Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Votoms Finder Blu-ray Movie Review

Votoms Finder is an engaging OVA episode set within the storytelling universe of Armored Trooper Votoms. Created by Hajime Yatate and Ryousuke Takahashi, Votoms Finder offers fun adventure. Outstanding. Animation is by Sunrise (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam).

Aki (Akira Ishida) is living life on the brink in the realm of the Armored Troopers (AT). Aki has the duty of a Bottoms guard. As a Bottoms guard, Aki doesn’t have the same level of commitment as some others working with Armored Trooper robots.

Instead, Aki serves scrap hunters who look to find the best remnants of the AT mechanics available. At the same time, Aki has bigger dreams and even pilots a Altro robot. Ultimately, could Aki’s destiny be intertwined with the Altro?

The character designs by Junichi Hayama (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Be-Bop-Highschool) work well for the OVA. The design for Aki is unique looking and compelling. The other supporting characters have nice artistic designs as well. Under the chief animation direction of Junichi Hayama (Golden Kamuy, Yu-Gi-Oh!) and art direction of Junichi Taniguchi (Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler, Sailor Moon R: The Movie), Votoms Finder offers plenty of breathtaking animation. The animators involved on the OVA certainly delivered.

The OVA also showcases effective mecha designs by Atsushi Shigeta (Turn A Gundam: Earth Light, Turn A Gundam: Moon Butterfly), Hitoshi Fukuchi (Blue Gender, Casshan: Robot Hunter Casshern), and Kunio Okawara (Armor Hunter Mellowlink, The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird). These mecha designs are excellent alongside the monster design of Kenji Andou (King of Thorn, Rage of Bahamut: Genesis). Featuring strong mecha and monster designs, these elements help the action sequences to be more worthwhile.

The cinematography by Jirō Kageyama (Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance), Jiro Tazawa (Black Blood Brothers), and Mitsuhiro Sato (King of Thorn) is amongst the best of the Armored Trooper Votoms OVAs. The cinematography unit involved is first-rate and a lot of good artists were involved on Votoms Finder. The results are impressive and this is one of the best-looking installments in the OVA collection.

Written by Mayori Sekijima (Arata The Legend, Lost Universe), Votoms Finder offers fans of the Armored Trooper Votoms franchise a fun installment with some good adventure and action-packed fun. Sekijima imbues the script with worthwhile dialogue and some cool concepts. A nice outing for Armored Trooper Votoms.

Directed by Atsushi Shigeta (Phi-Brain - Puzzle of God, Phi-Brain - Puzzle of God: The Orpheus Order), Votoms Finder excels as an action piece. The OVA has some of the best action featured in the OVA episodes of Armored Trooper Votoms. The action and adrenaline-packed filmmaking is successful, in part, because of Shugeta’s direction. Votoms Finder is well worth seeing.

Votoms Finder Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, Votoms Finder is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The presentation "pops" with strong color reproduction and clarity. The animation is a bit soft on the transfer but it appears it could be source related. A pleasing high definition presentation.

Votoms Finder Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio (with English subtitles). The lossless audio sounds crisp and engaging during the presentation. The score is well integrated in to the sound mix. Dialogue sounds nice and clear on the release. The release does not include an English dub option.

Votoms Finder Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no extras specific to Votoms Finder included on the OVA collection release.

Votoms Finder Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Votoms Finder offers a bundle of action-packed adventure. The installment is a worthwhile entry. A good OVA episode. The results were worthwhile – with impressive animation and nice production aesthetics overall. Recommended.