Review of Burst Angel: Vol. 6

Introduction

The final volume of Burst Angel arrives packed to the gills with more futuristic Charlie`s Angels style action. Gonzo puts together a series filled with characteristically scantily clad girls, brandishing powerful guns, and battling dark demonic menaces in a hi tech neon lit Tokyo.

It`s one of those futures where society has fallen to pieces. In Tokyo, the ownership of guns has been made legal, and as a result crime rates have skyrocketed. Arrests however are down, as for the new RAPT (Recently Armed Police of Tokyo) it cuts down on paperwork when there isn`t a living prisoner to process. When just stepping outside your front door means taking your life in your hands, someone needs to do something. Fortunately there are four girls willing to do what is necessary to ensure peace for the citizens of Tokyo. Operating from a hi-tech trailer and receiving their instructions from the Bailan, Sei, Amy, Meg and the enigmatic Jo set forth, armed to the teeth and ready to battle the toughest of villains, aided by their trusty chef Kyohei. When it gets too tough, they can fall back on the services of the awesome Cybot Django, but there is more to Jo than meets the eye. She sports a strange tattoo that glows when she fights, and the rumour is that whoever sees it is destined for Hell.

This volume of Burst Angel has four episodes and they are presented on this disc with only the Japanese credit sequences and the Japanese episode titles. I only get the check disc for review, so I don`t know the episode titles printed on the final packaging, although I guess they are the same as those printed in the blurb up above.. While most of Burst Angel`s run has been populated by stand-alone stories, with just a brief nod to continuity, there has been an overarching storyline of mysterious organisations, mutated monsters, giant cybots and glowing green brains. There has also been occasional mention of Jo`s mysterious past, coming to a head in the previous volume with the introduction of Maria, a girl similar to Jo in nearly every respect. All that comes together in the final volume of Burst Angel, as the threads tie up in the series conclusion.

Ep 21. Bullets In The Iron Grave Post
It`s all change in Tokyo when a terrorist bomb wipes out the city`s government. The new governor is quick to implement martial law. Meanwhile, the Bailan have come to an accommodation with their former enemies now that they hold political office, and as a result Sei`s services are no longer required. She has no choice but to dissolve the group, and Amy, Jo and Meg are out of the hero business. Not for long though, as a monster is soon reported terrorising the city`s subway, and RAPT are hopelessly under-equipped.

Ep 22. Beloved Devil
It was a trap of course, and not only does Meg wind up kidnapped, but Jo and Sei as well. The mysterious Zero organisation that has behind all the various machinations has gotten its hands on the ultimate fighting machine that is Jo, and it turns out that they created her in the first place. The reasons why finally become clear, but her `sister` Maria isn`t too pleased to be reunited with her sibling, and it turns out they have a long standing grudge.

Ep 23. Execution Ground On The Red Seas
Maria has abducted Meg and Jo, and taken them to an aircraft carrier in order to recreate her final confrontation with Jo. Of course there are a bunch of scientists watching with interest. Meanwhile the RAPT crackdown in Tokyo continues.

Ep 24. Burst, Angels!
RAPT is tearing Tokyo apart, picking on the `little people` in the name of social engineering. It`s time for people of conscience to take a stand. It`s time for the old team to get back together. It`s time to kick some arse!

Video

Gonzo have created an elaborate future world for Burst Angel, and it comes across clearly on this anamorphic widescreen transfer. There are the usual problems associated with anime, digital banding, and the odd compression artefact, but these are minor concerns with a transfer that presents the animation to good effect. The anime blends traditional 2D animation with 3D CGI quite effectively. It`s a dynamically animated show, with the action scenes impressively realised. The character designs are excellent, as you would expect from Gonzo. There is plenty of eye-candy to be had with this volume, and plenty of fan service too. In other words, given a cast of four scantily clad girls, performing athletic feats of bravado, there is enough flesh and pneumatic anatomy to satisfy many a teen.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 5.1 soundtracks in English and Japanese, and the choice of the signs translated or the translated English subtitles. The Burst Angel audio experience is quite explosive, with plenty of action and some toe tapping tunes, along with some incidental music that owes a fair bit to Ennio Moriccone. The dialogue is clear throughout, and it`s an enjoyable experience on the whole.

There is a minor flaw with the subtitles yet again, as the occasional grammatical error (usually a stray full. Stop in a sentence) creeps in.

Features

There are even more extras to enjoy with Volume 6 of Burst Angel. There are trailers for Saiyuki Reload and Paranoia Agent, and as usual there are the customary attractive menus and jacket picture.

There are more radio dramas to enjoy, with voice actors Akeno Watanabe (Jo) and Megumi Toyoguchi (Meg) providing the light hearted fun.

The final Bakuten Radio On Air Selection gets four instalments this time, lasting 15, 13, 17 and 13 minutes respectively. They follow the usual formats of tongue twister showdowns, as well as the actors creating skits featuring the show`s characters sent in by fans. There are also four bonus segments coming in at 4, 2½, 8 and 1 minutes, which continue the pandemonium with a couple of helium voiced characters. These are all audio tracks presented against a static caption card and with subtitles throughout. These are fast paced segments and the subtitles are hard pressed to keep up, but they are entertaining and frivolous pieces that make a nice accompaniment to the show.

The commentary this time around accompanies Angels Explode, which is evidently the English language title for the final episode. Voice director Chris Bevins, and actors Monica Rial (Jo) Alison Retslov (Amy), Clarine Harp (Sei) and Jamie Marchi (Meg) supply the comments. It`s a light-hearted track that is entertaining to listen to. They talk about the story and the characters and the series conclusion, mostly with tongue in cheek.

Conclusion

This is the second Gonzo series I have seen conclude in rapid succession, and just like Gantz, Burst Angel is heavy on the eye-candy and action. Unlike Gantz though, it has no pretensions to deeper thought or philosophy, no cutting satire or comment on the folly of mankind. Burst Angel is instead focused solely on having fun, and as such provides a significantly more satisfying climax.

Admittedly Volume 5 was something of a disappointment, with its musty recycled storylines looking out of place in a series that has been generally fresh and exciting. Over its 24 episode run, Burst Angel has been light indeed on continuity, and most of its two part stories could very well stand alone. What`s been of interest has been the imagination in the stories, and the lively characterisations that make up the main cast. There has been a token storyline running in the background. Once you`ve seen your fifth or sixth glowing green brain, then you get the idea that there is something nefarious about all this, but it`s never really been allowed to overshadow the immediate stories. Also when your main character is an amnesiac with superhuman abilities, you`re practically expected to ask questions.

The answers aren`t long in coming, and in this final volume`s four episode long climax, we don`t even have to work for them. Almost as an afterthought, two minutes of exposition in the second episode gets the pesky back story out of the way, and Burst Angel can get back to what it does best, scantily clad vixens battling the forces of darkness with large guns and even larger robots. Action is what this show is about, and this final volume delivers, firing on all cylinders. Hi-octane thrills abound, as we revisit that spectacular opening sequence from episode one, here given context (and without the pixellation of that first disc), and if at all possible it`s actually more exhilarating.

The final episode trumps even this, with an explosive confrontation in the centre of the city, with car chases, robots going hell for leather, bullets flying. It`s here that the animation comes into its own, and the fluid action sequences are truly astounding, especially for a television animation. If I had a couple of small complaints, it`s that the ultimate confrontation seemed a little rushed, and there was a somewhat misplaced desire for ambiguity at the end. It doesn`t really work, as is pointed out in the commentary. The opening credits render the mystery moot anyway.

Burst Angel has been one of my favourite anime shows of the year. Not because of narrative depth, thought-provoking storylines or particularly deep characters, but because it has been sheer, unadulterated fun from beginning to end. It`s the perfect show to watch with your brain in idle, there is an energy to it all that is infectious, and the characters, clichéd though they are, are utterly engaging. These DVDs have been excellent value too, with light and entertaining commentaries, coupled with radio dramas from the original cast that I have found just as enjoyable as the show. Highly recommended.