Search - The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye Volume 1: Encounter on DVD

A fairly good show, but far from incredible

Porcupine | 07/30/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First off, let me say that unlike most reviewers, I rate shows very critically, and 3 stars is a reasonably decent show by my standards. The trailer for this which I saw on another anime DVD (Haruhi) looked reasonably impressive, and I knew that regardless of whether or not the show lived up to the promise of the trailer, I wouldn't regret my purchase because the trailer song was extremely good so at the very least I would get to hear the good song again.

The show itself fell short of what the trailer showed by a moderate amount, but the music didn't. The song turned out to be the opening song, but it's composed by the same person who did all the BGM for the show, therefore all the other songs are good too. The opening animation itself was extremely unimpressive, mostly still pictures with no animation, unfortunately. The show itself has quite high-quality animation though, so I guess in this case the creators chose to spend all their budget on the show itself rather than using some of it for a flashy opening.

Here are my ratings for the show, split into categories:

Directing: 3 of 5 stars. It's a strange directing style, neither exceptionally good nor bad. It's the same style that a number of recent Japanese feudal-era live-action samurai shows are done in, which is pretty funny since this the story and setting of The Third couldn't be more different. This can be easily noticed when the "narrator" speaks and tells what the main girl is thinking. A lot of samurai dramas do this, with the exact same kind of voice. It's pretty hilarious. I bet most people haven't seen too many recent samurai shows though so they won't know what I mean, oh well.
Story: 2 of 5 stars. Doesn't seem interesting to me, but I personally don't care about story when I watch a show anyway. I've only seen the first 4 episodes so maybe it will get more interesting later on, but usually a good story will engage the viewer from the get-go.
Drawing style: 3 of 5 stars. Nothing special. Fairly typical anime-style. Fairly mundane character designs, though I like the kind of simple plain clothing that the main girl wears.
Drawing quality: 2 of 5 stars. Fairly inconsistent and in some episodes the drawings are pretty bad. What's worse is that the 2nd music video on this DVD contained clips from episodes on the next DVD and I could see that the drawings were REALLY degenerated in those.
Animation quality: 4 of 5 stars. Pretty impressive. It's obvious they DON'T have a big budget though, so they have to use the high-quality motion/fighting scenes sparingly and even when they do, I can see that more frames would have helped some of them be even better than they already were. But the people who animated this show have an excellent sense and knowhow to create visually impressive animated motions. This show is very well animated, coming from someone who considers this one of the most vital criteria of a good anime.
Music: 4 of 5 stars. Very impressive. I've never heard this anime composer before either, so a fresh and new skilled composer is always a good thing. The ending song is composed by someone else though and is awful.

One interesting comment to make is that I think this show makes exceptionally good use of 3D CGI effects. They don't overuse it like some other anime shows do (such as most Gonzo-produced titles) and they only use it for certain specific things, which is good. And they make sure that it blends into the 2D animation reasonably well. The sand in particular is really well done. A few of the scenes with the CGI tank may look a bit too CGI for my tastes, but for some reason I still find even the tank graphics to be anime-ish enough not to trigger the revolting feeling I get with most Gonzo-produced anime.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be buying Volume 2 of this when it comes out, but we'll see. This title retails for cheaper than normal ($25 instead of $30) but in the stores the actual price of this title is about the same as normal ($18 to $20). If I had more money or if I can find this for $15, I'd continue to buy, but this title is probably only 5th or lower on my list of anime titles that I actively purchase so I can't afford it. :)"

This disc is incredible!

Shawne Kleckner | Grimes, Iowa | 06/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just finished the final cut of this and I have to tell you that I'm excited about this disc. I think you'll enjoy the voice actor interviews, as well as the commentary for the character bios. Lots of extras to enjoy.


The show itself is great, and I know that I'm anxious waiting to be able to watch how things come out after episode 4.


I'll admit, I'm biased, but you definitely must buy this DVD. Also check out the series site itself for more information at www.thethirdanime.com


Shawne Kleckner

Executive Producer

"

INTRIGUING

Michael Harmon | davis california | 07/28/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The reviewer before me might be biased but he's not far off. I thought the series was first and foremost intriguing. The animation was solid and the action was pretty good. After the first episode the amount of action goes down a bit but as Ive seen in any anime, that always seems to happen. Characterwise I was left wanting a litte more. Outside of Bogie the AI Tank who I thought broke the mold and had a defining character, the other characters I felt could have been less vague. However I think they will get deeper into the characters next volume and I'm sure they will become more defined and likable. The world of The 3rd is very interesting and they give you just enough to keep you going, wondering who or what they are talking about without making you frustrated not fully knowing whats going on. With the exception of the 2nd episode, this volume moved pretty well with the action and intrigue of the whole storyline and like I said above Bogie is a great character; fun, funny, and canTANKerous. The mecha is interesting as well (specifically the main characters suit) and I think is actually the closest thing Ive seen to actually becoming a reality in my lifetime. (if I live to 100 and hopefully I do) The ending of episode 4 broadens the story even more and in doing so I will rent the next volume."