RESCUING GRAMPS
Sesho | Pasadena, TX USA | 01/17/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"After a horrible battle with Count Kinkel last volume, Gramps is still in the hospital and Kouhei is recovering from his wounds at home, attended by Hazuki and then his cousins, the twins Hikaru and Kaoru. Since Kouhei is in such bad shape, the girls go on their own to visit Gramps, with Hazuki dressed in a poorly constructed cat costume to shield her from the sun. Just when it seems like everything is going good for their grandfather, he is kidnapped and held hostage by Count Kinkel at the mansion where Hazuki used to live with her mother. Not only that, but he also has Hiromi and Elfriede in his clutches as well. Kouhei, Hazuki, and Seiji set out to rescue them.
It's nice to see Hazuki growing up a bit personality-wise as she wins the respect of Hikaru and Kaoru and vice versa and we get to see that Hazuki really cares for Kouhei and her adopted family and that the whole slave thing is just an act. The battle sequences with Count Kinkel really stand out because it has purpose, unlike tournament fighting anime. The characters are fighting for freedom a la Braveheart. Kouhei and his family are fighting to free Hazuki from the control of not only her bloodline, but also from vampires that want to use her for their own purposes. Elfriede, too, has to make a hard decision this volume that goes against a big taboo, but she'll have to break it if she wants to be free as well. In Moon Phase, you get the sense that there is a lot on the line, even in the action episodes, and this is what makes you care. And it also helps that its main heroine is a cute little girl in distress.
DVD EXTRAS:
Pretty bare-boned with Textless songs, but that's ok since the opening sequences are a work of art in themselves. Also the packaging and insert booklet featuring short staff and cast interviews are very pretty. Also comes with 5 postcard size illustrations of Hazuki."
