Review of Speed Grapher: Vol. 2

Introduction

The second volume of GONZO`s `Speed Grapher` is now upon us, hastily on the heels of the first. MVM seem to be making a point of getting these out fairly quickly, and for such a story-driven series with a real sense of urgency, this is most welcome. As mentioned in the first volume review, it`s quite a bonus to MVM`s catalogue to have picked up such an interesting series, especially as the way the UK distributing rights have worked in their favour flies in the face of the heft-wielding FUNimation/Revelation partnership, who were expected to get the nod from GONZO.

On the run from the powerful Tennouzu Group, the story picks up with fugitive pair Saiga and Kagura trying to make their way out of the city to where Saiga`s old war buddy, a doctor, maintains a small clinic and may have the knowhow to run tests on them and discover the extent of the changes within their bodies. A hard task is made even harder when the far-reaching influence of their pursuers sees the city`s transport routes either shutdown or under heavy surveillance. They`re forced into using more unconventional means of eluding Shinsen Tennouzu, her right hand man Suitengu, and the group of Euphorians tasked with hunting them down.

Episodes:

5. Diamond Woman
6. Farewell, Diamond Woman
7. Grotesque Drills
8. Kagura`s Lamp

Video

Preserving the original AR of 1.78:1 and presented in anamorphic format, `Speed Grapher` isn`t particularly flashy when it comes to animation, and certainly isn`t as edgy as the cover art suggests. While there`s generally a lot going on in a scene, the backgrounds and character design aren`t excessively detailed or striking, however both the settings and characters do have plenty of visual personality. Of more cause for concern is that the transfer is very soft, although there appears to be an improvement in the composition contrast and colour palette over the first volume. Or at least, these flaws aren`t as obvious in this volume. Either way it`s a win, and a slight improvement over volume 1. Banding and the odd artefact remain for volume 2, but they`re nothing major.

Audio

While there`s an English surround track in the form of Dolby Digital 5.1, the only native Japanese language track is a DD 2.0, which, while perfectly clear with solid acting, good casting, and certainly preferable for those who can`t sit with a Tokyo setting and English speaking citizens, really does miss out on some of the great direction and solid use of the soundstage as displayed by the DD 5.1. The voice acting on the English track is good, certainly one of the better dubs out there, even if a little overdone at times, with the now American-accented Saiga doing his best Philip Marlowe-meets-Max Payne impression. The subtitles that accompany the native track are actually subtitles, as opposed to the dreaded `dubtitles` (booooo!), which gives you the advantage of comparing the translation of the original script with the English adaptation. Should you feel so inclined, you`ll find the original translation ekes out the win on the script front.

Features

The character cast auditions return, as do a selection of MVM trailers and the irremissible text-free opening and closing credits.

Conclusion

`Speed Grapher` is slightly perverted with a side dish of mild depravity, soaking in adult-orientated content and boasting an ever-so-slight campness. These things we know. Interestingly though, this volume isn`t nearly so blasé about waving the sex and violence in the viewer`s faces, as we`ve already seen that this is grown-ups only material. Still, there`s gore and sexual content throughout, but having established that `John Waters does anime` is a valid description of the series with the first volume, there`s a little more concentration on story, and pushing the protagonists off the starting blocks into an unusual journey. There`s also a little more of the anti-materialism theme that cropped up in the debut volume, although it`s fair to say it`s a little more transparent this time around.

One of the striking aspects of this motif is just how naive Kagura is, and the extent of her social seclusion despite the extraordinarily wealthy upbringing, as is made to clear to Saiga as they make their way through Tokyo. Kagura suffers an unpleasant groping on the bullet train, yet thinks this is something innocent; she`d never even been in water until the previous volume; she has trouble understanding everyday things like turnstiles, and all but starved by her cruel mother, she`d never eaten a cup of noodles - much to Saiga`s disbelief! In fact, it`s an interesting volume as we get to learn more about our main characters, yet the relentless sense of pursuit never lets up, and the pacing is near flawless. The show continues to display how tightly scripted it is, more so in fact than most other anime of a similar nature, as insignificant events and plot points are directly tied to the main story no matter how unlikely, and the narrative isn`t afraid to take some unusual turns and twists. The disc also introduces a pair of new Euphorians tasked with capturing Saiga and Kagura, and while there`s still no concrete explanation on why these superhumans exist, there is the reveal that the ones drafted in by the Tennouzu Group are indebted to the corporation in some truly ungodly ways, and are trying to wipe their slate.

But where this volume really shines is in its structure. Instead of four separate stories across the four episodes, rather there are a couple of two-episode arcs. This means that, for this disc at least, the show avoids the old anime pitfall of trying to tell involved stories in a short running time. The first episode of each story sets up the plot, ends with a tense interlude, as the second episode contains the action and the resolution. It may seem trivial to highlight such a commonplace approach to episodic storytelling, but anime rarely does this so well, preferring to shoehorn an enveloped story into a single 22-minute episode. It all makes for a highly entertaining 98-minutes. If you hadn`t guessed already, the show is coming along nicely, and this volume is well worth investing in if you found yourself gripped by the first `Speed Grapher` DVD; which, if you bought it, you surely did.