DVD
Twin Signal

Starring (voice): David Thund, Kevin Collins and Lisa Ortiz
MVW
RRP: £19.99
MVD2142
Certificate: PG
Available 07 August 2006


Signal is a robot created and designed using Mira which allows him to appear to be alive. Built by Professor Shinnosuke Otoi the robot is programmed to be a big brother to the professor's grandson Nobuhiko. Signal has one fatal flaw, whilst programming the robot Nobuhiko sneezes which is transformed, by the computer, into a code to change the robot into either a chocolate obsessed three year old or a defiantly more impulsive sixteen year old...

Twin Signal is a stand alone three episode anime based on the manga by Sachi Oshimizu. Though it can't contain everything that was in the manga it's a good introduction.

Well, you can see where all this is going, it is jolly japes with one boy and his robot. It's not the most original show with many of the elements having appeared in earlier series. When the Professors enemies decide that what they really want to do is steal one of the robots, in this case Signals twin, Pulse, things go from bad to worse. Throw in a female robot called Elara and you have the potential for many comedic moments.

The main problem with the show is that it really doesn't deliver on its promise or potential; at best it's amusing and at worse cheesy and annoying. That's not to say that the show is irredeemable. Character design keeps the funny bone tickled and the bad guys never fail to amuse.

Audio is a disappointing English or Japanese stereo track, with subtitles. In the extras you'll find an art gallery, trailers and out-takes, which are faked corpsing and fluffed lines, worth a once only look.

So, the show comes over as a flawed attempt at bringing the manga to the screen. It will be of interest of any fans of the original manga or those wishing to get into it, for the rest of us I'm not really sure, for a comedy it should have been way funnier.

Charles Packer

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£14.99 (Amazon.co.uk)
   
£14.99 (Blahdvd.com)
   
£12.89 (Thehut.com)
   
£0.00 (Moviemail-online.co.uk)

All prices correct at time of going to press.