Ane Log: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Ane Log: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Ane Log is a comedy featuring an outlandish concept involving incest. The anime series is based on the original work of creator Kenji Taguchi. The animation production is by Brain's Base (Anonymous Noise, Blood Lad). The anime series is produced by Griffin Vance (Alice in Borderland, The Demon Girl Next Door) and John Ledford (Bodacious Space Pirates, Domestic Girlfriend).

Akira Konoe (Takahiro Mizushima) promised to get married to Moyako Konoe (Ami Koshimizu) when he was a kid. Determined to one day marry Moyako, Akira sets forth on his goals from his burgeoning youth. This idea might sound sweet-and-innocent at first. Yet the truth is that Akira and Moyako are siblings. Akira is determined to one day get married to his sister (despite the law saying that they cannot be married to one another).

Moyako can't move on from the lustful feelings of her younger brother and the memories of the promise to marry her often haunt her. Calling out her brother as a pervert, the question of incest is always on her mind. Can Moyako and Akira continue to live as brother-and-sister or will the sexual tension between them cause an unending array of problems? As events unfold, Moyako starts to feel more like she is the one who is perverted! The older sister begins thinking about her brother is (disturbingly) vivid details.

The characters on the series are off-the-wall. The concept is a bit “weird” to say the least. The main characters are both a bit annoying to spend time around. Moyako and Akira are a strange pair of siblings (to say the least). The characters both seem more engaged with fantasy than with the realizations of real-life.

The art direction by Hiroki Ogura isn't as compelling as it wishes to be. The animation is effective in some regards but it also lacks in creativity and originality. The production is sleekly produced – yet there is a lack of cohesion and artistic finesse. The series doesn't manage to stand out from the vast crowd of anime productions in any meaningful way. This is one of the reasons Ane Log is such an underwhelming and sub-par production.

The character designs by Eriko Itō (Midnight Occult Civil Servants, Poco's Udon World) are average-at-best and lack imagination. The characters are cookie-cutter anime character designs. These character designs are boring and lacking in creativity. Itō fails to bring forth interesting character designs for the production. An ineffective element of the series.

The cinematography by Takeo Hagiwara (Vandread, Yatterman) is one of the best elements of Ane Log. The visuals manage to make a reasonable impression in regards to color range and style. The series is brightly lit and it feels as though Hagiwara understands the visual approach expected for a comedy production. While not a showstopping element, Hagiwara did a solid job in this aspect.

The music composed by Clark Bishop is another element that fails to muster-up much enthusiasm for the series. Ane Log is a series with a basic television score and it doesn't stand out in any meaningful way. The score simply provides background music fodder that doesn't help with improving upon Ane Log and the story. An uninspired effort.

Written by Natsuko Takahashi (Baki the Grappler, Casshern Sins), Ane Log is a series with an awful concept and even worse execution. The story for Ane Log has little to say. The entire point of the production is to explore a will- they or won't-they between two siblings. The story is all about a relationship rooted in incest. The screenwriter fails to muster up the comedy he aims to create.

Directed by Tetsuo Ichimura (Black Butler, Alderamin on the Sky), Ane Log is a mediocre anime production. The series isn't particularly well-directed and it seems sub-par in most respects. A production with little ambition or creativity, Ichimura is simply doing a by-the-numbers job. Everything seems average-at-best.

Ane Log: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai, Ane Log is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The release includes a strong presentation of the television series. Colors are bold and are well reproduced. Encoding is solid on the whole. The release does a good job of showcasing the animation.

Ane Log: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a high-resolution audio track: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The audio quality on the release is excellent. Dialogue is clear, crisp, and easy to understand. The original score is well reproduced in the soundstage. The stereo track doesn't struggle with conveying the basic sound design. The release does not include an English dub option. This may disappoint fans of English dubs. However, the English subtitles are well-done for the release.

Ane Log: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Clean Closing Animation (HD, 1:37)

The release also includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases available from Sentai Filmworks: Alice in Borderland (HD, 1:32), Mushibugyo (HD, 1:32), Taisho Baseball Girls (HD, 1:32), and Yuyushiki (HD, 1:34).

Ane Log: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ane Log is an anime with a ridiculous premise about incest between brother-and-sister – the short-lived series is not compelling. The animation isn't impressive and the production elements underwhelm. The direction by Tetsuo Ichimura (Alderamin on the Sky) is average-at-best. This production certainly fails to muster up much enthusiasm. It is difficult to image most audiences warming to the concept or to the over-the-top comedy routine.

The Blu-ray release features a strong video-audio presentation. The release has a lackluster extras package. Unless you are a fan of Ane Log already, skip it.