DVD Corner

Gunslinger Girl- Il Teatrino OVA and Sands Of Destruction- The Complete Series DVD Reviews

“Sands Of Destruction” suffers from tonal issues.

“Gunslinger Girl- Il Teatrino OVA” is strictly for fans of the series.

Gunslinger Girl- Il Teatrino OVA

This OVA contains two episodes “The Light Of Venice, The Darkness Of The Heart” and “Fantasma” As far as the plots go, there are stories involving Jean and Rico taking down a mob boss, Marco and Angelica taking down a 5 Republics Faction house, Jean being haunted by past figures, Triela reminiscing about the past, and Guise invites other characters to take a vacation at a beach house.

Having never seen a previous “Gunslinger Girl” episode before, I was compelely left in the dark here especially since this OVA takes place after the conclusion to the Il Teatrino saga.  Basically, this is really for fans of “Gunslinger Girl” who want to see what these characters are up to after the series. It’s very much just a simple follow up on the characters.

The widescreen picture quality is fine. The animation (especially the Venice shots, character models, and lighting) is impressive.

English 5.1 and Japanese Stereo (with English Subtitles) tracks have been included. The English dub isn’t half bad, but the actors tend to overact. Stick with the original language track.

Extras include two textless closing songs, a 25 minute interview with Masaya Matsukaze who voices Hilshire, trailers for “El Cazador De La Bruja,” ‘Ichi,” “Guyver,” “Basilisk,” “D. Gray-Man,” “Blassreiter,” “Baccano!,” “Samurai Champloo,” and “Le Chevalier D’Eon.”

Sands Of Destruction- The Complete Series

This 13 episode series begins with the explanation that this sand covered universe is ruled beast creatures (Ferals) and that humans are now an inferior species. The bulk of the series involves Morte, leader of the World Destruction Committee, who becomes entangled with Kyrie. Morte has the all powerful Destruct Code device which can destroy the whole world. Kyrie, as it turns out, has the ability to set the device off. It’s up to Worldd Salvation Committee members Nadja and Lia to stop Morte and Kyrie.

At first glance, ‘Sands’ has a lot of potential. It’s very rare to see a show in which the main characters are actually on a quest to destroy the world. However, this intriguing dark premise goes to waste in this otherwise silly anime series based on the Sega Nintendo DS game. The main issue here is the tonal problems. For such a serious sounding plot, the series is filled with goofy humor like cat Ferals and a main Feral character named Toppy who is basically like a Pirate Teddy Bear. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the writers are entirely too vague about the universe. I really wished they would have gone into more depth about the universe these characters inhabits. It certainly would have strengthened the overall series.

On the bright side, the storyline is still engaging. Even though the ending is pretty predictable, the journey getting to that point isn’t a complete waste of time. The main characters are likeable enough and there’s some good action (especially scenes involving Morte and her giant blade).

Summary: Despite a promising story set-up, ‘Sands’ fails to deliver overall. It’s not a bad series by any means, but it could have been so much more.

“Sands Of Destruction” is presented in widescreen and it’s a good looking series. The colors are noticeably sharp. As for the English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Japanese Stereo tracks, they’re both solid. The English dub isn’t bad and is obviously the stronger track since it’s in 5.1 The Japanese track, while only in Stereo, is also solid.

Extras include textless opening and closing songs, weird character interviews with Toppy, Morte, DJ Nadja, and Agan, and trailers for “The Tower Of Druaga,” “Evangelion 1.11,” ‘Sgt. Frog,” “Soul Eater,” “D. Gray-Man,” “Bamboo Blade,” “One Piece,” and “Spice And Wolf.”

February 4, 2010 - Posted by nicklyons1 | 1 | Gunslinger Girl- Il Teatrino OVA DVD Review, Sands Of Destruction- The Complete Series DVD Review