Search - Burst Angel - Vol. 6 - Guardian Angel on DVD

Solid Action, Fan-Service, but the Story Isn't Over

Antonio D. Paolucci | Beaver Falls, PA | 03/13/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"When this series first started, I loved it. The action was jaw-dropping, mixing great 3D effects with 2D animation. The characters, while stereotypical of this type of anime, were funny, and the story seemed like it would be a decent one as it presented a few question early on that needed answers by the end. Problem is, not all of those questions were answered and one character was proved to be completely pointless, though early on it seemed that he was the viewpoint character of the story. When considered what was left, the action, while still good (and I will admit that the ending chase was rousing), wasn't enough to carry this series through to the end. And fan-service gets old, sorry.

The ending, to be blunt and spoiler-free, was rather anti-climactic, more so than most anime. In fact, the final conflict was a one part episode. Now come on, you have to at least dedicate two episodes to sufficiently close a series like this one, being a full 24 episodes in length. Plus, it leaves a huge question that, most likely, will forever go unanswered, which you will see before you get to the final ending credits. Everything leading up to that filled in a lot of the gaps left behind in the last volume, but not much more.

But, and this is a big one, this story isn't finished. Though this is definitely the end of the series, there is a future OVA coming out that details the story of Jo before this series. While I don't expect much more from the OVA, I do hope that it fills in some of the holes left behind during the course of the series. And, to add, one of the best episodes in this series was actually a flashback episode to when Jo first met Meg.

And of course, Funimation does everything right for the DVD release, including hoards of extras (when you consider anime) and the obligatory art book. While it may not be enough to make this a worth-while buy as a series, it still is great to see the continuing adventures of Mr. Stain on Junk Alley.

Now, how to recommend this? If you aren't overly drawn to fan-service, or hate Koichi Ohata (M.D. Geist), then I can't recommend this for you. However, if you don't mind these things, and enjoyed any of the Bubblegum Crisis series, then you may find Burst Angel enjoyable. It certainly isn't a classic like Bubblegum Crisis, but it does have quite a few similarities to that excellent franchise."

Guardian Angel

The Major | Mo | 02/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have watched all six volumes of burst angel and would have to say
that it was an awesome series. Although, I am left with many unanswered questions with the ending of volume 6. Hope that the people at Funimation decide to make more in the future....?"

Hmmm

G. Choppin | 02/27/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well, i absolutely love all kinds of anime. What i liked about this one was that it was more laid back. I didn't get sucked into it like I normally would with a drama series. It was a fun anime to watch. However, this last dvd was wierd. I loved all the episodes up to 23, but 24 was just kinda strange to me. The ending will leave you totally clueless lol. I was kind of mad but at the same time I thought it was funny. You will have a few questions still unanswered after the last episode but seeing as how its a pretty laid back anime (at least for me it is), its not so bad. I personally could have stopped watching the series at episode 23 and would have been happy lol. I'd rate this a 5 star series but because of the wierd ending i only give it 4."

Origins and wrapups; but the end?

A Reviewer | Wine Country, USA | 02/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Volume 6 consists entirely of "mythology" episodes. It wraps up most of the plot threads, but starts a couple of new ones. One of these begins literally in the last few seconds of the last episode. Maybe they're setting things up for another season. I hope so.

The booklet is 20 pages, which I think makes it the largest. It also mentions that the Burst Angel OVA will be released some time in 2006.

Volume 6 includes flashbacks explaining the origin of Jo (i.e., pre-Meg) and Sei's assembly of the team. I suspect that the OVA may cover Jo and Meg's pre-Sei adventures.

By the way, fans of Jo and Meg who would like to see them in a coffee-table art book will be interested in Ugetsu Hakua's "Flamboyant". Hakua is the Burst Angel character designer and did the DVD covers and character art work in the accompanying booklets. The first half of the book is devoted to this material (expanded to large format), and the second half to unrelated but similarly styled characters. Some of the Burst Angel pictures are ones I haven't seen in the DVD inserts; but they can be seen in the "alternate ending" in the Volume 6 Extras. 8-1/2x11", about 90 pages, heavy stock, softcover but with a nice slipcase. Seems to be available only from sources specializing in Japanese books."