 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 5.1 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 288 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV MA | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 12/29/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 01/30/2010 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | DAVEY C. JONES |
SYNOPSIS:
The end is near, and only the pale rider has the power to stop it. Joseph Jobson races against death in a desperate attempt to halt the spread of a genetically engineered plague of doom. Victims of this devious experimentation are driven to madness by grotesque mutations and violent outbreaks of rage. Their only hope for survival likes in the mutated genes coursing through Jobson’s own tainted veins. Though he carries the plague, Jobson must ride his GARM motorcycle into battle and sacrifice himself for the redemption of a demented gene pool. Joseph Jobson is the savior of the world. He is the Blassreiter. Contains the final 12 episodes (13 to 24) on two discs in one thinpack box set!
REVIEW:
Watch the carnage explode! The first half may have seemed brutally ruthless in its death toll of notable characters, but it was just a scratch on the surface of the story to come in the finale of the mech series that takes no prisoners and leaves you gasping for breath! Amanda escaped the XAT destruction with Joseph. The second half of the anime begins with a flash back two-part episode about Joseph and Xargin’s background. Brace yourselves, because Joseph’s childhood is a nightmare and then some. Of all the violence in the show, it is the death of many of the children at the orphanage that really hits home. How he first meets Xargin, the appearance of his sister, and the events that molded the child and the man are all laid bare. What’s cool about this is that no bad guy is without sympathy, even Xargin. Heck, even that lethal lady Beatrice. When her background is revealed later during her battle with Hermann, its heart wrenching. You cry a little for everyone. The series is bleak and the second half is no exception, if anything, it ramps the grim subject matter up to the nth degree. Amanda and Joseph are taken by his supposedly dead but not sister Sasha to Zwolf. There now is the last bastion of hope against the Demoniacs overrunning the entire country of Germany. Being a Blassreiter isn’t easy and Hermann proves that shortly after his reunion with Amanda. He goes berserk and only Amanda can reach him. But he’s not the only one. Joseph shortly follows him in a berserk rage and this time it’s Hermann who has to bring Joseph back from the edge unless the newly altered super powered Joseph kills him first! There’s no rest for the good or the wicked. Xargin and his Demoniacs attack Zwolf headquarters and it looks like it will be a repeat of what happened at XAT - total decimation. This time Xargin is leading an army of 30,000 demoniacs and the good guys don’t stand a chance. The destruction is all a lead up that has a country and humanity in the palm of one man’s hand, but is Joseph still remotely human at this point? It’s a series of suicide missions on the part of the good guys to stop the apocalypse Xargin has planned. Helping him is the UN which has ordered the US air force to launch a bombardment on Germany, wiping out the entire country – that is if the good guys don’t stop them first! Sasha, Mei-Fong and Mido give it their all to stop the air bombers and the satellite weapons aimed at Germany. At the same time Hermann goes one and one with Beatrice for a finale blow by blow fight to the finish and gets unexpected help. Meanwhile Joseph tackles Xargin in the final battle that will decide the fate of humanity. The fights are incredible. The 3DCG animation is non-stop mind blowing mech at its best. From the motorcycles to the details and motions of the missiles, the show gives its all in design and motion. The bombers are wicked looking and the fights between the Blassreiters are incredible to watch. There are amazing glowing patterns to the Blassreiters and when they’re in motion the animation follows those patterns like lights on a moving car, creating a realistic feel to the motions. One battle that is outright dizzying in its fast and furious delivery in the final fight between Beatrice and Hermann in episode 22 – wow! Story-wise the show is complex and intense. I enjoyed its ruthless streak. By the end of the series you feel lucky if anyone is left alive and don’t be surprised if barely anybody is left. My only criticism is the campy feel to the end of the credits with the rainbow scene (if you watch it to the end you’ll know what I’m referring too). It just doesn’t fit with the rest of the series. My vote is to ignore it and go back to re-watch more of the crazed mecha action throughout the show! It’s incredible!
EXTRAS:
Extra goodies include trailers, clean opening and ending animation, original Japanese promotional videos, and riotously funny and often twisted sense of humor in the English audio commentary by Tyler Walker (Line Producer/ADR Director), Todd Haberkorn (Joseph) and J. Michael Tatum (Zargin/English Adaptation Script Writer). The second box set also holds a special Director’s Guide which runs over 16 minutes with Ichiro Itano (Japanese Director) who also worked on Macross. He goes in depth about his style and his take on directing the anime series.
IN SUMMARY:
Rock ‘em sock ‘em mecha anime that takes no prisoners! The fights will leave you dizzy and the story will have you clutching you teddy bear! |
