DVD Corner

We Without Wings: Season 1 Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Review

“We Without Wings” is one of the worst anime series to date.

If you come into “We Without Wings” expecting a traditional serialized narrative story, you will be sorely disappointed. This 12 episode series based off a visual novel series is essentially a series of interconnected vignettes (a Robert Altman movie would be a good point of reference). The series revolves around around a group of characters living in Yanagihara such as Takashi (who dreams of going to another world), Takashi’s sister Kobato, Karuo (a restaurant owner), Kakeru (a playboy), Hiyoko (a  novelist), Shusuke (a broke restaurant worker), Kinako (a college student and waitress), Eriko (a waitress and friend of Kinako), Hayato/Drac (a broke grump), Harue (a crepe food cart owner), and Asuka (who “dates” Takashi). In terms of actual plot (if you want to call it that), viewers can expect to see stories about a party, hook ups or potential hook ups, escapism, a missing bike, action at the Alexander restaurant, gangs, Takashi’s other worldy experiences, body possessions, writing and books, and an OVA involving hot springs.

While an anime series filled with stories about a variety of characters may sound ambitious, it doesn’t work well in “We Without Wings.” To say ‘Wings’ is an unfocused mess is a gross understatement. Not only is the series filled with random and gratuitous fanservice, but there doesn’t seem to be a point to the show at all. One can argue that ‘Wings’ is meant to be a commentary on human connections and men and women, but if that’s the case, those messages are lost amidst stories about everything from split personalities to a multitude of perverted humor moments (including a character randomly pulling down a girl’s panties in the middle of a restaurant).

Another major issue here is the wealth of underdeveloped characters. Instead of trying to get audiences to understand or connect to these characters, the writers seem more concerned with stuffing in scenes of characters engaging in small talk disguised as characterization. It doesn’t help that there isn’t a central story throughout the entire series (a discernible one anyway).

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.78:1 1080p. How does it look? As with the majority of Funimation Blu-ray releases, ‘Wings’ looks like a winner. The colors are noticeably sharper than its DVD counterpart.   

Audio Tracks: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0. How does it sound? Both tracks are fine. You can’t go wrong with either one if you have to watch this show (which I don’t advise).

Extras:
* Trailers for “Haganai,” “High School DxD,” “The Future Diary,” “Michiko and Hatchin,” “Sankarea,” “Sakura Wars,” “Heaven’s Lost Property: Forte,” “Rosario + Vampire,” “Last Extile- Fam, The Silver Wing,” and Funimation.com.
* An awkward commentary on episode 4 by Scott Freeman and Zoe Latimer. Additionally, for some reason the audio on the show wasn’t turned down enough so the show’s sound is constantly clashing with the commentary.
* A U.S. trailer for “We Without Wings.”
* 1 textless opening song and 2 textless closing songs.
* Commentary on episode 8 by Joel McDonald and Ricco Fajardo. A much more laidback commentary that features some fun comments by Ricco (in his first commentary).

Overall Thoughts: There is nothing redeeming about “We Without Wings.” It’s a complete waste of time.

November 7, 2013 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | We Without Wings Review, We Without Wings: Season 1 Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Review, Worst Anime