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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Sunday, 01 July 2007 17:00 |
 Coyote Ragtime Show. Sounds like a musical or something, but then so did Cowboy Bebop, with which it maybe has a little in common. The latest series from the good folks at ufotable, who are one of those studios I automatically associate with "damn good series", CRS sees the elusive Mister on the trail of a proverbial pot of gold - all the while pursued by Investigator Angelica Barnes, and a gang of lethal androids led by Criminal Guild member Marciano...
1 - Prison Break
Investigator Angelica Barnes of the Federal Bureau arrives on the desolate planet of Sandvil (famous only for its giant bugs), where she's taken an interest in the goings-on at the planetary prison. She's received a tip-off that one of the most wanted men in the universe will soon make an appearance there - and lo, no sooner has she arrived than there's a terrorist attack on the prison. But rather that her target being one of the attackers, it appears he's one of the inmates - if only she could figure out who...
2 - The Girl from the Pirate Hideout
Angelica's even more confused about what Mister was up to than she was before - his prison sentence on Sandvil was up in just 12 days, so if he went to the trouble of breaking out of the clink now, there must be something very important he needs to do. She just needs to figure out what (something to do with the imminent destruction of planet Graceland, perhaps?). Meanwhile, Madame Luciano is dealing with the repercussions of the defeat of her 12 Sisters in her own uniquely violent way, while Mister returns home hoping to learn the location of Graceland's treasure horde...
3 - The One They Called "His Right-Hand Man"
With Franca on side, Mister and his associates begin their treasure hunt - although unfortunately Marciano's Twelve Sisters are hot on their trail. Twelve aircraft versus one doesn't seem to be a very fair fight, but Mister's been in worse situations - add that he's in a hurry, with Graceland's demise coming ever closer, and he's not about to hang around fighting a bunch of persistent androids for any longer than he has to. While he tries to get the Sisters off his trail, Angelica and Chelsea try to pick up his trail again...
4 - Bygone Days
The bequest that Mister is trying to recover should be worth the effort - SP$10,000,000,000 stolen from the supposedly impenetrable Central Bank, and a memory chip stored in Franca's pendant contains a recording of how the raid was carried out. The Bank is located on a closed planet, with access strictly controlled, but somehow Blues found a way - and thanks to Franca's pendant, we're about to see how the Pirate King did it...
For some reason I have a Paul Simon song stuck in my head. "I'm going to Graceland, Graceland..." Moving quickly onwards, what we have here is a simple treasure hunt: Franca has the map to her dead father's secret stash on Graceland, Mister has the desire to find it, and Angelica has the desire to stop him. Add in the small matter of Graceland's imminent destruction (7 days and counting), and the race is on.
On the "good" side (in quote marks as Mister is very much the antihero who you’re meant to want to win) we have Angelica, the obsessed investigator who's devoted years of her life to trying to bring Mister to justice - although quite what for is never fully explained. Beautiful, smart and determined - what's not to like? By the end of episode one she's also gained a sidekick in the form of Chelsea Moore, who for the most part is as thick as two short planks but has an impressive chest (apparently) and an equally impressive ability to remember the details of obscure criminal cases, which comes in handy more than once. She's almost Tenchi Muyo's Mihoshi reborn, in a lot of ways.
The "bad" side are Mister, his assistants Katana and Bishop (who like a good fight when it comes their way), and Franca, the young girl that Mister's been looking after since her father, the Pirate King himself, was killed. Mister's known all along that Franca knew the location of her father's horde, but has been happy to wait until she was willing to divulge the location voluntarily. What a guy. There's a certain quarrelsome husband / wife vibe going on between them, which could be considered a bit strange considering how young Franca looks, but they do make a good comedy duo at times.
But there's a third side to the contest - the Criminal Guild, as represented by Marciano and her Twelve Sisters, a lethal band of fighting androids, whose true intentions are as yet unknown. If nothing else, her androids are good at wreaking havoc, which is always good to see.
After bringing Mister together with the rest of his associates, the series moves on to explaining how Bruce came into possession of his stash – it’s a story that’s a little far-fetched, but there's an interest in seeing what happened from the point of view of knowing what the gang are now after, along with the little detail that Bruce stashed his loot in a replica of the bank vault he originally stole it from - that's going to make life difficult for Mister and the others when they get there. The problem is that at the end of the episode, the heist seems all just too easy, with the bank's "security" essentially being a joke. One nitpick as an example: if the vault's essentially impenetrable (think of it as a giant Rubix sphere, and you wouldn't be too far off), why pull the money out after a few small explosions? Just leave it there until things settle down. I could go on, but it would be missing the point a bit as the heist is a key event in the series. It could have been done better, though.
The other episodes are pure joy, though, with plenty of high-speed action and a lot of fun to be had watching the interactions of the characters. Angelica and Chelsea are a bit short-changed, as the main interest here is in Mister & co trying to get a safe distance from Marciano's Twelve Sisters, but they're on the periphery and still in the chase at least. The arrival of Swamp adds to the cast - while I'm still not sure why he's there in practical terms he does add to the humour. His church service especially was a hoot.
There's really very little that's not to like about Coyote Ragtime. It's missing any sort emotional ups and downs, which may have helped add a little depth to the characters, but from the second the opening theme begins it just reaches into you and pulls a huge grin onto your face. The CG can be a little bit ropey in places, but otherwise the presentation is very good and the end result is hugely enjoyable. Roll on the next volume.
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