|
The land of Endless Illusion is a lawless place where heaven
and hell collide, spewing forth degenerates of every type.
The land is full of Coleridge dreams, whilst the urban areas
are morally corrupt and violent. Through this land roams a
wanderer with a past. Van is looking for The Claw Man, the
man who killed his wife. His lonely existence is changed when
he meets Wendy, a young girl who has lost both her parents
and her brother. Together they travel Endless Illusion in
search of answers...
Volume
five of Gun Sword contains episodes seventeen through
twenty of the twenty-six episode show. Directed by Goro Taniguchi,
who also directed Infinite Ryvius and Code Geass,
and with character designs by Takahiro Kimura, who did a lot
of work on the various Gundam series, the show remains
an interesting mix of story arc and stand alone shows. The
show originally screened in 2005.
There
seems to be little degradation in the quality of animation,
an affliction that can affect many shows as they progress,
nor has the script by Kurata Hideyuki shown any signs of flagging,
continuing to produce a nice balance of drama and comedy.
Episode
seventeen, Follow the X Spot, and the gang are reunited
before travelling to the land of Bokini, whose only clothing
appears to be bikinis. The queen has an obsession, intended
to produce the perfect bikini. Of course this means that the
kingdom of Bokini has no underwear after the queen's original
designs were rebuffed, leading her to hate all men and their
underwear. What follows is to say the least bizarre as Wendy
is forced to enter a water borne contest as Camen confronts
Fasalina. Overall this was a weird, but funny episode, especially
when the king drops his trousers to prove his love and acceptance
of her underpants designs. Thankfully, his display of affection
is pixilated; I nearly spat my coffee out laughing.
Episode
eighteen, Prayers are for the Saudade, and Michael
Garret, Wendy's brother and one of the original seven, is
trying out his new armour. Thankfully the girls have retrieved
their clothes which were missing from the previous episode.
Things are not well in the Claws organisation, with minions
plotting to replace him. Ok, so we're back to the mains story
arc. The show continues to flesh out the character of the
Claw, from the original depiction of a hate figure for Van
and Wendy to a complex leader of a well organised group trying
to bring order to the planet, a laudable goal, until Michael
is informed that the Claw intends to achieve perfect peace
by eradication all the people on the planet.
Episode
nineteen, Prayers End, and the gang continue their
underground progress to the Claws base. When they reach a
freight depot they come under attack from hostile serpent
machines. Pricilla and the old guys, piloting something that
bears more than a passing resemblance to a transformer, defend
the ship, but being obviously outclassed Van is forced to
call on Dann. Ray turns up to help out as well as Melissa
and Carossa in their stolen suits. All hell breaks out.
Episode
twenty, Wonderful Universe, and the ship finally arrives
at what they think is the Claws base, only to find its just
a relay station, but what they also find is the survivors
of the insurrection. With the Claws's time of rebirth not
far away, he sends Michael and Fasalina to try and convince
Wendy and Van to give up their quest. With neither party willing
to give up, it can only end in a fight.
The
disc is presented in a 16:9 aspect ratio perfect print and
comes with a reasonable variety of audio options, English
5.1 or Japanese DTS or stereo with optional signs only or
full English subtitles and a good English dub track.
Gun
Sword doesn't do too badly for extras, with a bunch of
trailers, an art gallery and the TV version of episode seventeen.
The last delightful addition is episodes nine and ten of the
Gun Sword-San, which are short, five minute animations
which parody the show and its characters. Who said the Japanese
don't have a sense of humour.
Charles
Packer
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below
to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£14.99
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£14.99
(Play.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£11.99
(HMV.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£13.93
(Asda.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£13.43
(Thehut.com) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
