DVD Corner

Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne Set 1 Blu-ray Review

“Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne” brings nothing new to the anime world.

“Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne” starts off with the cheerful, kind hearted, and hyper main character (Madoka) rescuing a girl from drowning. Upon rescuing the girl, she discovers that her clothes were mysteriously taken. Later on, the clothes are given back to her by a woman named Lan. As we soon discover, Lan (who is actually an alien) is trying to recruit Madoka to pilot a robotic Vox Aura Midori in order to defend the human race from a fleet of alien invaders (the De Metrio aliens) and to protect the machine from the enemies who desire it. From there on out, Madoka decides to accept her new destiny while also balancing her old school life as well.

Throughout the first 12 episodes, viewers can expect to see storylines about a fellow pilot and friend to Madoka (Muginami), Madoka’s cousin Yoko, Lan and Muginami joining Madoka’s school, the villainous Villagiulio, a Vox legend, the shady Nomundus Corp. employee Asteria, the Jersey Club, a cultural festival, Madoka being banned from piloting Midori, Kamogawa being attacked, Madoka’s strange Vox powers, an energy field, and the characters Izo, Array, and Kirius.

If you’ve ever seen an anime series involving teen girl drama, friendship, battles with aliens, a fish out of water high school hero, or mechs, you’ve pretty much already seen ‘Lagrange.’ The series is little more than a collection of tropes and ideas from other superior anime series mixed in with less desirable anime staples ala fanservice, tacked on humor, an irritating lead character balancing two lives, and, of course, supporting characters joining the school the main character attends.

The only thing of interest here are the characters of Villagiullo and Asteria. I won’t go into detail about these characters as I don’t want to spoil crucial moments of the first 12 episodes, but, suffice to say, they are the only intriguing characters in the show. Sadly, these two characters don’t get enough screen time, but if the slow build of the story is any indication, I’m sure they will become more prevalent in future episodes.

Video/Audio:

Presented in 1.78:1 1080p, the show has a flat-out beautiful hi-def transfer. From the glistening water to the dance club opening credits, fans will be pleased by the crisp colors.

This set contains English and Japanese DTS-HD 2.0 audio track. The Japanese track is a bit grating and I actually prefer the more subdued English track.

The only extras are Neon Alley trailers, clean opening and ending, production art still gallery, and “Kamogawa Drama” which is a 6 part series of short specials involving weird chats, blade blocking, pool cleaning, a ghost, Izo returning a jersey, and videogame playing followed by a meal.

Summary: ‘Lagrange’ is a lazy and all too familiar series. If you love mech and high school centric series, you might want to give it a spin, but otherwise it’s not worth a watch.

August 7, 2013 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Lagrange Anime, Lagrange Blu-ray Review, Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne Set 1 Blu-ray Review