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KIRAMEKI PROJECT: METAL HEARTS (VOL. 2) |
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Tuesday, 20 March 2007 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | MEDIA BLASTERS | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 1:85: 1 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | JAPANESE DD 2.0 W/ ENGLISH SUBTITLES | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 60 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | 13UP | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 11/21/2006 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 03/21/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD | | |
The final volume of this brief but endearing mecha series gives a lot more suspense and drama than the pink cover and cute robot dolls would lead you to believe. After the battle between Kana’s robot Junerin and the Big Mighty, which has been rampaging over the various nations destroying their giant mechas, Kana finds herself with a surprising guest – Chief Ohya of Big Mighty! The unexpected friendship these two strike up will lead to an invasion of the Kingdom of Genes and a mecha showdown with winner take all!
Don’t be fooled by the cute pink colors and cutesy robot dolls, this is a series about giant robots that is worthy of any of the fun camp soap opera genres of mecha anime such as Gaogaigar, Voltron and others. It’s just done in a much briefer amount of episodes and with deceptively pink and adorable packaging. As Kana makes her very first human friend in Ohya, we see her innocence and his nobility in character. Their love for building robots is a bridge where the two meet and bond. His choice to no longer use Big Mighty to fight so senselessly leads to the rise of a new mecha. The greedy corporation responsible for Big Mighty has made a new, bigger and more powerful giant robot called The Perfect. Manned by maniacal Shimada (the corporate boss), he enters the kingdom set to destroy Kana’s Junerin, even if the girl is piloting the robot herself! This leads to a climatic finale involving not two, but three large robots duking it out in 3D-CG animation. In the end, the message is clear: machines are capable of great things and the use of them, whether it is evil or good, is up to their maker.
Robots are grand. That shines in the animation and the love not only the characters have for their robots, such as Ohya and Kana, but also in the production work of the series. The relationships between the characters are endearing and the end of the brief series was surprisingly dramatic and involving.
EXTRAS:
Bonus feature include alternate opening and closing animation, character gallery, promo reel, trailers to other Media Blasters titles, and the second part of the behind the scenes feature which is hosted by Japanese voice actress Tomoko Kaneda ( Rincle). It continues its in depth look behind the scenes at the process of 3D-CG animation used in the anime series.
IN SUMMARY:
Kirameki Project is part parody, part mecha homage, and all heart. If you enjoy giant robots, you don’t want to miss out on this engaging anime. |
