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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to ADV Films for sending a copy for a review for this site. This series is mostly focus for girls, but I do enjoy this series. I find it very cute, especially when the little chibi cut screen, & girls do rule! There are hilarious moments to lovey-dovey, fighting over boys, red streaks, even cell phones! Not to mention, all girls talking. Don't worry, there is even pauses & pop-up notes for explaining all the GALs terms! This pretty much covers what young girls goes through, from what being friends is all about to be a 100% being a GAL!. Even the introduction theme make you feel that it's for girls! That dance looks familiar? Ran Kotobuki is trying to be the coolest GAL in the Shibuya area & avoiding to be what her parents want to be, a police officer, which her entire family are! She is a very caring person, her friends are very important to her & she will do anything to protect them. Not to mention the ability to kick guys who really pissed her off. Oh, there is one music I really like, it's like a dramatic happy-sadness moment.
Video:
ADV Films did a very great job. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. Though, they did translated the Japanese credits to English in the introduction & ending, but they left the Japanese texts intact in the episodes. 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 5 parts: 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. Oh, the dubbing voices cast are really suited to the characters, it's really made it an all GALs show. They did change a bit the dialogues from the original Japanese, but they try to keep as much as the Japanese GALs slangs as close as possible. It's about 80% 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 pretty simple. You get to see Ran Kotobuki, dancing on the left, which is taken from the introduction, with a yellow background. There isn't a "Play All" feature, nor a "Screen Access", just a selection of one of the 5 episodes, "Set Up" & "Extras". I got no idea there isn't a "Screen Access", which is pretty common on most Anime releases. The background music all the sections of the menu are various background music during the series.
DVD Extras:
There isn't much extras on it, just a non-credit opening & ending, as well a production sketches. There is also a little clip about being a GAL! It's really cute, but I do suggest to watch the episodes before looking at it. However, it's only in English dubbed, there isn't an original Japanese audio for it.
Packaging:
It's really a GAL design in mind for the package. On the cover, you see Ran & her friends, Miyu & Aya, with a heart in the background. In the back, you get three screenshots. The insert isn't really an insert, it's more of a full mini-poster of the cute picture of Ran! In the back of the mini-poster, you get a list of Japanese GALS terms, along with explainations. Also, there is a little information of Ran. On the DVD disc itself, it's the same picture as the cover, but with a different background. The DVD case is white & it's match with the rest of the design.
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:
If you know what's GALS goes through, this will give you all the information you need. Not to mention, all the fun & laugher that comes with it.
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