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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to Geneon Entertainment for sending a copy for a review for this site. This is a very strange series, very dark, seeking deep what makes us human. It's really not for kids to watch. At first, it is quite confusing to what's really going on, as there isn't much dialogue, most of the actions is taken by very detail & intense animation. Of course, this was made from the same peoples that did "serial experiments lain", "Haibane Renmei" & "Hellsing". You all know that those series are pretty much take a while to know what's really going on & understanding what's the message is coming out of it. To what I have gather, Lukuss, the city of despair & violence, is buried deep inside the Earth control by gangs. It might seem like a dump, but actually habors the technology known as "texholyze", where human can replace lost limbs with powerful cybernetics called Texhnolyze. However, it's only for the elite & powerful that can have access to this technology, but for some unknown reason, Ichise got it installed. Ichise is a prize fighter. He did something wrong & cross the path of the gangs, he is punish, losing one arm & one leg. Oh, that got to hurt, but make me wonder how he survived that. He was found by a woman who seem to be the top Texhnolyze expert, gave him a new arm & leg, made from something that Ichise hold dear. In the meantime, someone from the surface world decided to visit Lukuss & he met a girl name Ran, that actually can see to the future. I don't know the reasons why he went to a place like that, but sooner or later, it will be reveal.
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! 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. As I mention before, there isn't much dialogue going on, as most of the storyline are representated visually. It's about 90% 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 ending theme (don't need any for the introduction, no vocal) & the rest is yellow for the dialogue. There is only one subtitling track, which is for the Japanese dialogue. I guess there is no need for Japanese translations for signs & text. However, you won't get any subtitle for the 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 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. The menu is made from the texholyze menu screen to check if their cybernetics limbs are funcitioning correctly. If you see closely, you get to see some scenes from the episodes in this volume. There is the "Play All", "Screen Access", "Set Up" & "Extras". Selecting any of the options, you will have a little animation, like changing channels on your TV set. 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 got none.
DVD Extras:
The extra is pretty interesting. You got an a little interview from the creator of this strange out series, with Yoshitoshi Abe & Tasuyuki Ueda. It gives you a little insight out this series is made & other projects they ahve worked on. Also, there is a little funny outtake. There is only two scenes. However, I do suggest to watch the series first for the full effect.
Packaging:
It's nice, that's all I can say. On the cover, you see a nice artwork of Ichise, with his cybernetic arm, ready for a fight. In the back, a few small screenshots. There is no description about what's the series is, but there is a few information (characters, city of Lukuss) & definition on some of the words from the series. You can see the symbol, too. The fun part about this is the episode list is on the side. The insert is just the same image as the cover, along with the chapter listing. On the DVD disc itself, just black with the symbol once again.
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:
If you seen "serial experiments lain", "Haibane Renmei" or "Hellsing" & enjoy them this is perfect for you, as they fellow the same storyline style. If not, you need to think a bit on what's going on & it might be a little boring at first. It's slow going story, as it's goes deep into the human nature, but there is some action.
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