▪	RELEASED BY:		BANDAI VISUAL USA
		▪	DISC FORMAT:		- HD DVD (1080p) - DVD (480i)
		▪	ASPECT RATIO:		16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN
		▪	AUDIO:		- HD DVD: DD PLUS 5.1 / LINEAR PCM 2.0 - DVD: DD 5.1 - ENGLISH SUBTITLES
		▪	RUNNING TIME:		25 MIN
		▪	RATING:		13UP
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		06/26/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		09//12/2007
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		ROMMEL SALANDANAN

Six months before being considered an adult in the Lunar Republic of Eden, fifteen year old Takeru and his friends Kazuma and Biz are apprehended and sentenced to community work by the Citizens Administration Council when they all fail to report on time to their dormitories because they were challenged by Takuru's Tube Race rival into a race.

During their service, the three guys befriend an old man named Alan, who happens to have acquired Lunar Apollo Mission paraphernalia from 300 years ago, and has a thruster that would give Takeru's modified Lunar Terrain Vehicle an edge in the Tube Race.

Upon the conclusion of the Tube Race, Takeru is called for his volunteer work. As he walks the lunar surface in anger and disappointment, an object comes falling from the vacuum of space that breaks upon impact. Takeru proceeds to check what just came crashing, and, to his surprise, he discovers a picture of a girl on Earth with a message that says, "We are safe. Is anybody out there?"

From the opening sequence with an up tempo musical beat to the fast panning swooping scenes inside the track where the tube race is held, Freedom is not like any anime that you will experience. While the first volume seems to be focusing on the Tube Race, it seems that it is more than likely to be a subplot, and that a bigger conspiracy lurks in the background with the Lunar Republic of Eden--especially with the introduction of the picture at the end of the episode. Another question that comes to mind is why mankind never revisited Earth since migrating to the moon, thus making you wonder what will happen next.

While I was aware of when this OVA was announced in Japan, and that it was the 35th Anniversary animation for the Nissin Cup Noodles in 2006, it took me by surprise when Freedom was distributed in North American in a high-definition format (see screenshots below), and let alone on a hybrid HD-DVD disc, meaning that the disc handles both HD-DVD and DVD format in a single disc. This makes it the first anime to hit North America in High-Definition. Having watch the first episode in HD format is such a treat. The disc content comes with the best sound and video available, but it does only come with the first episode.

The animation is completely rendered in CG by YamatoWorks and directed by Syuhei Morita of Kakurenbo fame. Having it delivered on HD format makes the series a very unique experience to watch. Director Syuhei Morita, who surprisingly made the children's masks expressive through their eyes in Kakurenbo, has mastered the art of facial expression in computer generated characters once again. The characters' faces in the series are very expressive, and leave you to believe that Freedom is not done with computers.


EXTRAS:
The extras are only accessible online and only if you're watching the disc in HD-DVD mode.
The download section comes with the Introduction trailer of Freedom, a Prologue that leads to the series production prior to the release of the first episode in Dolby 5.1 and Liner PCM 2.0 channels, and the Japanese TV commercial for the first disc.

The extras also comes with the 3DCG Simulation video, where you can easily navigate the operation of the picture-in-picture of the simulation through a Xbox 360 controllers, and a trailer for the next episode of Freedom.

IN SUMMARY:
Being the first to be delivered in HD format in North America, Freedom is a unique blend of intrigue and mystery, and definitely deserves to be seen on high definition.

HD SCREEN SHOTS:
NOTE: Screen shot were taken with a Canon PowerShot S3 IS Digital Camera. HD DVD / Blu Ray disables all means of screen capturing method.
Screen shots approved by Bandai Visual and Bandai Visual USA



Although taken directly from a monitor screen with a digital camera, you can see the clarity of the animation. Notice that the subtitles fonts have nice soft edges, however, the fonts are smooth and sharp when seen in a high definition monitor.

Another shot from the high definition FREEDOM - Tube Race.