Search - Solty Rei Starter Set on DVD

Plus and minus

Terry Dawson | Appleton, WI USA | 03/06/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The first disc of Solty Rei starts with a lot of promise, but alas, seems to collapse into cliches. On the plus side: there are six episodes on the disc -- good value. The animation and art are well done; it's Gonzo, after all. The character designs are nice, and the overall color tone of the town reminds you of an Edward Hopper painting: a sort of warm tone that makes you think of late afternoons or yellow streetlights, a lonely feeling and a softness to the textures. This contrasts nicely with the grittiness of the story. The initial characters seem intriguing.

But things bog down. The characters seem more stereotypical the longer you watch. There's lots of mild fan service: frequent shots of the female rear clad in skin-tight clothes. You know you were'nt just imagining this when they get to a swimsuit episode on the first disk. There are not many recurring male characters, but lots of attractive women, teenage girls and female android types. You get the picture -- fine if it floats your boat, but if you're looking for intellligent, original storytelling and well-developed characters, you may be disappointed.

Maybe it gets more serious later. But its nice-looking, lightweight and fun."

I Love Solty Rei

Robert G. Boyd | Torrance, CA USA | 05/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As indicated in other reviews, this anime was produced by the Gonzo anime studio, maker of Last Exile, so from a technical point of view it is of excellent quality. However, I have other reasons for liking this anime.

Like Inuyasha and Card Captor Sakura, this anime is named after its lead character, Solty Rei. Although this anime involves bounty hunters pursuing and capturing criminals, its main focus is on Solty Rei and her character development.

Solty Rei is a synthetic human, meaning that she was not born in the usual way, but instead was designed and manufactured by someone (we don't know who). I won't call her an android, because that will give the erroneous impression that she functions like a computer. She doesn't. She is more convincingly human than most other anime characters. Except that her ears (while very pretty) don't look like human ears, or even the ears of any known animal. And in an emergency, she proves capable of inhuman strength and speed, plus she seems to be invulnerable to bullets: when she gets hit by one, she just says "itai" (Ouch!) and keeps on going.

When she (literally) drops into the life of Roy Levant, a bounty hunter, she seems to want him to become her father. Perhaps someone released her into the wild to let her learn how to function in human society, and she became attached to the first human adult she met. But there is nothing in the first three DVDs to indicate where she came from.

Solty Rei is sensitive to people's feelings. She is capable of strong loyalty and affection. She wants to be helpful. She wants to do the right thing; sometimes she has trouble figuring out what that might be.

My first requirement for any anime is that I love the characters and care what happens to them. I love Solty Rei. If Solty Rei were open to such a relationship, I would be happy to adopt her as a granddaughter!

One problem with loving anime characters is that you also feel their pain. In My-Hime, at the end of DVD 4, when I had gotten hooked on the characters, the script writers plunged the Hime into the depths of hell, and did not rescue them until the end of the last episode in the series. At the end of Solty Rei DVD 3, due to an unfortunate tragedy, Solty Rei is wandering the streets in the depths of despair. This is rather painful. An episode preview promises salvation during the first episode of DVD 4, but it has not arrived yet!"

A very interesting anime I must say...

Kellan Callidwin | Somewhere in the Shadows of Twilight... | 06/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This anime was a dive on my part, you go in not looking for anything and want to try it out. Solty Rei was my choice. Well to begin with, you have no idea who or where this girl comes from. It tells you much later in the anime...(last episodes...) She has a complying personality that is just plain addictive. It's hard not to like Solty Rei and feel some of her emotions. She is a very well thought out character.

Other characters are less colorful. Take Roy Revant for example. Typical man just looking for his daughter...for 12 years...he likes feel depressed and hates most people. He rarely does anything nice...never...except for a select few. He's a bounty hunter with an attitude. Well maybe he has some color.

The story progresses with odd and very complex twists you would never think of. In the end it's hard not to get confused at points but you realise what happens later on when missing details come into place. Be prepared...

A great thing about this anime is how it ties you into the drama. It's a subtle thing really. You become tied in with all the characters as you learn about them with Solty. Thus you feel an even greater tie with Solty herself. At one perticular point that is further in the anime I was in tears...yes tears...with the clouding eyes...I'm sure some of you remember what crying is... I have not been so emotionally tied into the moment for...well I have never been so tied.

This is a very good anime. For the description be prepared for more of a mind game then an action scene. This anime does prove one thing about who watches it...if you can still cry or feel enough empathy for another to cry. The key element in this anime is just that. Empathy...when you understand that then this anime shows more then just a nice face, but a deep thought behind it. Ah but what does a someone like me know? Well find out yourself by watching. Every word spoken is different to everyone who hears it. Enjoy this superb show :P."

Fantastic!!

Jeremy Williams | Seattle, WA | 02/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first saw this series on Anime Network's on demand service. This series is a well written glimps of a possible future. If you like giant robots, futuristic weapons, and lots of action this series delivers. I liked this so much I purchased the first DVD in the series as soon as it was available."