World Trigger: Season 1 - Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

World Trigger: Season 1 - Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

World Trigger: Season 1 brings the action and spectacle of alien invasion series to the forefront. The series was originally streamed on Disney+ (where the series premiered in Japan). The anime has an impressive aesthetic with production by the acclaimed studio Toei Animation (Digimon: Data Squad, Dragon Ball). Created by Daisuke Ashihara, World Trigger: Season 1 provides a mighty punch of action and excitement for action-anime fans.

Aliens can sometimes cause plenty of havoc on the world. Several years ago, there was a new gate which opened up as a portal. The portal helped a new world to appear out of thin air and with this portal aliens came flooding in. The “neighbors” (as the aliens are referred to) take over Mikado City.

Now it is up to a group of “trigger” heroes to use the new trigger weapons to battle the neighbors and fight for the survival of their city. Osamu Mikumo (Yuuki Kaji) sets forth on a new mission and meets the strange boy, Yūma Kuga (Tomo Muranaka), who becomes entwined in the mysteries of the gate. Can the world be saved from the neighbors? Dangers and thrills abound.

The characters are unusual heroes and not the kind one would expect to find for this type of anime production. The characters are a bit “off the wall” and different from typical action-anime heroes. Something tells me this is a huge part of the reason for the overwhelming success of the anime. Exploring the saga with unique characters, the staff involved on the production bring forth some interesting character elements with plenty of surprise from the animators.

The series features exceptional animation and this is one of the key reasons to check out the series. The art style is creative and there is plenty to appreciate about the production aesthetic. The chief animation direction by Hitomi Tsuruta (The Knight in the Area, The Comic Artist and His Assistants) and Toshihisa Kaiya (Genshiken: Second Generation, Ascendance of a Bookworm) works well and finds a solid balance between the various elements of the production. The action scenes certainly benefit from solid animation direction and the animators focus on this arena of the series nicely.

Aliens have arrived.

The character designs by Hitomi Tsuruta (The Comic Artist and His Assistants, The Knight in the Area) and Toshihisa Kaiya (Ascendance of a Bookworm, Immortal Grand Prix) help to showcase these characters well. The designs are solid and present the unique characters of the production with ease. The series has a group of characters that work as “outsiders” (so to speak) and make the production all the more energetic. The designs certainly might not be as distinct as classic cell-based anime but for a more modern production the effort is nonetheless appreciated.

The score composed by Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell, Eden of the East) is excellent and provides the action-packed mayhem with the right ingredients for an entertaining thrill ride. Kawai is one of the most gifted and authoritative composers working in the medium. Composer Kawai has the right energy and skill to imbue any anime production with the right ingredients for a thrilling action-packed spectacle. Kawai is certainly a gifted composer and the effort here is something that is commendable and that makes the experience more exciting and relevant for action-anime fans.

Written by Hiroyuki Yoshino (Black Butler, Dance in the Vampire Bund), World Trigger: Season 1 might not break new ground in some respects but the script still provides some interesting characters and adventures that audiences will find compelling on some level. The characters are certainly unique within the world-building of the production and screenwriter Yoshino provides a more epic sense of scope and scale with the characters and their arcs on the series.

Directed by Mitsuru Hongo (Ascendance of a Bookworm, Deltora Quest), World Trigger: Season 1 isn’t a total home run but it does have some fun and energetic aspects that make it exciting. The science-fiction spectacle is cool and there is certainly a sense of excitement to the production. Director Hongo finds a balance of character quirkiness to explore and action- spectacle to keep audiences entertaining. World Trigger: Season 1 finds a new path to forge for sci-fi action-anime and the alien invader genre is certainly finding new territory to explore with this introductory season.

World Trigger: Season 1 - Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, World Trigger: Season 1 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. This is certainly an outstanding video presentation and the encoding quality is top-notch on the release. An impressive video encode provided by Sentai Filmworks, the presentation looks crisp and clear.

The colorful animation shines and the character designs are well reproduced. The action scenes certainly manage to excel and the encoding handles these scenes without egregious compression woes (the kind one can find all-too-often with sub-par streaming options). The Blu-ray release has top- notch video for series fans.

World Trigger: Season 1 - Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles) and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo. The release is a particularly interesting one when it comes to the audio options provided on the release. This set is far from a typical box set collection as it contains separate discs for the Japanese language and English dubbed versions of the season collection.

The first set is particularly unique in that the original Japanese language version includes all of the episodes. The included dubbed presentation omits 15 episodes of the series. This audio presentation selection is something that certainly makes the set stand out as unique from most anime box- sets. (Fans of the production felt the "omitted" episodes were weak and unnecessary for the most part so they didn't bother to even dub them).

World Trigger: Season 1 - Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release includes trailers promoting the following releases available from distributor Sentai Filmworks: Sword Gai (HD, 1:02), Dororo (HD, 1:32), RahXephon (HD, 1:12), and Babylon (HD, 1:34).

World Trigger: Season 1 - Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

World Trigger: Season 1 brings the science-fiction adventure of alien-invasions to the forefront with new terrain to explore. The production has outstanding animation and an epic sense of scope and scale. The production benefits from solid characters and direction. The Blu-ray release has an excellent video presentation and a nice lossless audio sound mix.

The release is a bit unusual though when one compares it to a standard release. Sentai Filmworks provided both the English and Japanese language options in one set but with separate discs for each audio presentation. The original Japanese language option is the one to watch if one is a completist and wants to experience the entire first season. However, some anime fans felt an entire arc of the season was unnecessary and so the English dub producers didn't bother to have it dubbed. As a result, these episodes are not provided on the English dubbed discs and there is a big gap between episodes.

Sentai provides all the relevant content available. Fans aren't missing anything that was produced for the season (per se) as the entire English dub is included. Some fans might wish to opt and wait for a re-release with either the English dubbed version or Japanese language version as a priced down re-release from Sentai Filmworks seems to be an inevitable factor to consider. Nonetheless, fans can expect a top-notch video and audio presentation. Those seeking a "complete" package (which includes everything) will want to opt for this package. Recommended.