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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Wednesday, 06 February 2008 16:00 |
 After a longer delay than I would have expected (and a late additional delay for good measure), Burst Angel gets the box set treatment. This is now my third time through the series - without the benefit of the graphical uplift that the DVD version got over the TV showing, will this girls-with-guns spectacular stand up to a repeat viewing..?
The far future, and it's not a friendly place. Partly due to a recent law that lifted restrictions on citizens carrying heavy weapons, the crime rate is rising out-of-control - and the number of arrests made is falling. In the midst of this, Tachibana Kyouhei, a trainee chef, takes a job to cook for 4 girls who live in an armoured trailer. They're not your normal girls, either - mercenaries, making a good living out of the lawlessness around them - but they're about to be caught up in the machinations of a number of rival groupings. A recipe for chaos? You betcha...
When I first saw Burst Angel back when it was airing on Japenese TV, my first thoughts were "Oooh, bad CGI!". Fortunately, GONZO made use of the DVD release to spruce things up a bit, and while it still suffers from low framerates in places it's a lot easier to watch. Young Meg is a dead ringer for Eclair (Kiddy Grade), and seems to be a good bit more.. nipply.. than she used to be. It's as if GONZO have realised the weakness in the show's story and gone out of their way to keep the fanservice ramped up enough to keep the guys watching.
Works for me....
The characters' personalities fit the usual stereotypes, so at first glance there's really nothing original here to be worth bothering with. In these cases, it's time to take a look at how well it's all executed to see if it's worth watching - in other words, is it fun to watch? Initiallu, yes - up to a point, at least. Kyouhei's a waste of screen space and really just fills the role of token normal person / male, but the girls are an interesting enough bunch. Storywise, it's all pretty superficial: the real appeal of the series comes from the action, of which there's plenty.
There's an ongoing story bubbling along under the surface, which becomes more apparent as the series progresses - early episodes which seemed to be standalone stories eventually turn out to be the early signs of a large conspiracy that the girls find themselves caught up in, and that does add some appeal to the experience. Around the series mid-point, there's a shift to Osaka for a three-episode arc that adds a few new characters to the mix - Osaka is a much more peaceful place than Tokyo (the difference that not having RAPT in control makes), but with definite signs that someone would like to change all that. The headline stories, of the super-deluxe terrorist and Jo's bodyguard assignment, both provide some good entertainment, and the arc also marks the point where the show's underlying story comes more to the surface. There are some good plot twists around the identity of the featured terrorist and links with the "monsters" battled in previous episodes. Add in Takane, who's as kick-ass as Jo and twice as cute, and there's a lot to like.
In fact, it's a pity the whole series wasn't set in Osaka. From that high point, the series begins to go down hill again, to an ending that ties up parts of the storyline but leaves others hanging in a deeply unsatisfying way. The show's animators seemed to be aware of the problems, as well - whenever the story begins to slip, you'll find Meg's breasts suddenly tripling in size, as if to try and draw your attention away. I really did wonder what the point of Meg was - she's useless in a fight, causes more problems than she solves, and may as well walk into every mission with a big "kidnap me!!" sign strung around her neck. As a plot device, that really does wear thin after a while.
After all that, you'd think I was about to give Burst Angel a real slating, but I'm not - for all that it's silly, unbelievable, and more than a little predictable, it does exactly what it sets out to do: serve up a large does of eyecandy (both female and mechanical) and some fun stories, in a package that requires very little thought & is just (mostly) fun to watch. Sometimes simplicity and silliness is a virtue. Anyone looking for depth will need to go elsewhere, and there are points where the inconsistency of it all will really get to you, but as a mindless blast, it works quite well. Don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed.
For full episode summaries and screenshots, check out the reviews of the individual discs:
» Volume 1: Death's Angel
» Volume 2: A New Tokyo
» Volume 3: East Meets West
» Volume 4: Hired Gun
» Volume 5: Line in the Sand
» Volume 6: Guardian Angel
Watch Episode One | Watch the Trailer
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