Space Battleship Tiramisu: Season 1 + OVAs Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Space Battleship Tiramisu: Season 1 + OVAs Blu-ray Movie Review

Space Battleship Tiramisu is an action-adventure comedy set aboard an intergalactic space ship of unusual magnitude. Created by Kei Itō and Satoshi Miyakawa, Space Battleship Tiramisu originally streamed on Crunchyroll. Licensed for home media in North America, Space Battleship Tiramisu offers fans an undeniably quirky adventure with plenty of food and offbeat humor. An anime series in the style of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming.

Subaru Ichinose (Kaito Ishikawa) has a thing for food. Subaru’s relationship with food isn’t necessarily platonic, either – it’s at least an “almost sexual” and kinky affection for good food. Aboard the Space Battleship Tiramisu, Subaru is one of the only keys to humanity’s survival. The entire planet could be disintegrated if not for the special protections of the Space Battleship.

Subaru fills the void of his time with endless food and compromising positions, eating food as if it there is no tomorrow and with some strange quirks that others might find a bit perplexing. Yet perhaps there is more to life than food. Soon, Subaru meets Isuzu Ichinose (Takahiro Sakurai). What will happen next on board the Space Battleship Tiramisu?

The characters are quirky are unusual protagonists. Subaru is a goofball and an odd fit for a lead hero in some respects. The character is obsessed with food and seems more preoccupied with other things at times (than his heroic duties). Nonetheless, the quirky elements of the character come in to play full swing and compliment the series entire overarching elements.

The character designs by Ai Yokoyama (Destiny Child, Bayonetta: Bloody Fate) are nothing too special. The character designs are somewhat average and don’t seem as distinctive or original as some other anime series achieve. The designs here are almost monotone in style and lack the kind of cohesion seen from the best productions. Unfortunately, Yokoyama did an average-at-best job with these designs and this is certainly one of the weak elements of the production.

The art direction by Eiji Wakamatsu (Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic, Kite Liberator) and Yuuki Hatakeyama (The House of the Lost on the Cape, Non Non Biyori Nonstop) isn’t that special either. The animation seems low- budget and less invigorating when compared to a standard anime production. The art is too reminiscent of low-budget Western animation. Even with the art style seeming acceptable at times, the end results are sub-par.

The cinematography by Koujirou Hayashi (Concrete Revolutio, Gate Keepers) is a highlight of Space Battleship Tiramisu. The visual elements of the production are perfectly satisfactory and there are certainly plenty of components within the cinematographic approach to highlight the animation and the design elements at their best – which is to say, the use of compelling lighting and a strong use of contrast creates a better cinematographic effect (despite some of the animation pitfalls).

The score composed by Shunpei Ishige (UQ Holder!, UQ Holder! Magister Negi Magi! 2) was nothing special. The music serves only as average background music to the production. The score simply isn’t compelling enough to make much of an impression. The results are lackluster and could have fared a little better on the whole.

Written by Yū Satō (Kotaro Lives Alone, Tenka Hyakken), Space Battleship Tiramisu isn’t that original or creative. The series feels as though it was penned by a rank amateur. The storytelling doesn’t have a sense of proper rhythm. Unfortunately, Sato doesn’t excel in the scriptwriting department.

Directed by Hiroshi Ikehata (Management of a Novice Alchemist, Toei Robot Girls), Space Battleship Tiramisu is ultimately a disappointment. The anime could have been better when a bigger budget, concept, and execution. Unfortunately, Ikehata does the best possible with the sub-par animation and production. Space Battleship Tiramisu is underwhelming and is not too special.

Space Battleship Tiramisu: Season 1 + OVAs Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation, Space Battleship Tiramisu is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The presentation on the release is impressive. The color reproduction is superb. The encoding is strong and does a solid job presenting the original series animation. Detail is excellent on the release. A solid presentation from Funimation.

Space Battleship Tiramisu: Season 1 + OVAs Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The lossless surround sound on the English dubbed presentation is a nice option with excellent clarity and detail. The surrounds are used to enhance the action and the presence of the score. A solid audio encode.

Space Battleship Tiramisu: Season 1 + OVAs Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray release includes a small selection of exclusive bonus features. The release does not come with any extensive making-of featurettes or behind-the-scenes materials, though and fans hoping to find more in depth offerings will find the release lacking a bit in this regard. The release doesn't provide fans of the series audio commentaries or other potential audio-based offerings. Unfortunately, the supplemental package for Space Battleship Tiramisu is underwhelming and is average at best.

On disc supplements are as follows:

Opening Crawl: Full Text

Textless Opening Song "Breakthrough" (HD, 00:32)

Textless Closing Song "Durandal" (HD, 00:17)

Trailers (HD, 2:18)

Space Battleship Tiramisu: Season 1 + OVAs Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Space Battleship Tiramisu is ultimately a disappointing anime series in its first season outing. The series could have fared better with a more original script and compelling vision. Nonetheless, Space Battleship Tiramisu has some fans, and those series fans will be pleased with the quality of the Blu-ray release. The release has a worthwhile video and audio presentation and a selection of bonus features. Fans might wish to indulge but newcomers should consider a rental.