Jormungand: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Jormungand: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 17, 2014

One might be prone to ascribing some deep psychological rift in the Japanese soul that accounts for so many anime featuring bizarre children who are often some type of what might be termed almost automaton killers. Is this some kind of compensating for all those clubs Japanese have to join in their school lives, or what Westerners often perceive to be an overly regulated, proscribed way of life? Don’t go looking for any deep answers in Jormungand, a kind of lightweight knockoff of Black Lagoon: Complete Collection Season 1 and 2 that features, yes, a wide eyed child who just happens to be a rather skilled marksman (marksboy?). Jormungand is a kind of odd mash up of action and comedy, but it is also one of the most relentlessly talky anime in recent memory. Even some of its admittedly exciting shoot ‘em up escapes are bookended by incredibly long monologues that various characters pronounce, as if trying to invest the series with some incredibly meaningful subtext. It’s mostly for naught, though, as the series never really gains much traction as anything other than a noisy, chaotic bunch of gunfight skirmishes interrupted by supposed character beats that unfortunately never add up to much. Jormungand has a certain style, and truth be told some of its goofier comedy bits (which are frequently quite short) are at least amusing, but there’s a certain tonal imbalance here that keeps the viewer off kilter and also at arm’s length from ever really caring about any of the characters, least of all an emotionless little boy who goes around destroying things with a variety of guns.

Much of Jormungand is built around the exploits of two disparate characters. Koko Hematyar is a surreptitious arms dealer who manages a motley crew of mercenaries, most of them with some kind of military background. She is the daughter of a world renowned shipping magnate. The series actually opens, though, with Koko introducing her latest “find” to her group—and it’s a rather unlikely one. A seemingly emotionless boy named Jonah has been recruited to join Koko’s coalition, though the boy, due to the traumatic death of his parents, absolutely hates arms dealers. This sort of dialectic provides much of the supposed drama in Jormungand, though truth be told, while the series does provide fleeting glimpses of backstories for these and other characters, there’s surprisingly little emotional heft to many of them.

Part of this dissociation is due perhaps to the haphazard way the backstories are introduced—usually in mere snippets as interstitials in otherwise action packed episodes. It’s obviously a gambit to give a little insight to the characters as whatever main conflict of the moment is being portrayed, but there’s a kind of jigsaw puzzle aspect to the series that it never completely overcomes. This is probably most important with regard to Koko and especially to Jonah. We’re obviously supposed to feel something for this poor kid whose parents have been killed and who is now a killing machine himself, but the dots never really connect in any meaningful way.

This aspect is further undercut by the almost “slice of life” moments that the series also utilizes, as Jonah matriculates into the life of Koko’s HCLI organization. Jonah gets to know the admittedly colorful group of supporting characters, and there’s frequently slight though amusing humor as Koko in particular attempts to nurture him and give him something akin to a normal life. One episode, for example, has Koko and her crew attempting to give Jonah math lessons, since the kid is spectacularly incapable of even routine addition. It’s truly an odd concatenation of ideas and styles informing this series, and one that takes some getting used to, especially for those who might be coming to the show for balls to the wall action and nothing else.

The series does pick up a considerable amount of steam as it goes along, however, especially after the main characters have been introduced and enough background information has been imparted that the viewer is relatively secure in the basic setup and interrelationships. There are several nasty villains that show up throughout the first season, most of them virtual maniacs who take out huge populations in various scenes of outright carnage. In fact, some of the depictions of mass shootings in places like crowded shopping centers or even an opera house may strike some as a bit disturbing given the rash of public mass shootings that have been so widely publicized over the past couple of years.

There are some interesting dynamics with various other groups, including the CIA, which portend more spy-like intrigue for the series’ second season ( Jormungand: Perfect Order). While there’s a buffoonish CIA operative named Scarecrow that shows up in several episodes as a kind of dunderheaded nemesis for Koko, there are hints that there’s a more sinister presence keeping watch in the background who may prove to give the series a dramatic push in future episodes.

Jormungand is a bit of an uneven roller coaster ride in its first season, but like most roller coaster rides, there are at least a few viscerally exciting moments. As disturbing as some of the violence is (scenes can take out whole city blocks in some episodes), it also is probably the show’s most consistently appealing aspect. The second season will probably tell the tale as to whether Jormungand wants to emphasize those elements, or concentrate more on character beats or a more convoluted tale of political intrigue.

Jormungand: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jormungand is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Funimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a really oddly animated series that has an admittedly distinctive look but which often fails to pop in high definition for a number of reasons. The first of these is the perhaps peculiar decision to animate several key characters with virtually no defining characteristics or even much color, aside from some nicely lushly hued eyes (Koko's deep blue orbs are probably her most distinctive feature, for the rest of her, including her hair, is bone white—see screenshot 2 for an example). Jonah at least has dark brown skin (his ethnic origin is briefly alluded to in the series), but even he is weirdly desaturated a lot of the time (see screenshot 1 for a typical example). Many of the backgrounds are similarly monochromatic, though as the series goes along, color starts to become more vivid (see screenshots 11 and 13). The series utilizes some nice looking CGI elements for things like steam surrounding a ship or some high tech arms like fighter jets. Line detail is sharp and precise throughout the series. There's some small but noticeable spiking of noise in some darker scenes, which is the only artifact of any major concern in this transfer.

Jormungand: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jormangund features Dolby TrueHD 2.0 mixes in both English and Japanese. Toggling between the two reveals very little difference in terms of amplitude, overall mix, or anything other than the expected differences in voice work. Fidelity is fine on both tracks.

Note: The review disc I was provided with years ago when this review was first published had different audio specs than what was evidently ultimately released. The review has been updated to reflect the retail version of the release.

Jormungand: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Episode 1 Commentary features Christopher Bevins, Anastasia Munoz and Carli Mosier.


• Casting Koko's Crew with American Director Christopher Bevins (1080p; 20:18) is a surprisingly interesting piece on the casting process for the series.


• Episode 12 Commentary features Chris George, Micah Solusod and Chris Smith.


• Textless Opening Song "Borderland" (1080p; 1:32)


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


• Textless Closing Song "Shiroku Yawarakana Hana" (1080p; 1:32)


• U.S. Trailer (1080p; 1:11)

Jormungand: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jormungand never quite settles down into any reasonably consistent pattern in its first season. There's the action element, which is admittedly often incredibly visceral, if also awfully bloody and even disturbing at times. But then there's the kind of patently weird "parenting" aspect with Koko and her chums helping Jonah—who is, after all, a sniper—have something of a "normal" life (something that given the rest of the series is just flat out ridiculous). Things perk up considerably in the final third or so of this season's episodes, with some hints that larger plot arcs will finally come to fruition. This first season, though, is a hit or miss affair and is too slapdash to maintain much interest. Technical merits here are generally very strong, and the voice casting featurette is quite good as well.