Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion Blu-ray Movie Review

Egg-celent.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 30, 2012

Say what you will about anime (and let’s face it, many anime fans aren’t exactly shy about sharing their opinions), there’s one kind of odd fact about the genre that doesn’t get mentioned all that often, namely the often extremely weird titles various franchises have. Now some of these odd monikers are of course due to having been transliterated from the original Japanese, but even names that are ostensibly in English can sometimes seem like they’ve been ported over from some bizarre alien tongue. Case in point: Mardock Scramble, which to some ears might sound like a Klingon breakfast dish. What sounds a bit odd, though, turns out to be a relatively straightforward science fiction tinged action thriller (relatively straightforward being the operative modifier, this being anime, after all), an often absorbing look at a really interesting heroine named Rune Balot who, as I mentioned in my review of Mardock Scramble: The First Compression Director’s Cut, combines elements of Lisabeth Salander from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy with just a dash of La Femme Nikita. Rune inhabits a dystopian future world that at times is more than a bit reminiscent of the one in Blade Runner, where technology runs amok and genetically engineered species have become, if not the norm, at least a more or less regular part of everyday life.

To bring those of you unfamiliar with the Mardock Scramble universe up to speed, I’ll redact part of my Mardock Scramble: The First Compression Blu-ray review as a brief summary. Mardock Scramble began life as a series of novels by Tow Ubukata (Chaos Legion, among many other titles) which was later adapted into manga form and then, most recently, into a trilogy of anime OVAs, with The First Compression being the lead off episode. Set in a sort of indeterminate future world where a glistening Blade Runner-esque metropolis glows in shades of garish chartreuse, we’re thrust into a drama that sees Balot reborn, after Shell’s vicious attack, as a sort of half-human, half-cyborg killing machine who has been engineered to be “better than she was” according to a top secret protocol (an illegal top secret protocol) named Mardock Scramble 09. Balot’s “savior” is the appropriately named Dr. Easter, who has resurrected the girl from her own ashes, but needs something from her in return: she needs to turn state’s evidence against Shell. That of course doesn’t make Shell very happy, and thus we have the makings of the first episode’s central conflict. Once Balot awakens to her new life, she finds herself ill equipped emotionally to handle the new demands being made of her. Dr. Easter may be well meaning, but he’s also strangely unempathetic to Balot’s unease. Balot soon finds an ally in what may end up being Mardock Scramble’s coolest and most memorable character: a little glowing gold mouse named Oeufcocque (“eggshell” in English) who has, like Balot herself, been engineered and who is equipped with a superhuman intelligence. Oeufcocque is able to assume just about any form (within reason—or at least what passes for reason in the wild world of Mardock Scramble), and it turns out he has a somewhat surprising past within the Mardock world of reengineered half-human half-cyborgs.

Mardock Scramble: The First Compression ended with a cliffhanger which in turn becomes the opening sequence in what might initially seem to be an action packed second installment, but which actually turns out to be a bit more ruminative and (as odd as it may sound) Biblically themed piece than the first OVA was. Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion continues this franchise’s rather peculiar obsession with all things “egg” (Oeufcocque being only one of several such conceits), but The Second Compression introduces a whole new layer of allegory when Balot finds herself in a so-called Paradise after the opening battle, a place that seems like it may indeed be a veritable Garden of Eden, but which has its darker elements as well. Balot is likened to Eve in just one of many references to Genesis, but as with the first Mardock Scramble OVA, there’s also an at times almost lunatic intelligence at work that introduces all sorts of weird elements, like a super-intelligent talking dolphin that sounds for all the world like a not so distant cousin of Charlie the talking tuna from those old Starkist advertisements (Herschel Bernardi fans, take note). There’s also a character (one of the so-called "creators" of Paradise) who turns out to be a head detached from a body which is enclosed in a kind of case that may remind some Matt Groening fans of any number of Futurama episodes.

While Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion may in fact at least slightly disappoint some who come to it expecting the nonstop action-fest that The First Compression was, but there is a lot happening in this OVA, albeit on a more personal level than in the first film. The budding connection between Rune and Oeufcocque is nicely deepened, and becomes one of the few ways we see Rune totally vulnerable. Perhaps more importantly, we finally are given some much needed back story on supervillain Boiled and his connection both with Mardock and Oeufcocque. The second half of this fairly short film (in either its theatrical cut or just slightly longer director’s cut) plays out in one of Shell’s casinos and has some “caper” aspects to it which aren’t fully fleshed out, but build some momentum toward what should be an exciting third chapter.

Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This second OVA is even more gorgeous and fluidly animated than The First Compression, continuing the franchise's quasi-grainy look in a number of key sequences, but really upping the ante in the truly stunning Paradise sequences. This opening section of the film is awash in some of the most lustrous hues imaginable, gorgeous purples and teals all wafting around the screen in almost hallucinogenic splendor. Light beams float through the scenes adding another dimension of depth and beauty. The second half of the film may not quite rise to this level of magnificence, but even Shell's casino is a wonder in and of itself, albeit obviously more mundane. As with the first OVA, character design is exceptional and line detail is sharp and precise.

Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with Mardock Scramble: The First Compression, this second release offers great sounding lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks in both Japanese and English. The amplitude disparity between the languages isn't quite as noticeable on this release, perhaps because this OVA doesn't exploit LFE and other noisy effects quite as much as the first film did. That fact notwithstanding, fidelity is still excellent and the overall mix is very aggressive, with well placed dialogue and effects and a really nicely evocative score that emphasizes a more minimalist piano sound than the first film did. While The Second Combustion isn't the nonstop action-fest that the first OVA was, dynamic range is still quite wide.

Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Perhaps surprisingly, there are no "real" supplements on this disc other than trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases and the disc credits. The disc does contain both the original theatrical version and a just slightly longer director's cut which includes a handful of extra scenes, none of which are really of much lasting import.

Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some are probably going to feel like Mardock Scramble is experiencing something akin to a sophomore slump with The Second Combustion, if for no other reason than this second OVA is relatively quieter and less concerned with bloody shootouts (though there are some of those, of course). But I would argue that this second installment is simply the calm before the storm of what is probably going to be a gangbusters third act, and the audience needs a little breathing room to digest everything that went on in the first OVA. Even granting that the second OVA isn't as viscerally exciting as the first one was, there are still so many great little character beats here, not to mention some of the most sumptuously gorgeous animation in recent memory, that any major complaints really should fall pretty much by the wayside. I actually think I enjoyed this second OVA a bit more than the first, which certainly bodes well for the third. Recommended.