Product Details

• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Anime Works
• DVD Release Date: September 30, 2003
• Run Time: 150 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00009V7O3
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,998 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome start to an awesome story., August 16, 2003

By 

Will (Anywhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Figure 17, Vol. 1: Soul Mirror (DVD)

The first DVD of this series serves as an excellent introduction to an excellent story with beautiful animation.

The series starts with our introduction to the young girl Tsubasa, a troubled child who has just moved to Hokkaido from Tokyo with her father, leaving her friends behind.

While in Hokkaido, Tsubasa witnesses an alien space ship crash. Unfortunately this ship was carrying a dangerous cargo, which has escaped. The resulting encounter introduces her to DD, the alien pilot (suprisingly humanoid), and the Riverus - an intelligent, sentient alien armor - one of which merges with her and creates Hikaru.

The story does not move at a high pace, an advantage given that each episode is roughly 42 minutes long, twice the length of most shows. As well, the Sci-Fi aspect is prety minimal, serving only as a catch that allows the core of the show to exist. Hikaru becomes permanently ingrained in Tsubasa's life, and the show extrapolates on this beautifully. This isn't to say the alien aspect is left discarded. It to plays a critical role in the story, and the action sequences are second to none.

This series will run a total of 6 discs, for 13 episodes (as opposed to the Japanese release of 13 discs) and is worth each and every cent.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buffy meets Ultraman(?), March 16, 2004

By 

Henrik "da laffin tlhIngan" (in the Anime aisle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Figure 17, Vol. 1: Soul Mirror (DVD)

A friend of mine in my college's anime club described Figure 17 as "Buffy meets Ultraman", and that's not far off the mark. That being said, I found it engaging and fun, with a minimum of silliness except where absolutely necessary.

Others have detailed the content, so I won't bother. What I find most interesting is the ability to merge the two plots (SF adventure/monster fights in the vein of Ultraman and a coming-of-age story of a little girl who moves from the big city to the country). The result is a tight story, intentionally made paced slower than most anime, which makes the viewer really care about the characters.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slower paced, but an interesting show, December 21, 2003

By 

Mark E. Summers "Gamekrazy" (Altoona, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Figure 17, Vol. 1: Soul Mirror (DVD)

I wasn't sure what to make of this show when I picked it up, but the back of the DVD interested me enough to give the series a try. The episodes move at a somewhat slow pace, but it's this pace that really gives you insight into the characters lives.
In this batch of episdoes, we're introduced to Tsubasa, who along with her father, has recently moved to a smaller country town from the big city. Tsubasa is shy and is having trouble making friends in her new school and her father is involved in learning a new job and has little time to spend with her.
One night Tsubasa sees a ship crash to Earth and chasing after her runaway dog, finds an alien who was thrown from the ship during the crash. She's then attacked by an alien and combines with a Ribers, an intelligent metal that enhances the abilities of the person that it combines with. It's then that the two of them become the title character of the show, Figure 17 and fight the evil alien eggs, which are called Maguar. Usually, after a battle, when the Figure disperses, the Ribers goes back to its normal container, but in this case, the Ribers becomes an exact replica of Tsubasa, which takes the name of Hikaru.
The story follows Tsubasa and Hikaru, who is now introduced as Tsubasa's twin sister, who had been living with an aunt in another city. Though there are action scenes and fights, more time is devoted to showing the way the two girls interact with one another and the other kids in school. Character development is a big part of this series and of even more interest to me than the fighting scenes.
If you're wondering about whether or not to give this series a try, I'd recommend picking up this volume and giving it a go. I don't think you'll be disappointed.