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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Wednesday, 14 November 2007 17:00 |
 Van may have finally found the Claw, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be able to kill him any time soon, as the Neo Original Seven make a formidable defence – and one of them in particular tests Van’s determination to breaking point. Along the way, there’s a meeting with a potential new ally – one who quickly gets Wendy’s back up for other reason than that Van can remember her name...
13 - Dream in Progress
Ray makes his attempt to kill the Claw, but on this occasion he's unsuccessful - good luck and good defences save him. He may appear to be a frail old man, but the Claw is driven by his desire to complete his self-assigned mission, and he's not going to die until that's done. Outside the station, Van and his old mentor Gadved go at it - while they fight, Gadved tries to explain what the Claw is trying to achieve and why he's decided to help him, but Van's not listening - he's still dead-set on vengeance...
14 - Swift Brownie
At Duel Park, Armor-duelling is the order of the day, and the top Armor is Brownie, piloted by the diminutive and very cute Pricilla. Problem is, she's almost too good, so the company sponsoring the duelling arena had arranged for something a little more powerful to be shipped in to give her more of a challenge. That plan was knocked on the head when the rail transit terminal was destroyed (no prizes for guessing who was responsible for that), and so Van and Dann have been drafted in to do the job instead. Pricilla needs a challenge, Van needs money - everyone's a winner! But it seems that fight organiser Gionvanni isn't planning on allowing a fair fight...
15 - Neo Originals
Money's short again, but this time it's Wendy's turn to earn the dinner money, thanks to a turtle-racing contest. When Kameo wins big, it means that Van and Wendy can travel in luxury and take the airship to their next destination. For Wendy, the trip becomes an oportunity to live the life of the cultured and refined - although Van continues with his usual slobbish behaviour, which spoils the effect somewhat. Meanwhile, the Claw's men have been informed that Van's on board, and soon Wo arrives and demands that Van be handed over. Always keen to pick a fight with the Claw's men, Van's only to happy to oblige - but Wo soon proves to be more of a challenge than Van had imagined...
16 - The Electric Fireworks
Van's come off second-best in his battle against Wo - unable to get Dann to fight in the same way he had against Gadved, he simply wasn't good enough. By Wo refuses to finish him off, instead giving him three days to get himself together and leave the area - or else he will finish the job. Wendy manages to get Van to a nearby town, to give him a chance to recover from his injuries, but along the way she ends up ill herself - and unwittingly, she's brought them to Wo's own town, a strange place that's long been abandoned. With Dann still repairing itself and no food in town, it looks like Van's going to have a hard time meeting Wo's deadline, and in the meantime he's got far too much time on his hands to think about his near-defeat - and the realisation that he's not invincible could just be enough to send Van packing...
With the last volume of Gun×Sword having ended on a cliff-hanger, this disc drops you straight into the action, with two major confrontations underway – Ray versus the Claw, and Van versus Gadved. Both attackers are convinced they’re doing the right thing and are hell-bent on securing their vengeance, both defenders are quietly confident in their own beliefs, but the battles don’t quite turn out the same. The Claw is a strange character – from the way he’s been built up throughout the series as a remorseless killer, I had a particular image of him built up in my mind (and the early versions of the opening credits that just showed him in outline reinforced that image), but seeing him and hearing him speak over the course of this disc gives a completely different image, to the point where a part of me wonders if he really is as evil as he seems. The answer to that is probably yes – but having him presented in a way that paints him in shades of grey rather than as a cookie-cutter badguy was definitely a good move.
With episode 13’s confrontations out of the way, though, the story shifts back to more stand-alone episodes. There’s a slight difference from the earlier part of the series in that, where Van has to confront evil now it’s usually against one of the Claw’s men, but the general style of the episodes remains as it was. The first of these introduces the cute and cheerful Pricilla (who instantly earns Wendy’s distrust through the simple fact that Van remembers her name), who looks set to be more than just a bit-part character. She enjoys fighting, but not for any dark reasons – she just wants to use the power of her Armor to help others, and in that way she’s unique amongst the Armor-users we’ve seen so far. She develops something of an attachment to Van, and while they initially go their separate ways I’ve got no doubt that she’ll be back.
The final two episodes put Van in the unusual position of facing defeat. It’s curious seeing him being anything less than comfortable with the idea of fighting, and here his doubts lead all the way to a rising desire to just run away and forget the whole thing – he’s almost in a panic at the thought of having to face Wo again, and it’s eventually up to Wendy to get him back on an even keel. I’m a sucker for ‘heroes’ that can crumble under pressure – Van here shows that he does have his failings, and that’s a good thing.
Overall, there’s a good mix of the serious and light-hearted on this disc – there’s a real sense of threat in some scenes thanks to the Claw’s arrival on the scene, while Pricilla’s arrival took care of the more upbeat side of things. Overall, this disc is maybe slightly heavier going than previous volumes, thanks to the story moving on to meatier things, but it’s still great fun to watch. Gun×Sword continues to surprise me, and this is another release that’s well worth checking out.
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