based upon a wildly popular manga of the same name, which itself was based upon the classic 1950’s Japanese novel “The Kouga Ninja Scrolls”, and brought to the small screen by award winning animation studio GONZO, Basilisk is a tale of love & honour and of tragic loss & bloody revenge set to the backdrop of early Edo period Japan. If I were to sum this story up in one phrase then it would have to be “Romeo and Juliet… with ninjas”.

Basilisk melds all the vicious backstabbing and Machiavellian scheming of a good political thriller with the fantastical superhuman feats and powers of a Saturday morning cartoon. Add into all this an interwoven humanist, romantic element and you’ve got something for almost everyone. Basilisk contains a large number of primary characters, each with their own allegiances, relationships and “special moves”, all of which are uncovered as the story progresses. While it’s the action and battle elements (and the superhuman powers) which will draw many to this series, it’s real strength is in the bonds and interactions between the characters.

One of the questions this shows asks is; Is the cost of winning a war worth paying when it involves either watching your friends, family and loved ones leave for a battle they may never return from or maybe even fighting on the opposing side to the one you love? Thankfully this isn’t a question that we today have to ask too often but in 17th century Japan (or pretty much 17th century anywhere for that matter) it was still a major an issue for many. It also asks: which is more important; the bonds of love, the bonds of family or the bonds of honour and duty? A question many would feel is still relevant even today.

While several of Basilisk’s storylines may draw heavily on real historical events and figures, do not expect exact historical accuracy here. But then the mere mention of Ninjas with super human powers should have given that away already. When we think of Ninja’s we tend to think of the stylised version prevalent in today’s literature, movies, video game culture and the like with it’s all-black-pyjama ninja suits and throwing stars. What we’d consider to be a “Ninja” uniform is more akin to those of a stagehand in traditional Japanese theatre where they’re culturally accepted by audience to be invisible, or a non-entity, within the confines of the play. True historical “Ninjas” wouldn’t have gone out to fight in such an easily recognisable outfit, instead they’d have worn the garb of either the local commoners and merchants or uniforms stolen from their enemies so they could better infiltrate their opposition’s strongholds. Nor would they have made such a big deal about their “Ninja arts” and “Special moves”, favouring stealth and subterfuge over flashy kills and a heavy body count. Ninjas were basically part SAS, part Terrorist and part Spy and drawing attention to yourselves in any of those roles is certainly not a good idea. A more historically accurate tale of two warring ninja clans would probably read more like a Tom Clancy novel and much less like an episode of the Fantastic Four.

Baslisk is a delightfully dark, timeless and almost epic tale for the mature anime fan and. if like me you’ve steered away from this kind of series before, then this show may well be worth trying.

Extras:

One thing this box set has in spades is extras. There’s audio commentaries from the cast and crew, an introduction from the ADR Director to both the main characters and their dub actors, plenty of trailers, textless opening & closing animations and a “History of the Ninja” essay. Additional to this, most of the discs have at least one “Behind the scenes of Basilisk” feature, which are quite lengthy interviews and skits involving the original Japanese vocal cast, which would have been included in with the first pressings of the Japanese DVDs.

Audio/Dub/Subtitles/Video:

The dub track for this show is excellent and you can clearly tell that the cast and crew have enjoyed working on it immensely. The same can also be said for the original Japanese cast as is evident from the “Behind the Scenes of Basilisk” special features involving them. One thing I’d mention is that the original Japanese version and the English language rewrite, though essentially the same story, have so many subtle (and some not so subtle) differences between them that it really is worth watching the series twice, once in each language, to get the most out of it.

The visuals are encoded solidly in clear and vibrant 16:9 anamorphic, as to be expected from source material that’s only a couple of years old. Most of the action in Basilisk takes place in forests, rural villages or inside old buildings so the colour palette used on this series is very much into the Earth tones with more vibrant colours only being used for a handful of the costumes and any split blood, of which there is plenty.

The soundtrack is filled with classical style pieces, many utilising traditional Japanese instruments. The opening title theme is handled by J-Metal band Onmyo-Za and the Ending theme by the Japanese voice actress for the young head of the Iga clan, Nana Mizuki.

Basilisk Complete Collection will be available from most high streets and online retailers from 6th December 2010.

Elemental Gelade Complete Collection

Label:

MVM

Certificate:

15

Format:

DVD

Discs:

6. (26 episodes)

Running time:

650 mins approx

Subtitles:

English

Video:

4:3

Sound:

English 2.0, Japanese 2.0

Release date:

6th December 2010

RRP:

£39.99 - Amazon - Play - MVM

Synopsis:

Young Coud Van Giruet, or just “Cou” to his friends, dreams of being a legendary sky pirate and becoming the next boss of his group, the “Red Lynx Sky Pirate Squadron”. It’s unfortunate then that his pirating skills are almost as pitiful as his dreams are grand. Seen as a joke and a hindrance by his fellow pirates he’s routinely left behind to mind the ship while they go off on raids, pillage, loot, engage in skulduggery and generally have a good time.

Whilst skulking around the pirate’s ship after one such raid Cou finds a large casket buried deep amongst the spoils of the group’s last raid. With his curiosity getting the better of him, he accidentally releases from her entombed slumber a shy young girl by the name of Reverie "Ren" Metherlence. It turns out that Ren is one of a race of ancient beings, Edel Raids, who have the ability to merge with human partners to become powerful weapons.

There’s plenty of groups out there who’d like to get their hands on Ren and her powers, a few for altruistic purposes but most for their own greedy and selfish reasons and they’ll stop at nothing to obtain her for themselves. Even with these outside interferences, Cou’s made a promise to escort Ren safely to the legendary Edel Garden and, though he may be young and inexperienced, he’s the kind of guy who always keeps his word.

Comments:

Elemental Gelade is one of those shows where it’s kind of hard to place exactly who the target audience really is. At first it seems to be males in their early to mid teens though it’ll probably be just as popular with a slightly older audience of either sex. There can occasionally be a bit too much standing around talking or dealing with romance & relationship issues for the younger teens and at other times a little too much pointless running and jumping about for the young adults. But once you’ve gotten a little way into the show it’s actually all quite fun to watch with interesting characters and plenty of well-paced action. It feels at times like a strange combination of Last Exile, Outlaw Star and fellow “humans-metamorphosing-into-weapons” show Soul Eater. The animation is well produced and of good quality, the music is excellent and the original Japanese cast were top notch. The Dub track, well it’s not bad, not the best I’ve ever heard but nothing that would make it unacceptable. There are some inconsistencies in the translations but again nothing to really ruin the experience.

The music for this series is handled by the same composer behind the scores for Madlax, Noir and .hack//SIGN amongst others and hops easily from electro pop to grand orchestral to several compositions which wouldn’t be amiss at your average renaissance fayre. If you’ve already heard Noir or .hack//SIGN, then aurally that’s pretty much what you’re getting again here.

So, if you fancy taking a spin on a romance sci-fi comedy adventure that isn’t too cerebral then you can do worse than giving this a go.

Extras:

Being essentially a collection and repackaging of the 6 Elemental Gelade DVDs released individually over 2007/2008, it retains all the extras that were originally included on these discs. These being; a number of trailers, Commentary tracks featuring the English dub cast, Interviews with the original Japanese cast, Textless versions of the various opening and closing credits, line art galleries and more.

Elemental Gelade Complete Collection will be available from most high streets and online retailers from 6th December 2010.