▪	RELEASED BY:		ADV FILMS UK
		▪	ASPECT RATIO:		16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN
		▪	AUDIO:		ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 5.1
		▪	RUNNING TIME:		100 MIN
		▪	RATING:		12
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		05/07/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		07/29/2007
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		SANDRA SCHOLES

"The flow of time changes everything, all that remains is words."

D'Eon De Beaumont reveals these words at a time when Louis XV reigned over France, Versailles in a wonderfully magnificent era, though among all this glory and beauty chaos also reigned. D'Eon recalls his story at the discovery of a female body encased inside a coffin, floating on the Seine, the words Psalms written in blood over the name plate.  The body is that of his sister Lia.

It is the discovery of her body that prompts everything in motion. D'Eon remembers Lia's funeral and his time at court with Anne, his troubled fiancée who admired Lia as much as he did. D'Eon serves in Paris as a nobleman; his fiancee believes he should serve in Versailles as he is not known in Paris. He tells her he is duty bound to serve there instead as a knight. The duty he has is not just to the king, but something else troubles him. He believes his sister was murdered and follows any clues as to the whereabouts of the killer or killers.

D'Eon meets up with a group over at an inn and discusses a fifth missing woman, and the Russian they have been investigating is suspected of having kidnapped her. D'Eon prowls the streets in search of the ones who killed his sister, his sense of duty to her more than to anyone else.

The arcane words he finds carved on the bodies of unfortunate victims are his first clues as they lead to more interesting and damning information later on in this murder mystery in the early age of creativity and decadence.

 D'Eon tells Bernis, the leader of the secret Police of which he is a member in Paris to his house to view something very personal to him. The documents of high ranking Russians he was sent before his sister died.He thinks Lia was a part of a secret society.

Bernis concludes his sister's death is the reason for D'Eon ever applying for the job at the secret Police and wants him taken off the investigation officially. Unnoficially however he informs him he can find out who killed his sister freely. D'Eon finds his sister was not given a proper burial as she had mercury in her that prevents her body from decomposing.

It is not long before there is a connection between his dead sister and D’Eon as she inhabits his body with her tormented soul and searches herself for the killer creating a great amount of confusion and conflict in D’Eon which causes complications as the story becomes more intriguing.

The colours in the animation are perfect creating the wondrous effect of the era in which the anime is based. There is a considerable amount of pomp and circumstance as there are hidden depths within the characters.

Characters are portrayed as they would have been in that day, and are very well drawn, the setting is exact, the backgrounds intricate, the perspective and the attention to detail is spot on.

It is the elaborate, interesting story, stunning visuals and historical accuracy that makes it so watchable. The characters have a humanity about them that extends further as the story progresses.

EXTRAS:
The extras that are on here are interviews, historical notes, commentary with ADV Director and English voice actors, Japanese video and trailer and clean opening and closing animations to stimulate the appetite of the seasoned enthusiast.

There is a booklet that comes with the disk and it is a pleasant read, containing concept drawings of the main characters, D'Eon's superb winged sword, information clues on the mystery of the anime itself, an interview with Chief writer Yasuyuki Muto on his attention to detail with the characters personalities, script serialisations and cast of characters make this a lavish addition to the DVD.

IN SUMMARY:
ADV has produced some excellent work in its time, but this just has to be considered the best so far.