▪	RELEASED BY:		FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT
		▪	ASPECT RATIO:		16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN
		▪	AUDIO:		ENGLISH DD 5.1 & 2.0 AND JAPANESE DD 2.0
		▪	RUNNING TIME:		575 MIN
		▪	RATING:		TV MA
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		03/11/2008
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		03/10/2008
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		DAVEY C. JONES

SYNOPSIS:
Tokyo’s really let itself go. The poor get poorer, and the rich get their kicks in clandestine pleasure clubs where no desire is too taboo. The decadent criminal underground is the only game in town and life is cheap when paid I for in blood money. Burned out  ex-war photographer Saiga thought his life couldn’t get any more dull…Selling his soul as a tabloid photographer, trading the rush of bullets whizzing past his head for a quick buck.

While on one of these paparazzi assignments, Saiga stumbles directly into the ultimate den of vice, where a goddess is preparing to bestow a dangerous gift upon a willing victim. Running from his enemies and fleeing his own inner demons, Saiga rescues a tragic young girl named Kagura from her own nightmarish life. The girl is full of secrets…secrets possibly even hidden from herself. Smile for the camera…or perish in the glare of its lens.

Contains the entire series of 24 episodes on 6 discs in one wicked box set!

REVIEW:
Get ready for a funky den of sin that will introduce you to a whole new level of depravity! Speed Grapher is one psychedelic ride into the sickest desires by the most powerful people, all puppets to one madman’s whims. The only one’s who can stop him? A photographer with an Eye of Death and an innocent girl who might be the root of all evil!

The show starts off right away with violence. When burn out Saiga goes to a Club, he meets the Divine Goddess, a girl named Kagura who brings out his death eye. Lucky him! Fleeing the scene of many crimes at that evil Club, Saiga has it in his heart to save the girl. But he’s got a lot, and I mean a lot, working against him. He has no friends. And judging from the streamline of freaks powered up by the Euphoric Syndrome, he’s got big, bad, icky monsters to fight and precious little hope working for him!

They’re attempts at escape only land them into the thicker and deeper waters of the brutally insane plot of Suitengu.  He wants to throw the world into chaos by demolishing the economy and catering to the sickest, foulest desires that those in power have. Kagura, the sweet girl, is at the heart of his plans because she’s at the heart of the Tennozu Group, a corporation that controls the largest part of Japan’s economy. If they go, so too does Japan.  It’s a group everyone fears, and none live to cross. Saiga tries cuz he can’t resist little miss innocence. And he might not live to regret it when he learns a little secret about the big power of his.

The dude ends up with some odd bedfellows though. Rogue cop Ginza is one sexy and amoral officer with a fetish for guns and who will do whatever she wants to get what she likes and she likes Saiga. With friends like those, you sure don’t need enemies but redemption seeking Saiga is collecting them like there’s no tomorrow, and for him there might not be. With each step in his investigation into the Tennozu Group and trying to save Kagura, the city suffers under Suitengu’s plan in action, spiraling into a chaos that hinges all with one abused girl.

This anime is sick. I kid you not there are twisted scenes in here that could prove too harsh for Gantz fans. There are diamond whores whose touch you’ll never be able to forget, dentists that will bring out your worst nightmares, a man who likes legs and wait to you see what he means by that, and so much more depraved characters that it shocks, it rocks, and even while it completely might freak you, you won’t be able to tear your eyes away.

Suitengu isn’t a bad guy just cuz. An entire episode shows us just what twisted him into the madman he is today. It shows how he first hooks up with Makabe and Tsujido and why they’re devoted to him to the death. His story doesn’t excuse the crimes Suitengu’s committing, but it sure makes you understand him more than you might feel comfortable with.

The freaky mire of Suitengu’s plans by the end of the show might just come to fruition. The end is seriously climatic. Ginza faces off against the freaky duo of Tsujido and Makabe, America’s invading and has launched missiles at Tokyo, and Saiga faces off against Suitengu. With each flash of his camera ability, he’s that much closer to paying a terrible price. When it all comes down to it, what will the once cowardly and selfish photographer choose? By the end he’s become something far nobler than himself, the anime marks his evolution, while others fall from grace he rises above it, but perhaps not high enough to escapes the flames of wrath and his own past misdeeds.

Gonzo. That is really the one word you need to know for the quality of this animation. This is as slick as anything they have ever done. It has as much detail as Last Exile, more bloodshed than Basilisk and Trinity Blood put together, and puts a whole new disturbing spin on some truly depraved (though depravedly creative) alarming scenes involving the sick fetishes these characters have and the gruesome lengths they’ll go to satisfying them. The cityscapes are jaw-dropping with detail and color. The odd fusion jazz feel in the otherwise tense orchestral score adds that sense of downtown feel. Like you’re in the heart of the large city. One thing I can promise you, you’ll never forget this anime.

EXTRAS:
The box set has the mother load of extras! There are Saito documentaries which cover Kei Saito’s landing Japanese cast auditions and selection process and recording for the anime as the character of Kagura. The disc also has English character cast auditions, image galleries, character profiles, textless songs, outtakes and naturally previews of other FUNimation titles. Plus it has all 6 12-page guidebooks that were included with the original single disc releases! The guidebooks have character backgrounds, a whole bunch of images and original sketches not only of the characters but of scenery too, and episode summaries. The summaries contain spoilers so don’t’ read ‘em until you’ve watched the show!

The box is one sweet slick piece of work. The outer slip case art box is solid and done with eye-catching foil highlights. The inner box holding the discs folds out to a large full color drop-dead gorgeous image of Ginza in freefall. It made me think of the best of Heavy Metal magazine art from back in its hay day. 

IN SUMMARY:
Speed Grapher - depraved, debauched, and totally riveting! It’s a funky sci-fi with sick and totally twisted characters, Gantz and Sin City fans, those who like Rodriquez and Tarantino films, don’t miss out on this piece of sin gone wild and bloody!