Product Details

• Actors: Todd Haberkorn, Eric Vale
• Directors: Tyler Walker
• Format: NTSC, Color, Widescreen, Subtitled
• Language: Japanese, English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Funimation Prod
• DVD Release Date: October 20, 2009
• Run Time: 288 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002KD9C2C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,828 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

A blood-born plague races across Germany, giving life to mechanized monsters who are hell-bent on making a bloody mess out of anyone in their path. Known as Demoniacs, these creatures have the perverse ability to meld with technology and wield it as an extension of their uncontrollable cyber rage. Standing in their way is civilization’s last hope for a savior. Joseph Jobson – the mysterious blue rider – fuses with the unreal technology of his battle-tested motorcycle to defend man against machine. But the same tainted blood that carries his strength, threatens to devour his soul - leaving him nothing more than a murderous demon. The future of death is now, and it refuses to be stopped.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slick Visuals & Lots of Bloody Action, October 14, 2009

By 

ONENEO (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Blassreiter: Part 1 (DVD)

It's not everyday you encounter a horror/ science fiction anime property set in Germany with blood laden cover art and a German title that translates to "Pale Rider" in English. I just finished FUNimation's forthcoming release of Blassreiter The Complete Series Part 1 and came away quite surprised with the sheer "coolness" of the show's concepts and melding of several well-established genres.

Released across two discs, Blassreiter The Complete Series Part 1 comes packaged in a pair of thin packs within an outer cardboard slipcase and consists of episodes 1-12. The show comes in at a total runtime of 288 minutes and wears an appropriate TV MA (mature, 17+) rating due to violence and gore.

Language options are standard sub & dub with both an English dub and original Japanese soundtrack (either in Dolby 5.1 Digital Surround) & the choice of English subtitled if so inclined to turn them on.

Extras include a commentary by the English cast over Episode 12, Japanese promotional videos (with English subtitles), textless opening and closing songs, and a host of fresh Funimation trailers on the second disc.

The story goes something like this: In a fictional German city, an apparent outbreak of biomechanical creatures named "Demoniacs" rises from human corpses with an appetite for violence and destruction. Unlike your typical zombies however, the Demoniacs display the ability to merge with nearly any technology (which often includes cars, busses, bikes and so on), which not only gives them control of said machine but also enhances their own abilities. In a very real sense it's zombies meets Transformers with a bit of Mad Max thrown in for good measure.

Don't worry though, humanity isn't about to let the world fall to the grips of the biomechanical monsters and the viewer is carried along with the exploits of the opposition: XAT, Xenogenesis Assault Team, who polices the Demoniacs in effort to keep the peace as well as investigate the potential causes for the blood-borne phenomenon.

Now don't go and get too attached to the XAT though as this is really a tale of a lone rider charged with the daunting task of saving civilization. This rider, a fellow by the name of Joseph Jobson, rides into town a blend of flesh and motorcycle like some outlaw straight out of a spaghetti western with plans to hack, slash, and slaughter the Demoniacs running amok.

The catch is that Jobson's own blood is tainted with the very same plague he's out to put in check which means that it is a constant struggle to subdue the very thing he means to conquer.

The show is an interesting blend of ideas and plays out perhaps closest to the hopelessness of Blue Gender coupled to the element of self-control made famous in Claymore. There is a constant threat of the lead character's lapse in perseverance resulting in his irreversible tumble into madness- in this case a fate worse than death.

The pacing is fairly brisk with a bit of "extreme" sports participation (in the form of cycle racing) and religious undertones on a grand scale. The line between good and evil is a fairly clearly established save for the "Pale Rider" himself, who, like many great comic mythos, borders on being an anti-hero.

The visuals are tight (as almost always is the case with Gonzo's pieces) with a bit of a heavy leaning upon CGI animated sequences over the slightly less flashy cell segments. Many of the backgrounds are downright spectacular with emphasis on mood and lighting effects. Character animation is fluid and consistent as well. The overload of 3-D effect segments aside, there is much to get excited about in terms of the show's look and style are concerned.

Consisting of a total of 24 episodes, this collection represents the first half of the tale and has got this reviewer anticipating the release of the second (and final) half of the collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good But Also Generic Sci-Fi Action Anime, August 24, 2010

By 

Rich "xman" (CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blassreiter: Part 1 (DVD)

The series is a pretty good blend of Guyver/Aquarion/Gundam anime storyline basis and while the animation and soundtrack as well as action fight scenes are very good and entertaining the characters are pretty much the same we've seen with most of these kinds of series, and while the characters are very likable and grow on you there not very original either. One point to this is you have the misunderstood brooding loner anti-hero through an unexpected mishap in a battle is now hunted by another person who swears vengeance on said anti-hero, and than we have the usual busty female main character who grows feelings for our wayward anti-hero and also has her own personal issues to deal with. Again the characters in the series grow on you and you do care what happens to them which is a big plus in my book, but you pretty much expect what happens to them in the series as well and when it does happen it doesn't really come as a surprise. If you don't like the religious story-lines mixed into your series you might want to pass this series over as it does draw deeply on the morality and the conceptions of humanity, what truly makes a person human, and the beliefs and actual questions of a supreme being and ultimate destiny for humanity. Still the series is very good and entertaining when I watched it so regardless I think most people will still find the series very enjoyable to own for their anime collection....

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Review of the whole series, Blassreiter (parts 1 and 2), November 30, 2010

By 

Fucc The Mainstream (Kansas, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blassreiter: Part 1 (DVD)

I diddn't really enjoy Blassreiter much. This came as a surprise to me since I tend to gravitate to sci-fi and action titles. It does have plenty of action for the adrenaline junkies, but the story is nothing special, being a run-of-the-mill-monster infestation tale with assault teams trying to fight the threat. Also, there is a massive amount of CGI animation in Blassreiter, which is a big turn-off for me. The CGI looks dumb and sticks out badly from the 2-D animation, save for a few little action scenes here and there that actually look dazzling (namely one towards the end of episode 16 which even then is ruined by some awful, totally unfitting j-pop track in the background). The Demoniac designs are good enough but don't expect anything massively intricate. The worst Demoniac design is that of Beatrice. It looks really stupid (mecha-ish female with... a dress!?)

But that isn't the worst this series has to offer. It is also depressing as hell and over dramatized. For example, one character gets constantly tormented by a group of bullies and by the second encounter with the bullies you are BEGGING to see them die horribly. Now I think its great that they put out an ugly portrayal of bullying, but these scenes are just overdone and way too frequent. We get the point already! On top of that, the first two episodes of part 2 (episodes 13 and 14) of Blassreiter are the most depressing things I have ever seen. They are depressing enough to put THE ROAD to shame. yeeeeessh. If you have those episodes, show them to your doctor first, so he can prescribe you some prozac prior to viewing. I'm not necessarily trying to be funny here. This review could save lives.

Blassreiter may be only worth watching if you don't mind an abusive amount of CGI and depression, and if action and blood mean alot more to you than the story.