Customer Reviews

Blassreiter: Part 1

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

 

 

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.

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....

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.

Well, what can I say? This is simply one of the best animes I've had the pleasure of watching. The animation is wonderful, the storyline hooks you in, the characters are likeable and fairly well developed. It's pretty easy to get into, and definately worth the time to watch. It does have it's violence and death scenes, definately not for the kiddies, but if that's your type of thing, as it happens to be mine, you must see this anime. The action scenes are very well done, and there's just enough violence and fight scenes without it being overdone, leaving plenty of room for storyline and character development. It's one of those that you'll definately want to watch again instead of gathering dust on the shelf. I've actually been wanting to watch it again myself, but sadly haven't had the time. Overall, as I said, it's simply one of the best I've seen, and I'd definately reccommend it.

Blassreiter is a really brilliant series, probably much better than you will be expecting. Exploring all aspects of morality, Blassreiter blends deep emotional scenes with sharply choreographed fighting and car chasing sequences. Do not be fooled by the frankly dull first episode, this series hits its stride from episode 2 and never lets up. All the characters are interesting and well developed, i can't recommend this series enough.

I cannot, however, say the quality of the series makes it worth paying nearly $50 for the first half only. Even at Amazon's discounted price, this means paying nearly $100 for the whole thing! Especially in a recession, prices for entertainment mediums like dvd need to be competitive. Let's face it, we all know that people download anime for free. I always support a show i like by buying the DVDs, but with money for most people the tightest it has ever been, i just cannot justify paying this kind of price on a non-essential.

The other thing to consider is that it comes on DVD. Certainly DVD has a few years left in it yet, but there's no getting around it's a dying format now Bluray is here. If Blassreiter was on the current-gen format i might feel better about shelling out $100 for a 24-episode series, but alas, it is not. Wait till the price goes down and pick this up, it's a fantastic show, though sadly at the moment it is just not a cost-effective buy.

i roached the hole thing because i cold not stop thats how good it is .