6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
In the mechanized city of Liverpool, a Japanese student and his beautiful female companion enter the most prestigious magic academy in the world—the place all puppeteers dream of going. There, students use automatons and living dolls to fight against each other in the quest to become the world's best puppeteer.
Starring: Hiro Shimono, Hitomi Harada, Megumi Takamoto, Kana Asumi, Nobuhiko OkamotoAnime | 100% |
Foreign | 94% |
Comedy | 29% |
Romance | 24% |
Fantasy | 21% |
Action | 19% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (2 BDs, 2 DVDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
It’s probably at least a little misleading to think of Unbreakable Machine-Doll as a steampunk enterprise, and yet there’s some reason that this formulaic but occasionally compelling series may qualify as “steampunk-ish” if nothing more. The urge to at least consider Unbreakable Machine-Doll steampunk is fostered by a Blu-ray menu design that favors lots of interlocking gears, as well as a loud metal clinking sound whenever a menu choice is selected. But even beyond that admittedly tangential reason, once the show actually starts, there’s a certain retro quality to both the design aesthetic and even some of the elements in the series (like steam powered trains, for example) that seem to harken back to a bygone age of heated water powering fanciful technology. While it may not be “steampunk” in the traditional sense, there is fanciful technology on display in Unbreakable Machine-Doll, though in this series’ alternate reality, it’s the result of something called “Machinart,” a kind of high tech wizardry that allows automata with special powers to coexist alongside humans. Some of these humans are magically powered themselves and are called Magi. The hero of Unbreakable Machine-Doll is one such so-called puppeteer, a guy named Raishin Akabane. Raishin’s “puppet” is goofy girl named Yaya, a sweet if often dunderheaded female automaton whose undying devotion to her “master” is typically met with revulsion and rejection. Raishin and Yaya are travelling by (yep, steam powered) train to the prestigious Walpurgis Academy as the series opens. The Walpurgis Academy is home to the world’s most accomplished puppeteers (and their creations, of course), and there are (predictably) battles between these practitioners of magical arts to determine who in fact is the most powerful. Before Raishin and Yaya can get there, however, the train careens out of control, offering a first glimpse at some of the special powers this focal pair can summon when circumstances call for it.
Unbreakable Machine-Doll is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. For such a recent vintage (late 2013) series, Unbreakable Machine-Doll is often surprisingly soft looking in high definition, with a kind of gauzy, misty quality that keeps things from being really sharp and well defined. While colors are nicely suffused and at times quite vivid, the general appearance of this anime is kind of on the "blah" side, an aspect perhaps exacerbated by some odd image instability that resembles judder in scenes where, for example, the camera pans across the action. There are a number of enjoyable elements to the design aesthetic, including a few detours from the general look of the series into somewhat more fanciful approaches (look at screenshots 9 and 14 for two examples).
Unbreakable Machine-Doll features an English dub delivered in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and the original Japanese language track in Dolby TrueHD 2.0. The show's reliance on battles probably recommends the surround track even to those who prefer original language tracks, and the 5.1 iteration significantly opens up the soundstage while also considerably amping up the low end. Dialogue is cleanly presented and fidelity remains excellent throughout the series. Dynamic range is extremely wide and there are no issues to report in this review.
Disc One:
- Volume I - And So They Arrive at School
- Volume II - Irori Has an Accident at the Open Air Bath
- Volume III - Charl, Frey and the Bathroom of Terror
- Volume IV - Nadishiko Akabane, Midsummer Night's Dream
- Volume V - Private Lessons - Two Beauties in an Infirmary
- Volume VI - Pretty Girls Gather! Swimsuit-Studded Pandemonium
- Maware! Setsugetsuka (Version 1) (1080p; 1:32)
- Maware! Setsugetsuka (Version 2) (1080p; 1:32)
- Maware! Setsugetsuka (Version 3) (1080p; 1:32)
- Maware! Setsugetsuka (Pixel Art Version) (1080i; 1:40)
Unbreakable Machine-Doll is another decent midlevel if ultimately not very ambitious anime that offers some interesting characters within a rather well worn and at times cliché ridden environment. The series tends to go off on tangents quite a bit of the time, to the point that a revenge scenario which seems to be of paramount importance gets shuffled off to the sidelines with perplexing regularity. There are some minor issues with the video presentation that fans of the series should be aware of when considering a purchase. FUNimation has put together an appealing supplemental package.
Limited Edition | 機巧少女は傷つかない / Mashin-Dôru wa Kizutsukanai
2013
S.A.V.E. | 機巧少女は傷つかない / Mashin-Dôru wa Kizutsukanai
2013
Essentials | 機巧少女は傷つかない / Mashin-Dôru wa Kizutsukanai
2013
(Still not reliable for this title)
Limited Edition
2009
Anime Classics / はたらく魔王さま! / Hataraku Maou-sama!
2013
Classics
2013
2012-2013
2010
デート・ア・ライブIV / Season Four
2022
Kore wa zonbi desu ka?
2011-2012
2006
東京レイヴンズ / Tōkyō Reivunzu
2013
Essentials
2011
Essentials
2014
Anime Classics
2010
Anime Classics / フルメタル·パニック!
2002
SD on Blu-ray
2003-2005
2008
2010
2012
2010
Essentials
2010-2011
Anime Classics
2008-2009