Customer Reviews

Gungrave - The Complete Boxed Set

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

More often than not anime tends to be extremely repetitive. A young guy fights his way to the top whether it be in sports, outer space or love. It's even worse when the show goes on for far longer than it should. You get 150 spisodes into it and the main character is still doing the same thing he was doing 20 episodes into it. Granted, this show is not some revolutionary genre buster but it is definitely refreshing and engaging.

I'll try and not to go into too much detail since there's plenty of other reviews already and if you feel like it you can find many spoilers all around. The show starts out right in the thick of things. A fair comparison can be made with "Berserk" since both shows drop you into things with not much explanation and then take their time to flesh things out. I had read very little about the show when I bought it and after watching the first episode it didn't really seem all that special. Just another cool looking guy shoothing thugs up but I kept watching since even if it did turn out that way it'd still have probably been somewhat entertaining. However, once things start getting fleshed out and we're introduced to the characters you realize there's a lot more going on here.

At the center of the story we have Brandon Heat. He's part of a small time gang led by his life long friend Harry McDowell. They're just a bunch of young guys trying to survive and if they can make a few bucks while they're at it then they certainly welcome the chance. Harry isn't happy where he is though and we eventually come to see that Harry wants to make it to the top. Brandon doesn't really seem to have the same strong feelings he just kind of follows his friend and they slowly move forward. I realize I'm being a bit vague but I think vague is best.

There's quite a bit of violence but it's not really gratuitous. This is pretty much a show about a crime syndicate and obviously there's going to be a decent amount of killing. It's not like the show looks for excuses to have shooting it is simply a product of the subject matter. Even later in the series when it gets a little more gun heavy it doesn't cross the line. Perhaps because the whole series builds up to that point or perhaps because it's well made but it works.

It's a joy to watch the relationships unfold. The soundtrack is great. Definitely worth picking up. The animation is well done and the show ends right where it should. Like a good show it doesn't lose steam at the end but rather it leaves you wanting more. Not in a bad way but in a very good way. A very good show all around, definitely worth buying.

Gungrave is an drama/fantasy anime set around the 1960's. Harry McDowell and Brandon Heat were just two young street punks, who stole things and fought other street gangs to survive in their turfs. Harry and Brandon, grew up in a orphange and have been best friends ever since. They were willing to do whatever it took to rise to the top and achieve freedom from their life of poverty and danger. Their chance came up when they met a top member of the most powerful mafia called, Millenion. Harry and his best friend Brandon, start off as errand boys, doing petty jobs inside the Millenion organization, but you'll see as they climb up the ladder and become, the mafia's top executives. You'll see as their ambitions and greed take over their actions for better or worse.

Gungrave is really an excellent anime all around. Even though its roots are based on a Playstation videogame, this anime is better than the game itself and should not be overlooked because you may have not enjoyed the videogame. The story theme about friendship, love, greed and betrayal is well scripted and feels similar to the, "Godfather" crime epic. Gungrave adds a supernatural twist by having undead creatures in the action. However, most of the story is told in a realistic fashion only dealing with the people drama. I enjoyed the epic feel of the story and became attached to many of the interesting characters, who were criminals by society's standards, but had a great sense of loyalty for each other. This is one of those anime series which contains a slow but engaging story. The production values are high; the animation is fluid, the artwork, character design, are excellent, the music is moody and the sound effects are loud. Both the English and Japanese voice acting are excellent and fit their characters well. There is graphic violence and profanity, so for adults only. I also recommend the anime called, "Hellsing".

I was looking for a new anime series to watch and stumbled upon Gungrave after reading good reviews. Little did I know I was going to enjoy one of the best series. I have seen quite a lot and some of my favorites are: Evangelion, Trigun, Hellsing, Cowboy Bebop, Full Metal Alchemist, Berserk... Now I have to update this list and include Gungrave. This series has probably one of the best scenario, the characters feel authentic, the drawing and artwork is excellent. I believe some of the team members who made Trigun worked on this title, so we can see similaritudes in the artistic style. However the tone is completely different, it is not goofy and funny like Trigun but very serious and tense, reminiscent of the movie The Godfather. Themes like duty, honor, loyalty, vengence and love are depicted powerfully. I am not the kind of person to cry or get emotional in movies, but this series has many very touching and powerful moments which gave me a knot. I personnaly think there are some anthologic scenes masterfully combing symbolic elements. Needless to say, I highly recommend watching this series and I think there is a potential for making a very entertaining movie out this.

Upon looking at the cover of the first disc and hearing that the series was based upon a computer game I was originally put off from buying this. I imagined the series was a futurist shooting no-brainer aimed at 10 year boys (no offence). However, seduced by the first few volumes being reduced in price, I gave into temptation and bought them. And, my god, how wrong was I.

The closet movie comparison I can make is to the "Godfather." Two young guys, Harry and Brandon, who have been best friends since they were raised in an orphanage together, find themselves joining a mafia organization when their lives suddenly get turned up-side down after a petty battle with a small-time crook. The story charts what happens to our two friends after that, how both change in personality, and how eventuality they become fated to be enemies.

The story opens with Brandon being raised from the dead through human experimentation to protect the daughter of the woman who he once loved from Harry. The story then goes back in time and charts their lives through their late teens, twenties and thirties. The story is slow-paced while it builds up the relationships between the main characters but very rewarding as you too begin to care deeply for the characters, especially the gorgeous sexy quiet Brandon.

Although there are monsters in the form of genetically modified humans, the story concentrates on normal adults (instead of the usual teenagers) who are trying to form a career in the Mafia. Trust, friendship, love, greed and betrayal all influence the decisions made by our two friends and the people around them. The story also has the coolest action shooting sequences I have seen in anime.

With great animation from Madhouse (who brought us Trigun and Tokyo Godfather - but this is better than both) and voice talents from Samurai Champloo, it would be a great shame to merely view this fantastic grown-up anime as simply a videogame rip-off.

I fell across this anime, by watching G4 Tv (the series is about to end) When I first watched it, I found it boring, but after they started doing the flashbacks of Brandons life it became more interesting. It's a wonderful series. But though it may be similar to Cowboy Bebop, and Trigun, it does not share the humor. And it's because it is not needed. I was shocked to find out, not many people know about this anime, and it's a shame. So don't let the fact that it's about a mob, bore you. It's very good, and should keep you waiting for the next episode to show. I'm on the last few episodes. Please buy this!

Growing up as Orphans, Harry and Brandon were best friends, as well as childhood friends. They live on the streets, as young adults, and fight for money. But after an accident happens to their friends, they flee. And encounter a big mafia group who saves there lives twice. Thus eventually they join the mafia. But as Brandon becomes a Hitman, and Harry one of the execs, Harry becomes corrupted, and infatuated with power. He betrays the organization, secretley. And Brandon finds out, and his job is to kill traitors. But after pointing a gun at Harry he couldn't, but Harry was willing to, and kills Brandon. So, an expierement is performed to bring Brandon back to life, by a scientist. And so the life of , "Grave" begins. And he's ready for revenge. To kill Millenium.

After watching the first episode, Gungrave seems like just another stoic tough guy vs. evil bad guys kind of anime. If you watch the episodes that follow it becomes clear that a lot more is going on in this story than you might think.

The chatty Harry Mcdowell and the silent, soft-spoken Brandon Heat have known each other since they were kids in the orphanage. Along with Jolas, Kenny, and Nathan they get by as a tightly knit crew of small time hustlers in a rough neighborhood. They pull scams, hang out, and wonder when Brandon will ask Maria out on a date. After a tragic series of events, Harry and Brandon get an opportunity to join Milleneon, the most powerful Mafia organization in the state.

Harry joins Milleneon so he can have the "freedom to take what I want and give what I want". Brandon follows him because Harry is his best friend and also because Maria is now in the care of Milleneon's boss known as Big Daddy. The two of them climb the ladder of the organization pretty quick until Harry's desire for freedom becomes an all-consuming lust for power. Harry betrays and murders Brandon, but unbeknownst to Harry, Brandon arranged to have himself brought back from the dead using "necrolization" technology. Should Harry's actions become too dangerous and out of line, Brandon will wake up to destroy him.

It takes four DVD's for the series to explain how Brandon Heat became Beyond The Grave, but the story is worth watching. The episodes showing Harry and Brandon's rise in the organization are entertaining enough so that even if the show never involved the sci-fi/horror element, it would still be a great series. Milleneon boss Big Daddy is very similar to Don Corleone of "The Godfather" in that he'd rather live in peaceful days but he can be ruthless when he has to be. Gungrave also touches on how alluring life in organized crime can be for the poor and the disadvantaged. However, just like in "The Godfather", the wealth, power, and status of life in "La Famiglia" comes at a heavy price which can cost you your life or the lives of those you love.

The english translation of the story is a little awkward here and there, but the vocal cast is superb. You'll hear a few familiar voices, most notably, Beau Billingslea and Steven jay Blumb of Cowboy Bebop fame, playing Bear Walken and Balladbird Lea respectivley. The only drawback is the voice actress for Mika. Normally, the Japanese vocal cast has the female character with the unbearably high pithced voice. This time it's the other way around. The voice actress for Mika is so irritating it almost makes you want to switch the audio to the Japanese and turn the subtitles on until her parts are over. I actually had to do that a couple of times because her constant whining and whimpering almost ruined it for me.

Gungrave is a great series that combines elements of film noir, mafia cinema, action, sci-fi, and horror into an engaging storyline that leads to a powerful ending that will stay in your memory for along time if not forever. If you could imagine something like "The Godfather" or "Goodfellas" with doses of "Resident Evil" and "The Crow", then this is what you would get.

This is one of the best animes I've seen in a while, and it's rare that I go to the trouble to write a review for anything. This seems to pull you in, and as just about if not all the other reviews have said this was done by the people that worked on trigun. Frankly I think I like it more than trigun, it's darker. The way they did the plot is a nice change too. It's defintally worth getting the complete box set. Some say it's boring but as I said it does end up pulling you in. I'm not sure why they called it boring but to each their own.

The premise as it were of this series is how a group of friends start out and where they end up and how they go about getting into the mafia and then rising in rank and what they do to get to the top. They also toss some love, romance, revenge and other stuff into the pot here and come out with a 5 star anime. If you liked trigun and hellsing you should enjoy this as well.

The attitude and relentless drive that define the character Beyond the Grave / Brandon Heat can be summed up in the following quote:

"To protect."

This is personally one of my favorite anime ever, and not just because of Yasuhiro Nightow's (creator of Trigun as well) positively flawless character design. The coloring style is quite muted to add to the somewhat dismal, dark atmostphere of the anime and further adds to the very adult humanity that each of the characters portrays in their very own way. The climax of the anime leaves you postively breathless as you receive momentary flashbacks containing the close, brotherly relationship between Brandon Heat and Harry Macdowell and the fierce enmity between Beyond the Grave and "Bloody Harry". This powerful piece is not only action-packed and full of all of the classic elements of shounen anime, but also exposes the dark side of humanity through artistic means.

I was positively ecstatic to find that the complete boxed set had come out for sale here at Amazon, and am looking forward to purchasing it as soon as I can. =) DEFINITELY a must-buy for a Trigun / Yasuhiro Nightow fan.

I'd heard that it was a good show, but I hadn't really drawn the initiative to get it. Instead, I got Fushigi Yuugi (something I sorely regret). I pushed off buying this show for way too long.
I watched in a few nights (something I've only been able to do with Cowboy Bebop and Fruits Basket) and was completely in awe of its everything! The characters, the storyline and everything else in it was just fantastic.
Seriously, this is one great follow-up to Trigun

I first watched this somehow expecting it to be much like a darker version of Trigun. I was so wrong. The story focuses on mainly two friends, Brandon Heat and his friend Harry, and how they started out from nothing and rose through the ranks of the Millenon organization. To make a long story short there is betrayal, although in the beginning you're not really sure who did the betraying, and Brandon dies, only to come back as Beyond the Grave, and undead being who deals with the nastiest parts of Milleneon which is by this time being run by Harry. My only problem with this series was that there was too much focus on how the guys came up in the world, which while giving a context for what is going on and pretty much explaining everything, it was a little tiresome for me, but I would still highly recommend this to anyone, especially if you like gunfights, love, betrayal, and monsters along the way.