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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to Geneon Entertainment for sending a copy for a review for this site. On the planet of Endless Illusion, here is where the wild wild west meets huge humanoid machines. A strange combination, no? Well, not for this world. Here you get to meet Van, a strange man that carries a wicker sword & wears a tuxedo, wandering around in search for a mysterious clawed man that murdered his bride away, though you will only get hints about it. However, the thing is, it acts like he doesn't give a care of the world & try not to get involved with other peoples' trouble. It doesn't work all the time. Surprising everyone, he got an powerful armor, when needed, falls from the heavens. After saving a town from a group of outlaws, he met a young girl named Wendy, searching for his brother. She tagged along with Van & promise him, if he helps her finds his brother, she will be his bride. Fellow the journey of our heroes on a grand adventure of a lifetime. The music seem familiar, especially during the previews. There is one thing I want to mention, I don't know, the series seem to be called Gun X Sword, but the X seem to be left out.
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 (they are translated in English). However, the ending credits remains the original Japanese & just for this volume, the first episode introduction as well. Each episodes are separated into 6 parts: the introduction, part A, part B, ending, the preview for the next episode & another set of credits for the English cast! 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 really fits the characters quite well. It's about 90% 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". No problem found.
Audio 02: Japanese 2.0:
No problem found.
Audio 03: Japanese DTS:
Unable to test it, since I don't have a DTS surround system, I can't really say much.
Subtitle:
Geneon Entertainment have selected a great font, very easy to read. There isn't any subtitles for the introduction as it's non-vocal, but it seem to be missing for the ending theme. I guess it's due because the credits are in original Japanese & it displays this credits subtitles, there isn't any room. However, green would be the color for vocal music, as in EPS 03 has a very nice vocal music. The rest is yellow for the dialogue. 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 is also in widescreen format, but if got just a regular full screen TV, it will display in that format with no problem. It loads up with a huge X, something like Zorro would do, but X marks the spot. There is the "Play All", "Screen Access", "Set Up" & "Extras". Selecting any of the options, you will have the same X animation. I'm not sure where the background music is playing on the menu is from, I guess it's from the series. The other section has none.
DVD Extras:
The extra is pretty interesting. You got the standard set of non-credits, but only for the EPS 01. There is also an art gallery along with original TV commercials. The funny part of the extra is the Gun X Sword-San, the first two episodes. It's like cute parody using the characters of the series. Check it out!
Packaging:
It's quite colorful. On the cover, you see Van, ready for action. In the back, you see the babes that Van will meet & team up (except for Wendy, which she will be with Van for a long while), along with a few screenshots. The insert has the chapter listing of each episodes, along with a very nice artwork. Inside the insert is a mini-poster, another nice artwork. On the DVD disc itself, it's the same picture as the cover, the mighty Van. Since the DVD case is a clear one, you get to see the other reversible cover, but it as much more screenshots then the default.
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 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! 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:
It's not much right off the bat, since you only get hints why Van is traveling in search for a man with a claw. All we have to do is continued following their journey to find out more. Though, even Van doesn't seem to care about anything that isn't gonna make a difference in his life, but being a passive hero seem to be his thing everywhere he stops.
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