Customer Reviews

Aura Battler Dunbine - Tales of Byston Well (Vol. 1)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Yes, the material has aged, but let yourself go and enter the world of Byston Well, you won't regret it. Aura Battler Dunbine is IMHO one of the strongest works Tomino (of Mobile Suit Gundam fame) ever did. In fact, it has two strength even the original Gundam and its most glorious sequel, Z-Gundam, don't have.
First of all, the heroes come from contemporary (well, early 80's) earth (Upper Earth, as Byston Well dwellers call it), which allows Tomino to introduce such rare things in anime as ethnic tension, or robot fighting within contemporary cities (a unique case in Tomino's real robot production). But most of all, Tomino has tried to create a fantasy world, Byston Well, with its own races, and a real sense of wonder, which almost equals the best fantasy novelists. That's a unique trait, that sets this anime apart from all the other robot stuff. I could also speak about the characters relations, as complex and tragic as those of Z-Gundam, the absence of the comic antics that have ruined some other Tomino's series (like ZZ-Gundam or Heavy Metal L-Gaim), or the original mecha design which adds to the identity of Byston Well as a fantasy universe. But you already see my point: Dunbine is a real masterpiece among the real robot animes of the early 80's (and that says a lot, since the genre includes such classics as Macross, Votoms, or Z-Gundam).
One last thing: many of you will link the whole fantasy plus mecha thing to the famous Visions of Escaflowne series, so I'll tell my opinion about it. That Dunbine was used as an inspiration to create Escaflowne is a given. But I think Escaflawne failed to emulate Dunbine, because the world and the characters of Dunbine are (much) more fleshed out than those of Escaflowne.

One of the first anime series that caught my interest, even before copies had reached the states. I had found the 'This is Animation' book for Dunbine in a comics store in Nashville, and made it my first anime acquisition. With untranslated videotapes of the series, and the 'Animag' translations, I was able to scratch the surface of a very deep storyline. And, now that a subbed and dubbed version is available, I can enjoy all the intrigue, I've been missing.

I like anime.
I like fantasy.
I like giant battling robots.

I hated this show. Drunk male pixies in political intrigues between medieval looking countries who happen to field giant ugly robots piloted by kidnapped citizens from "upper Earth" countries such as Japan and the USA. One Japanese forced pilot is pulled to their fantasy world along with his Honda Motorcycle that he rides along side the horse mounted knights on parade. Dribble.

I have not seen graphics this bad since the early 70's. Characters shimmie back and forth as they change poses over a static back ground.

I can't imagine an audience for this, maybe someone who saw it as a kid and wants to relive the nostalga of his tortured youth, spent watching a black and white TV with no cable or VCR player?

Again, a couple of reviewers throw up (and I mean "throw up") 5 star reviews. What their true motivation is I will likely never know, but don't make the mistake I made, pass on this stinker of a show.