Black Summoner: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Black Summoner: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Black Summoner is an action-fantasy anime series exploring a world of reincarnation and a land of adventure. Based on the manga by Gin Ammo and the Japanese light novel series written by Doufu Mayoi. The Black Summoner anime production highlights the original character designs by DAI-XT and Kurogin. With animation production by Satelight (Engage Planet Kiss Dum, Heat Guy J), Black Summoner features theme music performed by RetBear (opening) and Minori Suzuki  (ending). The series features voice-performances by Kōki Uchiyama, Reina Ueda, and Manaka Iwami.

Kelvin (Kōki Uchiyama) is newly reincarnated and he has no memories whatsoever of the life he lived in the past. Left without knowledge of his past, Kelvin has a new mission ahead of himself. Kelvin’s old memories were traded away for points to get special abilities. Now setting out as a Summoner, the reincarnated Kelvin sets forth for adventure.

Kelvin finds himself alongside the goddess Melfina (Reina Ueda). Melfina helped to handle the transactional exchange of Kelvin’s past life and memories for the special abilities he gained. Now a follower, Melfina has plenty of things on her own mind – such as a need to catch up on sleep! Kelvin purchases the slave girl, half-elf and half-human Efil (Manaka Iwami). After the transaction is done, Efil helps Kelvin out with housekeeping and is trained to be a powerful archer.

The cast of characters is entertaining. There is something to be said about a decent cast of characters to help make a series more entertaining for audiences. Kelvin is certainly a decent lead character for the series. Kelvin is reincarnated and he has a mission ahead for himself that is full of surprises and new obstacles. The character is aloof in some respects and for some audience members this might be something that feels relatable at times – the commoner in all of us. The supporting cast is also surprisingly decent. Melfina is a reasonable supporting character with a quirky side. Efil is also surprisingly engaging as a character. The characters bring some surprising quirks to the table.

The character designs by Miwa Oshima (Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!) are reasonably good and certainly better-than-average. The designs are noteworthy and manage to add to the production. The character designs might not be quite as distinctive as some of the best anime series, but the decent designs given to the series are still nonetheless better than expected. The characters fit their personalities and the quirks of the cast.

The animation on Black Summoner is impressive and it is one of the best things going for the series. Black Summoner has engaging animation and it works well for the production. The animation for Black Summoner is produced by Osami Muramoto (Rokudo's Bad Girls, Somali and the Forest Spirit). The Black Summoner animation direction and art direction are both compelling components of the series. The art style is effective at highlighting the series sense of fantastical adventure – the sense of the outdoors and the terrain uncharted. The animation handles these components nicely and helps to create a sense of worldbuilding for the production.

The score composed by MICHIRU (Ascendance of a Bookworm, Mitsuboshi Colors) and Yuria Miyazono adds to the series sense of adventure. The music by MICHIRU and Yuria Miyazono adds some charm, entertainment, and spectacle to the series production. The score has a sense of whimsy for the production. The music creates an adventure RPG tone that fits the tone of the storytelling.

The cinematography by Natsumi Uchida (The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World, My Home Hero) is visually engaging. The cinematography highlights a colorful and absorbing world of animation. The production certainly is well enhanced by the crisp and engaging cinematographic style of Uchida. Certainly, Uchida understands the series style and what it aims to accomplish as a series and the production cinematography is a solid reflection.

Written and directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike (Nyanko Days, Amagami SS), Black Summoner isn’t aiming to break new ground. The Black Summoner series isn’t the most ambitious production around. It has so many qualities in common with other anime series. There is nothing too original about it. It has an abundance of elements seen time and time again. Yet the series has a simple goal: to be a light, somewhat charming and entertaining diversion. Black Summoner aims for this and fans who are interesting in watching something to lay back and chill with may enjoy the series sense of charms.

Black Summoner: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Crunchyroll, Black Summoner is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The Blu-ray release is impressive and features a wonderfully engaging presentation. The high- definition presentation of the series provides a crisp and dynamic visual experience. The colorful animation is bold and beautiful looking on the release. The color reproduction really is outstanding and something to appreciate. Background animation and line art look stellar on the release as well.

Blu-ray continues to have a superior video quality compared to streaming video platforms. Streaming video services offer video with a more compressed image. The video-quality has more compression and lower video bit-rates compared to physical media and the Blu-ray disc format. Sometimes the difference is only subtle, other times more dramatic. In either case scenario, it is one of the ways in which physical media is a better option for videophiles who want to eek out the absolute best presentation quality possible.

Black Summoner: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release capably showcases the sound direction created by by Satoshi Motoyama (The Comic Artist and His Assistants, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord). The Blu-ray release features crisp dialogue reproduction. Dialogue sounds clear and easy to understand. The score composed by MICHIRU and Yuria Miyazono is well reproduced and it is also emphasized well by the presentation. The English dub is in 5.1 surround sound it has a slight audio advantage in terms of the surround channels creating an immersive effect on the presentation. Even so, purists who prefer the original Japanese language audio will not be disappointed in any way by the 2.0 stereo track – an excellent presentation provided on the release.

One of the coolest things about Blu-ray discs: the Blu-ray disc format provides lossless audio. This is significant to note as streaming video platforms only provide viewers with lossy (non-lossless) audio quality. The lossless audio quality can make a significant difference at times. For audiophiles who want the absolute best possible audio quality achievable, the physical media format offers an advantage over streaming services. This is especially important to home theater enthusiasts with expensive audio gear.

Black Summoner: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The first print run of the release includes a limited-edition o-card slipcover. The slipcover features unique key artwork different from the artwork featured underneath the slipcover. The slipcover artwork is nicely designed and the artwork highlighted underneath the slipcover compliments the main picture selected for the release. Crunchyroll has done an excellent job with the packaging design and the set certainly will look excellent on the shelf.

On disc supplements include:

Textless Opening Songs (HD, 4:36)

Textless Closing Songs (HD, 6:04)

The release could have benefited from having a more robust supplemental section. The extras on the release are rather thin and uninteresting. The release could have added some extra value for fans and collectors by including audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes documentaries, making-of featurettes, cast/crew interviews, roundtables, photo galleries, art galleries, storyboards, trailers, and more.

Black Summoner: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Black Summoner might not break any new ground but it is a decent action-adventure series with a fun cast of characters for audiences looking for a light anime diversion to take their minds off the world. Featuring crisp and colorful animation, Black Summoner won't surprise anyone as a masterpiece. Nonetheless, audiences who want to chill and enjoy a simple action-fantasy may have some fun.

The Blu-ray release features an excellent video and audio presentation. The high-definition video is excellent looking and the lossless audio quality sounds crisp and engaging. The release comes with a nicely designed o-card slipcover available for the first print run. Fans of the series may wish to indulge and pick up the set for their collection. Recommended.