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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to Geneon Entertainment for sending a copy for a review for this site. This series is actually based on a PS2 game. Right from the beginning, the sci-fi action starts off with a bang, well, a gun type that is, right at the start of the first episode. Brandon Heat, well, now named Beyound the Grave, battle against undead monsters spent by Milleneon, a very large Mafia group, protecting an unknown girl. Things happen so quickly, you wonder what is going on. However, things will be clearer as the story goes by. After the first episode, the series shoot off to the past, telling you the story how the story around Brandon Heat & well, the mysterious Harry MacDowel, a best friend of Brandon. A life in the street, alife where criminal rules over sociality, the way of the mafia. Thie series is action pack, with drama, loss & vengeance.
Video:
Geneon Entertainment did a very great job. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. To top things off, the series is feature on Widescreen format. If you got a Widescreen TV, you're going to enjoy this even more. 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, all except the first episode, which have the prologue! 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 all those warnings & logos when you first load the DVD by just pressing the "Menu" button on your remote control.
Dubbing: English:
The English dubbing is well done. 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.
Audio 03: Japanese 5.1 DTS:
Unable to test it, since I don't have a 5.1 DTS surround system, I can't really say much.
Subtitle:
Geneon Entertainment have selected a great font, very easy to read. They use green for the introduction & ending themes, the rest is yellow & 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 original text on this volume!
Menu Option:
The menu is also in widescreen format, but if got just a regular full screen TV, it will display in that format with no problem. It's a very nice artwork of a menu. You can see some screens from the episodes in this volume. There is the "Play", "Screen Access", "Set Up" & "Extras". Selecting any options will make "Beyound the Grave" shoot the menu to process the command, which is really cool, also taken from the episodes on this volume. The background music is one of the music you will hear during the series, but the other section has no background music.
DVD Extras:
You will get the non-credit opening & ending, along with conceptual arts all related on the episodes on this volume. It's very nice, but that's about it for the extras. There is also a video game trailer (in Japanese).
Packaging:
The package reflects the style of the series. On the cover, you will see Beyound the Grave wit his awesome duel handgun. The cool thing about it, there is a metallic finish. On the back, they are many screenshots from the episodes in this volume, with all bullet shell all around. There isn't only one insert, but actually two. One is just information on the upcoming DVD releases for the rest of the volumes, along with the OST CD. The other one is the standard insert, with an episode listing, along with a mini-poster, which is the same as the cover. On the DVD disc itself, it's just a brown-scale close-up of his 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. All the episodes is 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! 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 this series very cool. Full with action, drama, all about how the mafia works, as well as friendship. I can't wait to see what's going to happen next.
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