Search - Elemental Gelade, Vol. 6: Resolutions on DVD

THE TRUTH ABOUT EDEL GARDEN

Sesho | Pasadena, TX USA | 05/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Resolutions" is a fitting title since this is the last volume of Elemental Gelade. Cou and Ren have finally come within sight of Edel Garden along with their friends and protectors, Cisqua, Rowen, and Kuea. As the last volume ended they were faced with an unpalatable truth, namely, that Edel Garden is the headquarters of Chaos Choir, the evil group using Sting Raids to get their hands on Ren. They need her to become their queen so their civilization can become prosperous again. I say prosperous, but their real intention is to take over the world and enslave humanity. They see it as only right since humans see them merely as tools anyway. Meanwhile, Arc Aile is preparing an attack designed to exterminate the members of Chaos Choir. No matter what happens, a lot of people are going to get killed and Ren thinks that becoming Chaos Choir's queen is the only way to stop all the fighting.

I wasn't too enthused with Volume 5 of Elemental Gelade because of its shojo like love triangle so I was beginning to doubt whether the writers could salvage the last episodes of the show. Thankfully, they did. Gelade was at its best when you couldn't tell who the good and bad guys were and there's a good return to that formula here. Chaos does have a beef with humans. At one time they lived in harmony with us but over the centuries we began to take them for granted and saw them only as tools. Even Arc Aile had lost its way and began to use Edel Raids for their own purposes instead of finding a way to bring the two races back together again. Cisqua is making an attempt to dissuade its more hawkish elements to halt the attack on Chaos Choir because in essence they would be killing those they are sworn to protect. You have a lot of noble motivations like sparing lives and unconditional love mixed in with power lust and outmoded thinking, just as in the present. Seeing these themes play out among the characters is what made this show interesting. The animation has never been a strong point and almost looks like American Saturday morning fare even though in this last volume, they saved some of their budget for the final battle sequences."

A Nice Finish to a Wonderful Adventure

Kevin Johnson | 04/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well I received my copy of the dvd much earlier than expected, and I thank you amazon.

Now onto the main point, volume 6 of Elemental Gelade. Cou, Ren, Rowen, Kuea and Cisqua are coming to an end over the course of their long journey. But they soon learn that there is a war between Edel Raids and Arc Aile. Although once again Ren and Cou are separated(go figure) it does at last lead up to the ending which the latter end of episode 26 shows. There are also many reappearances of many characters throughout the volume to reignite Cou's determination to be with Ren even after they get separated once again. And the real final battle takes place in Edel Garden.

This Volume includes the following:

Episode 22: The Buried Legend
Episode 23: The Promise
Episode 24: Edel Garden
Episode 25: Chaos Choir
Episode 26: The Song for the Sky and Tomorrow

And to end the series in a nice manner there is the special ending theme to the anime series, the Japanese version of the song "Everlasting Song."

If you are a collector of this series, it's a must have, but if you're just the average anime fan then at least take a whirl at the series, if it doesn't please you then by all means there are always more anime series out there.

I forgot to mention, but the extras on this DVD include Japanese game trailers. A fighting game for the Playstation 2 and a game for the Game Boy Advance."