Product Details

• Format: Animated, Box set, NTSC, 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: 7
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Funimation Prod
• DVD Release Date: July 14, 2009
• Run Time: 650 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00284EM46
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,305 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Back from the grave… back for murder.

For Brandon Heat, death doesn't matter. Driven by his need for revenge, he returns from beyond the grave to cripple Milleneon, the huge mafia organization that uses undead monsters as its enforcers. His ultimate goal will be to destroy Harry MacDowel, the leader of Milleneon and, at one time, Brandon's best friend...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Protect and Never Betray, February 25, 2010

By 

DC_Fan_52 "-Weasel!" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Gungrave: The Complete Series Box Set (DVD)

Gungrave tells the tale of two best friends put on the path of their own destruction. Brandon and Harry are two street hoods who join the mafia and begin the climb the ladder, and their ascension makes a mark on everyone around them.

Gungrave is a noir, mafia story with an anime twist. It deals with the internal politics of the mob at first, before it becomes something personal for our main characters. Despite being in the business of killing, the Millenion syndicate has an unbreakable law, "Protect, and never betray the family." The "Code of Iron" drives the entire anime.

Gungrave is not a shounen. It's closer to Cowboy Bebop and Trigun at certain points. There are no bombastic characters in the mafia. These are hired killers that disassociate themselves from their dirty business. The first half of the series focuses on Bradon's, the main character, memories of the time before he died. The anime twist are the horrors that unchecked ambition created, that Brandon must fight in the second half of the series. Despite being centered around organized crime, the violence doesn't feel gratuitous, there is no drug use, and matters of love (of any kind) are relatively tame.

I definitely think Gungrave is worth a second look. If you liked Trigun and Cowboy Bebop, give this a shot. You might be pleasantly surprised.

I gaze at that gray haired hulk and think, "Beyong the Grave" was once a man. A man named Brandon Heat.


I want to mention that you might want to skip the first episode of the series. It's supposed to entice you to watch more, but most might consider it misleading and confusing. Episode 2 is a much better place to start, IMO.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Nice Series Of Revenge and Betrayal But Also Of Forgiveness And Redemption, September 23, 2009

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gungrave: The Complete Series Box Set (DVD)

If You already have anime series like Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, or Wolfs rain here's another fantastic series for your collection. The series gives a nice backdrop of the two main characters and their differing points of view on life and while they disagree on some views they are the best of friends, though the main story-plot does have on betray the other for his own rise to power within a powerful organization. The dead apparently don't stay dead though in this series and through science the betrayed friend is brought back to life to protect a very important person from the organization that is now run by the very friend that betrayed and murdered him. What you'll truly appreciate and grow to like is how throughout the years the betrayer has hidden regrets for his choices and a wish to redeem his sins that he's made in his life. That is probably the most heartfelt parts of the series as you see the bygone years of these two friends as they rise from street hoodlums to great power and money in their careers, but you also see the cost for theses choices as their friends are killed, personal sacrifices are made for their positions or remaining living friends, and finally the one choice that ends with one friend dead and another to gain ultimate power but at the cost of his remaining happiness. The ending fits the storyline greatly and while may annoy some viewers with how it ends it's still a nice climax for the two friends to find salvation and peace within themselves and each other. The video is clear and sharp with no blurriness or distortions to worry about and the audio was great as well the voice cast for the Japanese and English actors/actresses were great for their roles, the extras sadly aren't much just the usual trailers and textless intro/ending songs but that's about it. The box sets has seven dvds put into an individual slim cases and put into a paper sleeve. So if you like the dark drama animes with a lot of action, gunfights, and drama with a entertaining storyline with it here's a great choice to try out and for this price well worth it...

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never Betray The Family, July 15, 2009

By 

Athrun Aznable - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gungrave: The Complete Series Box Set (DVD)

This is an excellent anime, which there are far too few of. Brandon Heat (Beyond the Grave) is the main character. He is mostly calm and cool, which seems to be a contradiction between the way he behaves and his name. He is basically raised on the streets with his friends, but finds love...to bad she becomes adopted by Big Daddy after her adopted uncle passes away. Big Daddy is the head of an organization comparable to the mafia, hence the title of this review. He is a very likable character, not the villian. He eventually allows Brandon to see his love, Maria, but only on supervised visits, since he now works for the organization. The anime follows along with death, love, betrayal, and revenge. The story becomes over the top around halfway through the show, with people being brought back to life for the purpose of powerful soldiers, which the new leader of the oraganization quickly seizes upon and sells them on the black market to conflict zones. This anime shows the possiblities of science, as well as humanity in its mafia style setup. This is an exceptional anime that should not be missed. I rate it #1, followed by Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Gundam 0083, and many many others. This will always be my favorite.