7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
The end of the Queen's Blade has come, and only the strongest remain. Leina, Tomoe, and the rest of the finalists take up residence in Gynos, the Queen's Capital. Each girl is paired up in a duel, and friends are forced to fight each other with their lives on the line. When the smoke clears, who will be crowned queen?
Starring: Atsuko Tanaka (I), Yűko Gotô, Aya Hirano, Takako Honda, Akira IshidaAnime | 100% |
Foreign | 94% |
Action | 29% |
Erotic | 26% |
Fantasy | 20% |
Adventure | 4% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Can there really be such a thing as a “happy accident” in animation? The era of the director commentary on home theater DVD and Blu-ray releases have seen a glut of statements about how this shot or that shot (in live action films of course) just kind of happened due to the vagaries of fate. A gorgeous glint of sunrise was caught peeking over the ocean’s horizon. An actor who couldn’t remember the correct line came up with something much more brilliant on the spot and it was kept in the final cut of the film. But animation, and its Eastern cousin anime, are different ani-mals entirely, since so much planning has to go into pre-production with regard to storyboards, initial line drawings, in- betweening and everything else that contributes to the final product. Whether hand drawn or assisted by the superpowered ways of today’s computers, it doesn’t seem possible that things can “just sort of happen” in animated fare, at least not in the same way that they seem to fairly regularly in live action films. And so one must come to the conclusion that the really stupendously varied shots of women’s breasts and crotches that fill up great swaths of the Queen’s Blade series had to have been meticulously thought out. How else to explain such fantastic (if just slightly laugh provoking) framings as a sort of Roman amphitheater, a place of battle, seen through the spread legs of a curvaceous female, a shot which gives ample display of both her posterior and her more private areas? How else to explain the seemingly nonstop array of heaving, jiggling bosoms that seem to become almost totemic after a while, characters in their own right that are frequently mentioned by the various combatants trying to assume the title of Queen, as if this were a bizarre world version of either Queen for a Day or a beauty pageant a la Miss America or Miss Universe, where the “talent” might be battle but the “swimsuit” competition is all about the cleavage? The mere fact that such questions even occur points up the central issue with Queen’s Blade, which is that despite its best efforts to cram a little character and story into its proceedings, it ultimately is all about the pulchritude.
Say what you will about Queen's Blade in general, and Queen's Blade 2: The Evil Eye in particular, there is no denying the beauty of the animation of this series, and as with the first season, this new two disc set on Blu-ray offers stunning video quality courtesy of an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Line detail is sharp as a tack, colors are bold and often resplendent, and as I mentioned in the main body of the review, this season also benefits from more consistent use of CGI, which lends several sequences a really finely wrought display of very cool looking "supernatural" effects. Motion is completely fluid, and even the more impressionistic backgrounds pop quite nicely throughout the series' twelve episodes.
As with the first season of Queen's Blade, Queen's Blade 2: The Evil Eye is presented with two lossless audio options, the original Japanese language track delivered via a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix, and a very good English dub, also delivered courtesy of a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix. Surround sound enthusiasts will no doubt wonder why a 5.1 remix in English wasn't presented here, especially considering the series' many battle elements, but if taken on their own merits, both of these stereo tracks get the job done, albeit across an obviously narrow soundstage. Fidelity is excellent on both of these tracks, though to my ears the English mix has just a bit more highs than the Japanese track does. Otherwise, they're virtually identical in terms of levels and supporting effects and music. Dynamic range is also superb throughout the series and dialogue is always crisp and well prioritized in both languages.
In my review of the first season of Queen's Blade, I mentioned the fine line between hentai and "mere" fan service. That line is probably finer than ever in this second season, which offers everything from full frontal nudity to crotch shots which leave little (if anything) to the imagination. Counterbalancing that approach, though, is the undeniably excellent animation style that Queen's Blade exhibits, something that less provocative animes would do well to emulate. This is a series where virtually every frame is full to bursting (and not just the bosoms) with excellent detail and gorgeously rendered characters and backgrounds. While this is most definitely not a show for younger viewers, those with a more liberal tolerance for the naked female form might be pleasantly surprised at how much they end up enjoying Queen's Blade from a solely visual aspect if not from any other perspective.
2009
2012
2010-2011
2010
2011
Anime Classics
2008-2009
Asobi ni Iku yo! / Essentials
2010-2011
Essentials
2011
2010-2011
Director's Cut / マルドゥック・スクランブル 燃焼
2011
S.A.V.E.
2010
2015-2016
S.A.V.E. | Tokyo Revelations / Spring Thunder
2007-2009
2023
2017
2006
1998
1990-1991
Collector's Edition | 獣兵衛忍風帖 | Jūbei Ninpūchō
1993
2022