6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Kimimaro, raised by his maternal aunt after the disappearance of his father and the death of his mother, is a scholarship student whose only dream is to live a stable, ordinary life. One day he meets a man who offers him a large sum of money if he will allow his "future" to be held as collateral. From then on his fate is radically altered as he's drawn into a mysterious realm known as the Financial District, where he must compete in weekly tournaments called "deals" in order to keep his money and avoid losing his future.
Starring: Kôki Uchiyama, Haruka Tomatsu, Daisuke Hosomi, Saori Gotô, Takahiro SakuraiAnime | 100% |
Foreign | 93% |
Action | 22% |
Fantasy | 19% |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (2 BDs, 2 DVDs)
DVD copy
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Maybe there is a God in Anime Heaven after all. Anime fans have been overwhelmed with a glut of second tier releases lately, many which not only feature warmed over plots and characters but which also received less than exciting upconversions to high definition. What’s perhaps even more amazing about the success of [C]: Control – The Money of Soul and Possibility is the fact that it was fashioned for Fuji Television’s notoriously difficult “Noitamina” block (that’s animation spelled backwards for those of you unaccustomed to such things), a programming strategy that has offered “short form” anime (kind of like stateside miniseres) that are forced to get through sometimes impossibly convoluted story arcs in a rather short array of episodes. Even more amazing with regard to [C] (as the anime’s title is often shortened) is the fact that it at least tangentially deals with matters of economics, something that as one of the commentaries included on this set makes clear isn’t exactly prime fodder for fascinating entertainment, despite the fact that other anime, notably Spice and Wolf, have dealt in much the same currency (pun intended). Now there’s no denying that elements of [C] are virtually little more than rehashed ideas culled from such venerable properties as Yu-Gi-Oh (and, no, I’m not kidding), but it’s all delivered with such incredible visual flair and brisk storytelling that few are probably going to care very much, especially given the dearth of quality product coming down the pike lately.
[C]: Control – The Money of Soul and Possibility is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. What an outright joy this series is to watch. Line detail is exceptionally strong and clear and the anime features some of the most outrageously colorful palettes in recent memory. The Assets are all really interesting, especially when they morph into more demonic forms, and the series has the same sort of graphical approach that has made outings like Soul Eater so visually arresting. CGI and traditional cel animation are interwoven together very artfully and this is certainly one of the standout anime titles of the year from a purely visual standpoint, if not from a story one.
[C]: Control – The Money of Soul and Possibility features an English dub delivered via a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround mix and the original Japanese language track delivered via a Dolby TrueHD 2.0 track. The 5.1 surround mix is by far the more preferable option in terms of bombast and (obviously) immersion, but for some reason FUNimation has decided not to include English subtitles on this track for a frequently utilized device where Japanese ideographs appear on the screen, either as identifiers for locations or, just as frequently, text accompanying the control voice that the Entrées talk to during battle. That means you miss some salient information if you choose the English track. That said, this series is certainly enjoyable enough that it's well worth watching it first with the Japanese track to get the gist of some of these elements, and then revisiting the series with the English track. The Japanese track continues the recent tradition of being mixed noticeably more anemically in terms of music and foley effects than the English track is, but both of these tracks offer great fidelity. The English language version also boasts extremely wide dynamic range.
Is [C]: Control – The Money of Soul and Possibility perfect? Far from it. But what a nice breath of fresh air that attempts something at least a little different and manages to deliver it with such an overwhelmingly brilliant visual flair. The battle element is the weakest part of [C], which is of course ironic, but the often fascinating characters and the always compelling animation will easily get most viewers through the rough spots. Recommended.
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