|
Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to Geneon Entertainment for sending a copy for a review for this site. It's been a while I have seen magical medival era Anime, such as Slayers with the famous Lina Inverse. Well, here is one for those who want more. This Anime series is actually base of the PlayStation classic, Star Ocean: The Second Story (not to be confused with the PS2 release). Heck, even the music sounds like you're playing a video game! I find it quite enjoyable, sense of adventure & good laughing fun along the way, as expected with these type of Anime. The only thing different is our main character comes from a world where humans archive deep space missions. Claude & his father was on a mission to investigate an unexplored planet called Mirokinia. However, they found a stone tablet. To prove to his father that he can do things on his own without his protection, he went down to check it out & got transposted to a world where magic exists & girls with pointed ears! Claude goes in search for a way back home & ended up saving a cute girl, Rena, from a horrible monster. Using his gun, he was able to defeat it, but Rena thinks he is the Legendary Warrior of Light that she is been looking for that will save her world. He keep insisting that he isn't what he appears to be, but after Rena got kidnapped, he is off to the rescue. While he added it, he found clues & the mysterious Sorcery Globe, which might be the way back home. Rena joins him on his journey & together starts an adventure of a lifetime. Along the way, they meet strange peoples, friends & foes & it's up to Claude to do his best, to protect Rena & finding his way back home.
Video:
Geneon Entertainment did a very great job. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. 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. However, if you use the auto-replay track option, it will not work, it will just go back to the menu. 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 very suited to each characters, keeping the cheerful & cuteness that match with the series. It's about 85% of the original Japanese.
Audio 01: English 2.0:
No problem found.
Audio 02: Japanese 2.0:
No problem found.
Subtitle:
Geneon Entertainment have selected a great font, very easy to read. They use green for the introduction & ending themes, the rest is yellow for the dialogue. However, I don't know why, there is only one subtitling track, which is for the Japanese dialogue. However, you won't get any subtitle for the introduction or ending theme, except if you turn it on. 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 pretty simple. It's like a control panel of a space ship with a clip of the introduction playing on. I find it simple, but it's a little boring. There is also a clip playing taken from the episodes in this volume. There is the "Play All", "Screen Access", "Set Up" & "Extras". There isn't any music in the background, just some sound effects of a space ship. Selecting any options will have a little animation, something like moving another part of the control panel. You can also see many screenshots from the episodes in this volume.
DVD Extras:
This is cool, you get a set of character profiles, including Claude & Rena, though, it might be a little too short. There is also the original Japanese credit opening, along with the non-credit version as well. That's about it.
Packaging:
The package is pretty simple. On the cover, you will see Claude holding out his gun. In the back, there is four screenshots from the episodes in this volume another with te same Claude image as the cover, gray scale. The insert hold a list of what is in the DVD, another with a list of the upcoming volume. There is also another same cover image in the back of the insert as well. On the DVD disc, the same image is used again, but gray scale. It would be nice if other images is used other then Claude.
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:
I think this series is really cool & if you enjoy magic & fantasy Anime, this is the one for you. Also, if you also played the original PlayStation game, this will be a great add-on!
| 
