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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
 Jan-Chan
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[series:775#967] |
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What can you expect from Kenchi Sonoda (who did character designs for Bubblegum Crisis & Gunsmith Kats)? And from Hideki Kakinumr (creator of Megazone 23) Would you be surprised by a bevy of cute strong women, armed to the teeth with guns and explosives, fighting in an epic battle for the survival of humanity? I am reviewing the four DVD set from the US Manga Corps (R1 English dub) While each DVD is only some 60 minutes of anime, it is not broken up into different episodes. So can really enjoy a solid 50 minutes of anime, as each DVD tells a different chapter, which is part of a complete greater story. The first DVD is call Rhea Gall Force. In the year 2085, a scientist unearths on the moon an ancient spaceship. In recreating the technology, humanity has also resurrected an alien robotic enemy, the paranoids. The paranoids succeed in destroying earth and what remains of humanity clings to a fragile existence, living like rats in the rubble of the cities, while evading trying to evade hunting the enemys robotic hunters. If humanity is to survive, they must escape from earth and flee to the safety of Mars, but only if they can manage to hold on long enough. The second DVD is the series is called Eternal Story, follows the story of the fighter pilot Lufy and the crew of starship Leaf. Humanity (now called the Solinoids) has retreated from earth to a new solar system and is working hard to build a new home on the planet of Chaos. The starship StarLeaf is heavily damaged and retreats from combat. The crew work hard to repair the damage and get back to at least a functional level. But unknown to the crew, the paranoids have slipped an agent on board and things begin to go very wrong. In the story on the 3rd DVD (Destruction), the Solinoids have managed to survive, scattered amidst the stars, and are still locked in mortal combat with the paranoids. The human forces now mostly comprised of (80%) of cyborg robotic warriors, but they are still outnumbered and at a disadvantage. The war has taken an evil turn, with each side having used their ultimate weapon on each other, the planet destroyers, to destroy each others home worlds. And now both sides are in a desperate race to reach and take control of the last habitable planet, located in system #9. And on the way, an old combat mecha was recovered with the pilot still alive. Might it be Lufy from the previous DVD? The 4th story (Stardust War) tells of the last remaining human forces, having escaped from system 9, and how they flee to a solar system with a dying red giant sun, called Cygna Narse. The Paranoids have decided to send their remaining planet destroyers against their enemy, in a battle that can only offer a MAD (mutual assured destruction) ending to the conflict. The five female characters from the previous episode reappear again in this story as the main characters. They learn that all of the computer simulations for the conflict between the two races end in a pyrrhic victory, (from the Greek hero Pyrrhus, who became famous for his victory over the Romans, but at a cost that left no one alive to celebrate and praise his great leadership.) But there is a chance that a secret project on a planet in the Cygna Narse system might offer an avenue to stop the pending apocalypse, but only if there is willingness on both sides to end the war. With an aliens-want-to-take-earth story that is very reminiscent of Blue Gender, with an animation and character style of Bubblegum Crisis, this story does move along quite well and with a lot of adventure and mecha action. There is a bit of situational nudity in this series, and lots and lots and lots of demolition action, but otherwise no other surprises, (but come to think of it, there are no men in this story either). It does have bit of a sorry and bitter story line, as the humanity appears to always be in retreat and at the receiving end of the paranoid attacks, but it is still a story worth watching. Last updated Friday, April 15 2005. Created Sunday, April 18 2004. | ||||||||
