Broken Blade: The Complete Film Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.5

Broken Blade: The Complete Film Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Mobile Suit Rygart.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 10, 2012

Television is rife with successful series that spawn offshoots where the central premise is slightly twisted, giving an interesting combination of the supposedly new with something known and comforting. Everything from The Beverly Hillbillies being put through the looking glass to become Green Acres, to the sex of the main character in the U.N.C.L.E. series, to the ultrarich of Dallas morphing into the ultrarich of Dynasty have littered the television landscape through the decades. And of course the world of anime is no exception to this trend, and may in fact be more prevalent there than in other genres. Anime often seems to focus on a handful of ideas, and the categories within anime are so well defined that there are actual terms that help define them. One of the major subgenres in the world of anime is the mecha idiom, where pilots operate gigantic Transformer-esque robotic weapons. Frequently in these mecha outings the lead character is almost divinely chosen to operate his or her mecha, and just as typically has some sort of special talent that allows the interaction between the machine and the operator. Broken Blade certainly falls within the broad bounds of the standard mecha anime, but it also has a number of interesting innovations that help to set it apart from any number of similar enterprises. Broken Blade wasn’t an actual anime series, but instead was a six episode miniseries of sorts consisting of OVAs based on a similarly sixfold manga franchise by Yonosuke Yoshinaga. The main thrust of Broken Blade is a standard mecha trope of warring factions, but there are a couple of nice twists here that add unusual elements to the storytelling. In the world of Broken Blade, almost all the inhabitants of the continent of Cruzon are able to manipulate quartz (yes, you read that correctly—quartz), which gives the most facile manipulators the ability to operate quartz-run mechas. This facility is referred to as “magic,” but a few unlucky souls do not have this capability, and those few are known as “un-sorcerers”. One of these un-sorcerers is Broken Blade’s hero, Rygart Arrow, a young man who can’t interact with quartz but who finds out in the first OVA of this series that he has other talents at his disposal.

Broken Blade deals with several twenty-somethings, chief among them Rygart, but the series of OVAs also brings in a whole subplot of backstories that help to delineate how Rygart became involved with several other key characters, chief among them the royal family of the Kingdom of Krisna, where Rygart lives. It turns out that Rygart had attended school with the future King of Krisna, Hodr, as well as the woman who would become Hodr’s wife and Queen, Sigyn. Rather interestingly, Rygart and Hodr were also school friends with the man who becomes the chief villain for at least the first three OVAs in the series, Zess, a resident of the neighboring land of Athens. In fact one of the more unusual aspects of Broken Blade is how the supposed “bad guys” aren’t really portrayed as out and out villains, and in fact in the first episode especially, it actually takes a little time to figure out who we’re supposed to be rooting for, so even handed is the portrayal of the competing forces.

Rygart literally stumbles into operating an ancient mecha that does not utilize the quartz technology, and that of course makes him an unlikely VIP in a culture that values only those who are able to interact with quartz. In Broken Blade, the mechas are called Golems, a shout out to ancient Jewish Kabbalistic lore, and a term that, along with land names that are borrowed from other cultures, gives a certain historical feeling to the entire enterprise. Rygart’s Golem is named Delphine, and the opening OVAs deal with Rygart slowly learning how to control Delphine, ultimately becoming a master who can vanquish opposing forces with a variety of unexpected strategies. While Broken Blade is filled to bursting with unbelievably visceral action elements, the series does an exceptional job of introducing some interesting interplay between the various characters, quite a bit of which derives from the fact that these characters knew each other in prior, happier times.

While there frankly isn’t a lot to Broken Blade, even with the backstories of Rygart, Hodr, Sigyn and Zess (as well as several other supporting characters that enter the fray), the series of OVAs is consistently engaging and entertaining, due in no small measure to a really supremely beautiful animation style. These six OVAs were obviously not churned out for weekly television fare and they have the “quality” look of feature film animes, with gorgeously rendered backgrounds and really sharp looking character designs. Just as impressive is the over the top sound design, which bursts out of the gate from the first OVA and rarely lets up for the ensuing five episodes, with unbelievably bombastic effects and a very effective score. While the set of OVAs may in fact tip a little more to the “comfortable,” already seen side of the spectrum than to the “new”, there is just enough of the unexpected in Broken Blade to keep the series from ever feeling stale or cliché ridden. Though Bandai Visual has stepped away from domestic (i.e, United States) Blu-ray releases, it’s heartening to see product that still bears the Bandai imprint for one reason or another being licensed and distributed by other labels, and Sentai Filmworks should be congratulated for getting Broken Blade out in the marketplace, where it will hopefully find a wide and appreciative audience.

Broken Blade: The Complete Film Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Broken Blade: The Complete Film Series is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. If you need to see what reference quality high definition anime animation looks like in a sterling Blu-ray release, look no further than Broken Blade. This is one fantastic looking set of OVAs, with gorgeously saturated color, brilliantly sharp line detail and a high and consistent level of clarity. Broken Blade offers some really sumptuously rendered backgrounds and character designs, and the care and devotion that has been lavished on this project pops off the screen with amazing vividness. The animators have done a spectacular job detailing the quasi-desert worlds of Krisna (landscapes that are oddly redolent of Frank Herbert's Dune at times), and even "small" moments, like a bird flitting away from a devastating battle scene, are handled with precision and finesse. This is both a fantastic looking anime as well as a sterling high definition presentation.

Broken Blade: The Complete Film Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Broken Blade: The Complete Film Series has two incredible lossless audio options, the original Japanese language track, and a very good English dub, both delivered via a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. Both of the DTS tracks are mixed identically with regard to overall levels and sound effects and score, with the only difference being the obvious one of voice actors. A number of FUNimation regulars are on hand in this release on the English dub, which some may find either a good thing or a bad thing, but overall the voice casting is quite effective here, generally speaking. The Japanese track is obviously what purists are going to want to opt for one way or the other, but even those who don't like reading subtitles may want to at least check out this track for some interesting differences in approach from the Japanese voice actors in terms of the major roles. Both DTS tracks are just unbelievably bombastic right out of the gate in this set of OVAs, with LFE virtually pummeling the listener over and over again. Surround channels are consistently engaged, especially in the many incredibly effective battle sequences. Fidelity is stellar on both of these tracks, and dynamic range is also superb.

Broken Blade: The Complete Film Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Clean Opening Animation (HD; 1:49). (Perhaps surprisingly, this features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, not always the norm for these supplementary features on anime releases.)

Broken Blade: The Complete Film Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Broken Blade: The Complete Film Series is hugely entertaining, even when it's traversing territory any longtime anime fan will have gone over a thousand times before. This set of OVAs features some astoundingly effective animation and equally superb sound design, and there are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep the overall enterprise from ever feeling too predictable. With a lot of exciting and over the top battle elements, as well as some rather interesting interrelationships between the main characters, Broken Blade may in fact not be anything new, but it's worthwhile nonetheless. This Blu-ray looks and sounds spectacular, and though the supplementary material is negligible, this release still comes Highly recommended.