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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to Geneon Entertainment for sending a copy for a review for this site. After the dramatic screen when Kei got shot saving Tadashi, Tadashi got caught by Noo, along with Maji, the engineer for the Arcadia that went down the cave to save his friend. Both are forced to fight to the death or be eaten by a huge monster, hoping to bring Herlock out to a trap. I just love it when Herlock really kicks butt with his powerful & awesome speech that could taunt evil away, saving the day. What a man! Back at the Arcadia, Kei was saved by the ship's doctor, but her condition remains unknown. However, Noo possesses Kei's unconscious body & begins to sabotage the Arcadia. No one is willing to hurt her, but Tadashi is feeling very guilty for his action that ends her up what she is now. To undo his mistake, he decided to tempts Noo with his own body & enaged Noo in an all out spiritual battle to save Noo & redeem himself. One more thing, I don't know, there is one part which explains how the Universe was created, but do you understand what it all means? It sounds cool, but I have to go over that scene to get a total understanding. I only get one part of it. It's so confusing! Good luck on that part.
Video:
Geneon Entertainment did a very great job. They have taken the time to do it right. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. It's a really colorful. There is some watermarks done for the introduction & ending credits (they are translated in English). Each episodes are separated into 5 parts: the introduction, part A, part B, ending & the preview for the next episode! Since all the episodes are on one single track on the DVD, there is no loading time or changing tracks when you move on to the next episode. I do note that you can skip the warnings & logos in the beginning using the "Menu" button on your remote.
Dubbing: English:
I find the dubbing very well, not to mention they actually improve the creepy voice of Noo. Oh, that freaks me out everytime I heard that. The cast is very well picked & play their roles very well. 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 5.1:
Unable to test it, since I don't have a 5.1 surround system, I can't really say much.
Audio XX: Japanese 2.0:
Just letting you know, there isn't a Japanese 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.
Subtitle:
Geneon Entertainment have selected a great font, very easy to read. It's all yellow for the dialogues & while for the signs & text. There is no need for any subtiling for the introduction, since there is no vocal, & the ending theme is already in English. There are two tracks of subtitling. One track is for the sign subtitling & the other one is for the Japanese dialogue.
Menu Option:
The menu remains the same as the previous volume, starting off with a close-up of Captain Herlock, then a bright flash then leads to a parchment, like pirates will use for maps with the strange Mimeh on the right this time. Yes, it does move, like there is a wind blowing it. There is the "Play", "Setup", "Extras" & "Screen Access". There is no special effect if you select any options. One of the background music is playing in background in the main menu, but the other sections have none.
DVD Extras:
Yet again, a little short of extra. This time, you will get the non-credit ending.
Packaging:
The design remains the same, nothing really special. On the cover, you see the beautiful Kei, wearing alot of ammo & guns. You will see why during the last episode on this DVD. In the back, you get many screenshots. Well, red doesn't really goes will with black, so you might have to take a little more time to read what's there, with screenshots from the episodes in this volume. There is also another quote of words of wisdow & courage that Herlock speaks. Again, the new "Geneon" logo is now dominate, as they phasing out the old "Pioneer" logo. The insert is bascially the same image use as the cover, along with the chapter lising. On the DVD disc itself, it's another picture, it's a close up shot of a gun.
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. The only thing annoying is the menu option. You have to click on the arrow to make the selection, instead of the word, for example, "Play". The episodes are place on one single track as you play the episodes, so loading time is really small. You can fast forward to the first episode to the last episode with one move on your mouse! However, you can't skip the warnings & logos when you load the disc.
Overall DVD Rating:
Well, sometimes you just want to slap Tadashi for his action, getting the beautiful Kei hurt, but he knows he feels guilty for his action. It's not as creepy as it looks this time, but you just want to find out what happen next. The only problem I face, well, is understand how the Universe was created. Now, that's confusing.
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