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DISGAEA: A NETHERWORLD STORY (VOL.2) [ADVANCE REVIEW] |
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Sunday, 11 March 2007 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | GENEON ENTERTAINMENT | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 16:9 ANAMORPIC WIDESCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 100 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | 13UP | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 03/13/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 03/12/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
The wee demon heir with the great big sword and even bigger attitude is back for more nefarious mayhem, along with his vassals, the mischievous Etna and the angelic and ditzy Flonne. In this latest volume, Laharl discovers he has a price on his head and someone’s going to pay! Not because he’s upset about the bounty but because he’s insulted by the small amount the bounty for his life is for. It leads to a demon-slayer, a deadly sword and the re-appearance of Mid-Boss. After, a web of deception stumps the Netherworld prince when Etna will do anything to protect her most embarrassing secret. Next, a little girl claiming to be Laharl’s little sister and rival for the Overlord throne appears, and she has an even larger brat ego than Laharl! To confound our anti-hero further, his peons, those odd little penguin-like Prinnies, have gone missing and now it’s up to Laharl and his vassals, Etna and Flonne, to go undercover and find out what his minions are really up to.
The infernal antics of Laharl and his demonic gang are fun fantasy adventure. It’s a high spirited action comedy. There’s so much to laugh about and enjoy in this anime that it’s hard to know where to start. There’s Etna’s devilish conniving, that hilarious vacuous look to Flonne and her eternal desire to instil Laharl with the power of love, there are the Prinnies and so much more. Fans of the Prinnies can look forward to a Prinny-centric episode on this volume. There are a couple of appearances by Captain Gordon and Jennifer to poke some fun at the space opera hero stereotype. There is also the introduction of the bounty hunter Saldia who is cunning and has a demon-slaying sword. Deadly and confusing, she also ends almost all her phrases with “Maybe, maybe not.”
The series plays out very much like a video game but with all sorts of wacky hellacious fun thrown in as Laharl and his gang come across trap after trap and villain after villain while en route to the castle of the Overlord. It’s the innovativeness of the quirkiness of the obstacles and liveliness of the comedy that keep the anime series lively and fun along with its stylized animation.
EXTRAS:
Bonus features include a reversible cover, fold out insert featuring Etna, Geneon previews, clean ending animation, Disgaea English trailer, music CM featuring the opening theme song “ASHITAGERU”, and the second part of the video interview with Japanese voice actress Kaori Mizuhashi (Laharl) and Sohei Nikawa (Original Creator).
IN SUMMARY:
In Disgaea the winding road to Hell has never been so much fun! |
