Search - Elemental Gelade: Box Set on DVD

The land of tranquility located in the heavens

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 08/09/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Guardia is supposed to be a world where airships are the main mode of transportation, chunks of land float in the air, and living weapons named Edel Raids fight alongside humans.

It's a fairly interesting idea, and it's used well throughout the entirety of "Elemental Gelade." At heart it's a straightforward boy-meets-Edel-Raid-girl story, but it's also filled with plenty of adventure, pirates and endearingly strange characters -- and the colorful, sky-skilled world it's set in is what really shoots the story over the top.

After the Red Lynx pirates raid a massive airship, Coud Van Giruet stumbles across a mysterious box, with a blue-haired girl named Ren inside. Turns out she's an Edel Raid, a living weapon.

But a lot of other people want her too -- a quirky trio from Arc Aile, and a horde of extremely determined ninjas who wreck the pirate ship. As Coud battles them he "reacts" with Ren, turning her into a weapon that can't be stopped. As his path leads away from the Red Lynx pirates, Coud promises to take Ren to her destination: the Edel Garden. (Of course, the three nuts from Arc Aile's "Edel Raid Complete Protection Agency" comes along too)

But things don't get any more peaceful after that -- their little group encounters Sting Raids, malevolent dictators, assassins, Edel Hunters, a tragic Edel Raid searching for her human partner, financial woes, an illegal gladitorial arena where Coud and Ren fight, and a strange young girl on a new continent where the Edel Garden may be. And then there's the mysterious Chaos Choir who want Ren for themselves, for the usual villainous reasons.

There's nothing terribly original in the overall plot of "Elemental Gelade" -- we have a plucky young hero, a mystery girl, aerodynamically improbable airships, battles, Evil Villains who want to get ahold of the mystery girl, violent Bad Guys, and assorted adventures on the way. Nothing here is terrible unique except the idea of the Edel Raids themselves-- weapons that look like pretty girls, but can transform into blades.

But that lack of originality doesn't really hamper "Elemental Gelade." The world of Guardia is an airy place filled with vaguely Final-Fantasyesque airships, clouds, and bold, bright colours. And courtesy of the manga of the same name, the writers spin up some solid storylines about Edel Raids and how much everybody wants one. Not to mention the secret motives of the various people who are after Edel Raids -- including the Chaos Choir and the Arc Aile.

And of course, there's lots of fast-paced action -- lots of Edel Raid fight scenes for Coud, some kinetic airship fights, and a blazing final battle over Edel Garden. There are some bittersweet moments such as Ren leaving her friends to keep Cou safe, but these are balanced by plenty of comic relief slathered on -- such as Coud's crazy flying skills and Kuea's vast appetite.

Though his immediate attachment to Ren seems rushed, Coud is a pretty likable hero in the Robin Hood mold -- a pirate who is honest, loyal, a bit clumsy, and willing to put his life on the life to protect Ren. Ren herself takes longer to warm up to -- she sort of sleepwalks through the first several episodes -- but eventually she becomes a likable female lead. And their budding relationship is really quite sweet.

The Arc Aile nuts round out the regular cast nicely -- a loopy hyperactive girl with a mushroom-like hat, a ravenous Edel Raid and a handsome, relatively sedate young man who tries to keep his partners under control. And there are some interesting supporting characters who pop up like the mysterious Viro, the mercenary Wolx Hound, and a number of others.

"Elemental Gelade" isn't a terribly original anime series, but it is funny, poignant and colourfully entertaining. Worth checking out, especially for anyone who loves airships."

An Entertaining Series With A Good Storyline But No To Drama

Rich | CA | 10/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The series was entertaining to watch as it had a mixture of humor, action , drama, and romance. The amazon review gives you the basic of what the Edelraids are and what their powers and abilities are. What sets the story for me was the two main characters Cou and Ren Cou who's a sky pirate finds Ren in the ships storage hold and accidentally awakens her and after having to abandon the ship Cou finds out about what Ren is and her quest to get to the Edelsgarden. Also in the series you have a group of humans who seemed to wish to protect the Edelraids and call themselves Arc Aile. But when after you see a few episodes you see that the Arc Aile is more a group of hypocrites than anything else and that they pretty much take a Edelraid regardless of if they want to go or not into Arc Aile's sanctuary. That said not all of arc ailes agents seek to blindly follow those orders and a few of them get their eyes opened when one of the edelraids ask them why the arc aile forces take them under sanctuary when they never asked for any in the first place. Some reviewers point out there is not to much originality but after so many anime series and after so many years I think it's going to be hard to find any series with any true originality I mean look at Hollywood and how many re-makes they've made because of no original ideas. The series does have about six other characters you begin to grow fond of and a few villains and self-servers you loathe. The video is full-screen but clear and sharp and the voice actors for both the Japanese and English cast did excellently. The extras are some text-less intro/ending songs, commentaries from the voice cast both English and Japanese, trailers, and some music videos. I'm glad Funimation has released this complete set but I just wish the box holder the thin-pack dvd cases are in was cardboard instead of paper because it feels like the holders going to break every time I pull out one of the dvd cases. But in the end one of the must have series set to have for your collection..."

Surprising...

Paulmeister | Dallas, USA | 02/18/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The reason behind my buying this series is actually kinda silly...or maybe not? I bought it after I heard the opening theme and learned it was from this Anime. Then again, maybe it isn't just me, since if you search this series up on YT, most of the posts are of just the opening.

Forever is now one of my favorite songs, and has been the sole driving force behind my renewed interest in Anime, so I guess that's something. I don't skip the credits much, as I do with some others.

Since I bought it for the song, I had no clue about the Anime itself, and I really wasn't sure what I was in for, or even if I would like it at all. I held my breath through the first episode and by the time I was done with the second episode, I realized I was enjoying it.

The characters are fun and interesting. The story is pretty good. I just finished the second DVD and can't wait to start the third [edit: I actually just finished the last episode tonight].

As far as comparisons to other shows, the opening reminded me of when I used to watch Tailspin, with the sky pirates and airships. I could reference other shows, but might be best to just let this stand on it's own without too many comparisons...

The short of it all is that it's a good, clean, silly, fun adventure. I actually liked the character designs a lot and the rendering is clean and colorful. There's a good mix of action, humor, and romance. It's obviously targeted for younger audiences, but the story can probably be enjoyed by anyone.

There are only two things I really don't like about this show. The first is that there's a character in it whom I really was starting to like a lot, but before I knew it they were dead. I almost couldn't believe it and kept waiting for a sign that they had survived. Sadly no... The other and worst thing about this Anime is that ... it finally had to end. As much as I took my time, with frequent breaks watching other shows, it seemed to be over far too quickly. I suppose I will just have to re-watch it in Japanese. Oh that's another thing, the English dub is actually pretty decent. At least, it never bothered me, unlike certain notorious dubs... *cough* Daioh *cough* Hina...

If I had another chance, would I have bought this again? Definitely yes."