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R2 DVD Reviews
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Tuesday, 12 January 2010 00:00 |
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Page 1 of 3
 Hmm. Looks like we have another series here that the dynamic duo of Viz Media and Manga Entertainment aren't going to finish. Blue Dragon's first incarnation ran for 51 episodes, this volume takes us up to episode 24, with no more currently schedule. So, on the basis of caveat emptor, let's see where we get to...
As usual with multi-disc sets, you can find the episode summaries and screenshots on the following pages. If I was looking to be kind, I'd point out that at least the UK release got as far as it did - the US release seems to have been canned after just three volumes (up to episode 12), so just for once we're ahead of the game. That does still leave us an unfinished series, though, and with the story left poised at a fairly important point. Bah.
The eight episodes here comprise an arc that's fairly self-contained, as Zola and her troop of kids try to find out just where the Extra Seven - the missing final pages of the Book of the Beginning - have gotten to. As they were last seen leaving Jibral in the hands of a female Grankingdom operative, that operative is now the one person they'd very much like to find, and to help speed that task the gang head for Corin Town, a town that thrives on the information trade - if there's something you need to know, this is the place to find it, and chief amongst information traders is a man named Homeron, who the gang must jump through several hoops to find. Homeron is one of those annoying characters who's just too good to be true. Master of disguise? Check - despite being a hulk great man himself, he can dress in womens' clothes and look as feminine - and as femininely-proportioned - as Bouquet, without anyone ever knowing. Master of infiltration? Also check - if there's somewhere you want him to sneak into or out of, he's your man. Also hand in a fight, and rather good at haggling on the price for his information - except in the case of Shu and company, when his price appears to be "free". Go figure. He's a character I just couldn't warm to, and eas ever so pleased when he parted company with the gang before the end of the disc. At least he managed to do what he hadn't been paid for before he left.
Along the way, there are little comedy and character development episodes. Want an episode where Bouquet's mostly naked? The show has you covered. There's also a Marumaro comedy interlude, where he handily manages to avoid being lethally poisoned (I'm not a fan of the little critter and his underwear-stealing antics); a chance for Kluke to finally learn how to reliably call on and control her Shadow, and in doing so provides the gang with some much-needed defensive options; and some mid-air battles that work surprisingly well. The problem is, though, that at no point did I find myself actively enjoying what I was watching. It's all competently done, sure, and there are allowances that you make for it being clearly aimed at a younger audience, but even after that it all just felt lifeless - there's no character to the show itself, no real feel that it's telling a worthwhile tale or that the characters are worthwhile people. It all just happens, and leaves to completely ambivalent as to whether you want to see any more of it or not.
That's not a good situation for a show to be in, especially when it's carrying that "unlikely to ever be completely released" handicap - although strictly from a reviewer's point of view, at least I won't have to sit through any more of it. Like many shounen shows, Blue Dragon has had a fairly simple, action-based premise from the start (albeit with a dodgier sense of humour than most other, more mature shows - go figure), and doesn't stray far outside that. While that works okay up to a point - and the show isn't completely without its charms - there's just not enough here to make it a worthwhile investment. One to pass on, unless you really like this sort of thing.
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