7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
After a tragic scene with the murder of his friends, Brandon Heat follows his only friend Harry McDowel into Millennion, the largest mafia syndicate. While Harry McDowel is striving for power, Brandon is only staying in Millennion to see the girl he loves whose custody was gained by the leader of Millennion, Big Daddy. But as the years pass and Brandon proves loyal to Millennion, Brandon learns the true purpose and passion of Millennion, and that's when true conflict arises.
Starring: Kirk Thornton, Tomokazu Seki, Tomoko Kawakami, Tsutomu Isobe, Kikuko InoueAnime | 100% |
Foreign | 96% |
Action | 37% |
Sci-Fi | 23% |
Horror | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i (upconverted)
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Anime and videogames share a lot in common, and several best selling properties have traversed a course either from the broadcast world to a gaming console or vice versa. In fact a lot of the biggest anime projects of all time have become multimedia behemoths, churning out not just regular television (and film) fare, but moving into virtually every medium imaginable, from manga (whether or not the project started out in that published form) to music to just about everything else. Gungrave is one of the projects that had a reverse trajectory, starting out as a third person shooter game that became fitfully popular on the Playstation gaming systems, but which really seemed to attract attention not so much for its gameplay but for its interesting character design and its anime cut scenes. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out there was money to be made if Gungrave migrated over to the anime world, and though I’m sure this is just a coincidence, on my birthday of October 6 the show debuted in the fall of 2003 in Japan and ran for one season totaling 26 episodes. Produced by one of the most innovative and forward thinking production entities in the wild and wacky world of anime, the appropriately titled Madhouse, Gungrave is an interesting piece which, in true Madhouse fashion, manages to mix together a bunch of completely disparate genres into one fairly cohesive whole. Like the videogame which spawned the series, Gungrave may not be the most compelling thing to come down the pike, but it’s helped immeasurably by an interesting design aesthetic which aids the show in overcoming some of its loopy plot and overly convoluted storyline. The series spans several years in the life of its hero, one Brandon Heat who has been given the nickname Beyond the Grave. Without giving too much away for those who haven’t seen the series, we actually join the story late in the game, when Brandon has been, well, dead for a while and is being resurrected by the mysterious Doctor T. The bulk of Gungrave then flashbacks to provide the backstory as to how Brandon ultimately became “Grave,” his shorthand nickname.
Gungrave is the first FUNimation Anime Classics line I can remember having been offered on Blu-ray with a 1080i transfer, upconverted from an SD master. Encoded via AVC in 1.78:1, Gungrave isn't an overly colorful piece to begin with, and while its design aesthetic is really interesting and well done, it doesn't rise to the exaggerated levels of some other Madhouse productions, so anyone coming to this piece expecting a visual tour de force may be disappointed. This interlaced offering does present some problems, notably some brief transitional combing artifacts, which may bother some viewers, and the fact the source elements were SD means this is never going to be the most eye poppingly sharp looking anime of all time. But overall things are definitely above average, with very good to excellent line detail, great representations of the several disparate styles at work within the series, and an accurate reproduction of the series' sometimes drab and dingy palette.
The first thing you might notice about Gungrave in either of its lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes (the original Japanese language track and an English dub) is the music. While you might think an actioner like Gungrave might be filled with amped up rock or techno beats like so many other anime offerings, we're instead privy to an opening theme which is virtually in the easy listening category, at least when compared to other scores in this basic genre. But be that as it may, the score is just one reason either of these 5.1 offerings is so appealing. The other is those very action sequences, one violent episode after another that fill the surrounds with shots and other mayhem and recreate a very realistic soundfield full of discrete directional effects. While some may prefer the English dub for the ease of not having to read subtitles, I personally wasn't a big fan of the man voicing Harry, and so my personal recommendation is to stick with the original Japanese track. That said, both of these tracks feature excellent fidelity, some awesome LFE, and an artful balance between all of the elements of the mix.
Gungrave has several unexpected elements that keep it from being predictable, and it's one of the few putative action animes that actually spends some decent time exploring its main characters. The show is a bit off-putting in its opening gambit, but if you give it a chance, my prediction is you'll probably be hooked by the sixth or seventh episode, just in time for things to change radically once again about halfway through. The series has some issues, and while the ending is notable for not exactly tying everything up in a neat little bow, it also may leave some viewers a bit disappointed that they've invested so much time only to have it all come to this. All of this said, I found a lot of Gungrave quite compelling and it's especially provocative given its videogame roots. Though this Blu-ray doesn't sport the crispest image quality in recent memory, the show is interesting enough to come Recommended.
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