Kokkoku: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Kokkoku: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Time-Freeze 101. Can you survive Stasis?

Kokkoku Moment by Moment is a science-fiction anime series revolving around a world in which time can be frozen and stopped. The Yukawa's are a family of magic-infused beings who have a rare ability which enables them to enter “Stasis” (a in-between world of sorts where time can be frozen perfectly still in time). Statis is an entry point to an otherworldly like state where everyone who is outside of stasis is unable to maneuver the world.

The series revolves around the lead-heroine, Juri. She's a cool-cat badass who leads the way for the other characters. Her nephew faces a perilous nightmare when he gets kidnapped and it's up to the smooth Juri to save the day. As the time freeze causes the universe to become out of alignment, the hope for the world's salvation is in the Yukawa family's determination to take-down the bad-guys and stop the demons which are infiltrating the frozen time-world.

The anime is a bit of a mesh between an action-anime and science-fiction drama. The storytelling is often convoluted but entertaining with its high concept ideas and execution. The characters are fairly straightforward and there is not a lot of room given to character-development or depth. However, the series thrives on it's cool animation, kick-ass opening/ending themes, and action-packed episodes.

Kokkoku Moment by Moment has some excellent animation which helps to sets it apart as an enticingly well-produced science-fiction universe. The series uses a lot of dark color hues with a Gothic overtone. The style of the artwork seems well suited to the universe at play. It's an over haunting universe which plays with the concepts of time-freezing with a suitably dark and grown-up style.

The music score is composed by Michiru (Mitsuboshi Colors) is often haunting and moody but altogether effective in setting an eerie and mysterious mood. The cinematography by Yuichiro Nagata (Ben-To, Gangsta.) meshes well with the art style employed and helps to make this a more-believable otherworldly universe. The character designs are effective and fit the tone.

Yoshimitsu Ohashi (Galaxy Angel Z, Witchblade) directs the anime with a firm grasp on how to genre-blend the story. The series is part science-fiction and part-drama (with the final episode of the series taking on a much more grounded reality with an epilogue-like nature to it's concluding moments). Ohashi remembers to counter-balance the action with the seriousness that is inherent in all good science-fiction. The storytelling can make one ponder the universe.

Kokkoku: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

 The series is presented on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded presentation in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The series has a strong presentation that has excellent color reproduction and overall clarity. The image does have some extremely minor banding on occasion which seems to be source-inherent. The bit-rate is healthy and the encode quality utilized is superb. Colors are vibrant and the tones and hues are superbly rendered.

Kokkoku: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

 The audio is presented in English and Japanese (with English subtitles) in 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio stereo. The audio fidelity is excellent with good clarity and detail. This is a impressive lossless audio presentation. Dialogue is clean, clear, and easy to understand. The music score composed by Michiru sets the tone of the sci-fi saga and is crisply detailed with excellent sound reproduction.

Kokkoku: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Clean Opening Animations (HD, 3 min. 4 sec.)

Clean Closing Animation (HD, 1 min. 32 sec.)

Japanese Promos (HD, 3 min. 8 sec.)

The release also includes trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases including Doreiku: The Animation, Parasyte: The Maxim, Land of the Lustrous, and Made in Abyss.

Kokkoku: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kokkoku Moment by Moment is a engaging science-fiction yarn which brings viewers on an interesting and altogether unique anime journey. The story in this saga revolves around a peculiar type of time-freezing that characters refer to as Stasis (in which time stands totally still for those who are "outside" of stasis.) With strong animation and a unique energy, Kokkoku Moment by Moment is worth checking out. Science fiction fans should consider it a thoughtful entry in the genre and medium of anime.

The Blu-ray releases features superb video and audio quality and is worth a pick-up for fans.