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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to ADV Films for sending a copy for a review for this site. Put it in simple terms, it's Marvel X-Men, Anime style, except it only involves psychics. The same theme is there, humans with special powers, called E'S that can be use for good & bad, while the general population still fears what they don't understand. We started off with a young psychic, Kai, who joins a military contrator, sign up to an elite special force called AESES. Their goal is to protect peoples for those to harm them & bring law & order. The reason why he went there is to help her sick sister. He went through intense training, in weapons & control his psychic powers. However, some of his other team mates don't like him, as he lacks to see the real world that peoples have E'S. During his first team mission to wipe out an anti-corporate guerilla, he finally realized the truth that, no matter he used his powers for the good for mankind, peoples don't think he is human. In the end, he get to see the real world.
Video:
ADV Films did a very great job. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. The episodes are on a different track, so there will be a small loading time when you move on to the next episode. Each episodes are separated into 6 parts: the prologue, the introduction, part A, part B, ending & the preview for the next episode! I do note that you can skip all those warnings & logos when you first load the DVD by just pressing the "Menu" button on your remote control.
Dubbing: English:
The dubbing is really great. It's about 85% of the original Japanese.
Audio 01: English 5.1:
Unable to test it, since I don't have a 5.1 surround system, I can't really say much.
Audio XX: English 2.0:
Just letting you know, there isn't an English 2.0 audio track on this DVD. This is artificially made from the 5.1 audio track, that's why I noted it as "XX". I found no problem with the audio, but I bet it would be alot more interesting with the 5.1.
Audio 02: Japanese 2.0:
No problem found.
Subtitle:
ADV Films have selected a great font, very easy to read. They use yellow for the introduction, ending themes & the Japanese dialogue & white for Japanese signs & text. There are two tracks of subtitling. One track is for the sign subtitling & the other one is for the Japanese dialogue. I might note that every odd numbered episodes, the intro & ending subtitles are in English, while the even numbered episodes are in Japanese on this volume.
Menu Option:
The menu is simple, with Kai in uniform. There isn't a "Play All" feature, just a selection of one of the 5 episodes, "Screen Access", "Set Up" & "Extras". When selecting one of the episodes or the "Extras", you will get a special animation, like you're logging in the computer. The background music for the main menu is is the main theme, though the other section have other different music use in the series.
DVD Extras:
There isn't much extras. There is the standard non-credit opening & ending, along with production sketches. It got the original Japanese promo spots, too. That's pretty much it.
Packaging:
The package is quite nice. On the cover, you see most of all the characters. In the back, you get some screenshots from the episodes in this volume, along with Yuuki. For some odd reasons, it's missing the insert. Maybe there was an error? I have to check it out. The DVD disc itself, which I think it's Kai on it, listening to music. All of it matching up with a white DVD case.
PC Viewing:
Watching it on the PC is the same as watching it on the TV. Very clean, no problem at all, very little pixel (little squares popping in & out), both normal mode & full screen mode. The sound is just great. Since the episodes are on different tracks, it will take time to load when you move on to the next episode. Like on your regular DVD player, you can skip the warnings & logos when you load the disc, just use the "menu" option to go to the menu screen.
Overall DVD Rating:
I find it interesting at first, but it's get a little confusing what is really going on. There is a general idea of what AESES is & their goals, but something is behind the scene. There are hidden mysteries that need to be solve.
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