Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation: Complete Series + OVA LE Blu-ray Movie Review

Stop playing games.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 8, 2015

Both of my sons have been inveterate gamers since they were little boys, and in fact my older boy founded his high school’s so-called E- Sports club at about the same time that his mastery in Starcraft allowed him to charge neophytes to watch him stream games. Both my boys are fond of pointing out that the best gamers these days actually rake in substantial bucks for their gameplay, and my eldest boy just got a nice payday at college for winning a Smash Bros. tournament. It’s probably no surprise that the gaming world, at least among the teenaged boys who have regularly shown up at our house to cavort in front of a screen, is just this side of outright misogyny, with a figurative “no girls allowed” sign seemingly emblazoned on the entrance to the man (boy?) cave. The fact that Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation, an anime set resolutely in a gaming environment (an anime based not so coincidentally on a game series), features females might seem to be anachronistic at first glance, until one factors in fan service, an element which of course will undoubtedly appeal to younger males who tend to keep themselves sheltered in front of their computers, away from contact with honest to goodness living women. Those with an interest in gaming will no doubt be the demographic best able to ferret the sometimes sly allusions the anime has to offer, but Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation is often a pretty disjointed, chaotic feeling enterprise that may stretch the attention spans of those more accustomed to bursts of frenetic activity within a competitive gaming environment.

Not having my sons’ facility with the gaming universe, I must confess much of at least the first couple of episodes of Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation left me more than a little confounded, to the point that I turned to my wife and stated, “I have absolutely no idea what this show is supposed to be about.” Four goddesses (more or less, anyway) are shown banding together to form a new “unity government” (as it were) after untold eras of infighting, in order to stop wars over valuable entities known as Shares. That’s all well and good, and relatively comprehensible, even if a bunch of terms (including Shares, in fact) are lobbed at the viewer early on, as tends to be the case in so many anime. But along about the point that the buxom, adult goddesses morph into cuddly, young girl (and more human) versions of themselves, I at least was lost and my hunch is those with no prior knowledge of the franchise may be, too, if only momentarily.

What may not be immediately apparent, especially to those outside of gaming communities, is that each of the four goddesses (and their attendant realms) represent different gaming platforms. Neptune (also known as Purple Heart, because these shows are never content to simply have one name for a character), the goddess of Planeptune, represents the Sega Neptune; Noire, the goddess of Lastation, represents the Playstation 3; Vert, the goddess of Leanbox, represents the XBox 360; and Blanc, the goddess of Lowee, represents the Wii. I’m not sure if licensing issues played into the anime’s ultimate presentation, but these allusions are not immediately that clear (later referents become a bit more on the nose as the series progresses).

Along with the four goddesses (and their alter egos) are four other girls, Nepgear (nice), Uni, Ram and Rom, all of whom figure into various plotlines. But again, the fact that these younger girls are related to the goddesses just zinged right over my head for a while, and again my hunch is the same thing may happen to other viewers as well. The corollary fact that these littler characters are evidently supposed to represent the handheld devices for their particular gaming platform will probably similarly zoom past a lot of viewers. With this overly convoluted set up, one might think that for all its whimsy and fan service Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation might exploit the ins and outs of games and gaming more than it ends up doing, for at its core the series becomes a rather rote entry with scantily clad females doing battle.

While there’s enjoyable enough banter and interplay between the characters, and some rather winning references to various games and game worlds, overall Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation never makes the most of its conceit, something that seems doubly odd in that the show would appear to be so intently designed for game players. While the references ultimately serve as “in jokes” for those knowledgeable enough to get them, the series relies at least as much on fairly tired battle scenarios interspersed with rather generous helpings of fan service. The ironic thing about this all is that there’s probably not enough in Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation to draw younger males (the assumed demographic for the series) away from the very games and gaming platforms the anime is parodying.

Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation: Complete Series + OVA LE Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a very bright and colorful anime, one which exploits a lot of vivid hues in the blue and purple end of the spectrum to an agreeable degree. Character designs, while not incredibly innovative, are distinctive looking and differentiation between the rather ungainly cast of characters is never a major issue. Line detail is sharp and well defined, and the overall image is clear if not exceptionally sharp (I was actually a bit surprised by how relatively soft looking much of this recently produced anime is). There are a number of bells and whistles attending various sequences, including CGI and intentional "distressing" for certain elements that add "grain" and/or scratches and the like. The best part of this presentation is the very varied and nicely saturated palette, something that pops quite convincingly in high definition.

Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation: Complete Series + OVA LE Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation features an English dub in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and the original Japanese language track in Dolby TrueHD 2.0. There's little doubt that the English language version significantly opens up the soundstage, offering some really boisterous support for the series' sometimes pretty noisy ambience, not necessarily limited to outright battle scenes. The surplus of hyperbolic female characters means this is even "screechier" (for want of a better term) than other FUNimation dubs, but the 5.1 track offers good support for dialogue, effects and score. The Japanese language version is somewhat more subdued, at least from an overpowering effects standpoint, but it has a certain charm of its own and should at least be sampled by even those who prefer no subtitles. In what seems to be FUNimation's own version of ping pong, this particular release once again reverts to having been authored so that subtitles cannot be accessed independently of the Japanese language track, where they appear automatically.

Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation: Complete Series + OVA LE Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Transform Collection (1080p; 3:15) offers a montage of various transformation scenes.


• Blu-ray and DVD Commercials (1080p; 1:21)


• Commercials (1080p; 00:34)


• Promotional Videos (1080p; 4:51)


• Textless Opening Song "Dimension tripper!!!! Version 1" (1080p; 1:31)


• Textless Opening Song "Dimension tripper!!!! Version 2" (1080p; 1:32)


• Textless Closing Song "NEPTUNE SaGaSiTe" (1080p; 1:32)


• Textless Closing Song "Go Love and Peace" (1080p; 1:53)


• Textless Closing Song "ITO" (1080p; 3:18)


• U.S. Trailer (1080p; 1:31)

Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation: Complete Series + OVA LE Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gamers are no doubt going to be the ones to get the most out of Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation, but I have to wonder if the anime actually offers enough to get gamers away from their games. The series is silly and frenetic, but it's pretty cliché-ridden and is only too happy to offer up jiggling boobs and panty shots when nothing else suffices. Gamers may well want to check this out, but even they may want to put aside enough time to get through at least the first three or so episodes in order to fully appreciate (or not) what the anime has to offer. Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.