Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Medaka Box: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Medaka Box is an action-comedy anime based on the original manga by NisiOisin (story) and Akira Akatsuki (art). The Medaka Box series features animation by production studio GAINAX (FLCL, Gurren Lagann). Originally broadcast on TV Tokyo, Medaka Box is produced by Masazumi Katō (Aria the Scarlet Ammo, The Legend of the Legendary Heroes), Tomoko Saitō, Tomoyuki Saito (Black Jack, Magi: The Kingdom of Magic), Yoshikazu Beniya (Non Non Biyori, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle), and Yoshiyuki Ito (The Book of Bantorra, Space Pirate Mito).

The series features theme song music performed by Minami Kuribayashi (OP) and Aki Toyosaki (ED). Featuring vocal performances by Aki Toyosaki, Yūki Ono, Ai Kayano, Emiri Katō, and Yūki Ono, Medaka Box: Complete Collection brings together the whole series for fans seeking one set with both seasons of the action series. Fans of the series can own the entire run with just one set.

Medaka Kurokami (Aki Toyosaki) is one of the best students in her class. As one of the most elite students at her school, Medaka excels in all arenas – leadership and class academics. Medaka is someone who has it all: the beauty, the grace, and the smarts.

Medaka finds herself becoming the Student Council President. As the newly elected Student Council President, Medaka is now in a leadership position. The first rule of the game is to help with student suggestions. Determined as a leader, Medaka goes out of her way to help students with their unique suggestions for her to help address.

Yet the suggestion box turns in to something far more complicated when a conspiracy is unveiled. The conspiracy is so complex it threatens the existence of the entire student body at the school! Joined by her own personal body-guard Zenkichi Hitoyoshi (Yūki Ono), Medaka and her fellow students must now throw down in an all-out battle royale unlike anything the student body has ever seen before!

Medaka Kurokami is an interesting lead for the series and a compelling character in her own right. The character is certainly someone who takes on a big role as the Student Council President. This element provides plenty of arenas for the character to be explored. This aspect of the character is a strong element of the character and series.

The character designs by Ikuo Kuwana (Street Fighter Alpha: Generations) are compelling and distinct. The designs certainly help to make the series stand out from the crowd. The anime character designs provide a nice sense of cohesion to the production. The central design for the lead character is an especially impressive part of the production – the design for Medaka making the character more memorable for anime fans.

The animation is impressive and is one of the best qualities of the series, too. The animation has a lot of good contributors and the production team helped to bring something compelling to the table. With art direction by Yukie Abe (Detective Conan: Kid in Trap Island, Night Wizard The Animation) and chief animation direction by Sumie Kinoshita (A Sister's All You Need, Spy Classroom), the animation is impressive and colorful. The animators certainly helped to provide a engaging art style that is a important component of the production.

The cinematography by Yasuhiro Akamatsu (The Mystic Archives of Dantalian, Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya) is a highlight of the series. The cinematographic style enhanced the production and gave a colorful and crisp aesthetic to the anime. The visual element is key to the series cinematography and there is plenty to appreciate about the effort contributed by Akamatsu.

The score composed by Tatsuya Katō (Celestial Method, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere) is a nice and pleasing part of the experience. The score adds to the series charm – helping to enhance the character element as well as the action-packed component of the production. The score especially excels with enhancing the backdrop of the action beats during these sequences. The score provides a more energetic and upbeat experience.

Written and Directed by Shouji Saeki (This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, Wish Upon the Pleiades), Medaka Box isn’t a top-tier anime but it does have some fun and charm. The director helped to bring a good team together for the animation and the production aesthetic. The director understands that the audience wants more action and excitement and the series provides that alongside the comedy. Audiences seeking a blend of action-comedy will find that Medaka Box is a series with that kind of equation.

Medaka Box: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, Medaka Box is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The vivid and colorful animation appears vibrant on the release. Though the animation does also look a little soft in some sequences as well, the animation is still pleasing to look at on the whole. This is apparent during both the first and second seasons. The soft element inherent in the animation is obvious during both parts of the series.

Even though the series isn't quite as razor-sharp as some modern anime series, Medaka Box still has a relatively impressive high-definition presentation. The encoding quality from Sentai Filmworks is proficient. The new encoding on the set should please fans of the series – though I don't have the original releases to compare to, the new set combines both seasons across fewer discs but this isn't something that I would imagine makes a significant difference given the episode count breakdown.

Medaka Box: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The lossless audio quality on the release is satisfying. The audio encode capably handles the sound dynamics and the Japanese audio sounds quite crisp and engaging. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The sound direction by Jun Watanabe is well preserved on the release. Subtitles are excellent and free from significant spelling or grammatical errors. The lossless audio encoding is one of the greatest strengths of the Blu- ray format: offering the kind of experience audiophiles expect for a presentation – with higher bit-rates and more enveloping encoding compared to the lossy audio offerings available on streaming video series.

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

The one area of the collection that could have been improved is the supplemental package. This is one area where some additional content could have enhanced the collection. The set may have benefited from audio commentaries or behind-the-scenes featurettes. Unfortunately, the supplementals are somewhat slim by comparison.

On disc extras include:

Clean Opening Animations (HD, 3:04)

Clean Closing Animations (HD, 3:10)

Medaka Box Jump Festa Promo (HD, 1:03)

Medaka Box Teasers (HD, 1:05)

Medaka Box Promo (HD, 1:32)

Medaka Box Home Video Spots (HD, 00:51)

Medaka Box Abnormal Teaser (HD, 00:17)

Medaka Box Abnormal Trailers (HD, 5:50)

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

Medaka Box is an action-comedy series exploring the journey of the lead character, Medaka Kurokami (Aki Toyosaki). Fans of acton anime series with comedic elements tossed in to the equation will find something to enjoy in Medaka Box. Though Medaka Box is not a perfect anime it does have some entertaining aspects. The central character is compelling and adds to the series sense of charm. Impressive animation is an important aspect of the series, too – and fans of action anime will understandably appreciate the action sequences animation style.

The Blu-ray release includes impressive video and audio. The audio is presented in lossless encoding for either English or Japanese (with English subtitles). The set includes a selection of bonus features. Even so, the extras on the release are average at best. The release includes the complete series. Fans of Medaka Box may wish to consider a purchase.