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45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Veriedian Collection 2 aka The Fullscreen Edition, February 2, 2009
For those of you who do not already know this is the 3rd release of this series. Actually 4th if you count the original single DVD release making this second Viridian Collection so I wanted to clear up the differences between all of them before you arbitrarily just buy the cheapest one. The first release Gunslinger Girl: Complete Box Set is the original single DVD releases in a nice slip case box to store them in together. The second release Gunslinger Girl Box Set - Viridian Collection is the original Viridian Collection containing all of the first release including special features on the disks but in better looking if cardboard "gatefold" style packaging that takes up the size of about a single DVD case. Just a word of warning unlike most "Viridian Collection"s this second release is more than a simple reprice w/ cheaper packaging and lack of inserts but the anime itself differs from all previous US releases. The earlier releases were all in anamorphic widescreen and this is the first time Gunslinger Girl has been released in fullscreen. I guess you can say this fullscreen version is closer to the "original" TV airing in Japan but the others had an excellent 16:9 aspect ration and were enhanced for widescreen TVs like the later Japanese editions were. As for the packaging in this version it has changed yet again so instead of the cardboard "gatefold" style case it now comes in an "omni" case that holds 3 DVDs and is about the size of 1 standard DVD case. Differences from the other boxes aside the anime itself it is excellent and highly recommended. One of my all time favorites. P.S. Funimation you still owe me Gunslinger Girl Vol.3 from the contest I won @ Wizard World LA in 2006.
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38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review of this particular edition, March 12, 2008
This review is from: Gunslinger Girl Box Set - Viridian Collection (DVD)
This is one of my favorite Japanese animation series, but instead of the show itself (you can find tons of reviews on that elsewhere), I'd like to talk about the product and packaging. One has a choice between purchasing this and the previous thinpack collection by Funimation, the "Complete Box Set." I thought the design and art for this volume was a lot better, full of artsy scenes with interesting uses of light. The previous boxset just had somewhat bland pictures of the main characters on a white background. However, the cover image does look a bit "lolicon," which may turn off more prudish viewers. The discs themselves seem to retain all the previous special features. My main dislike of this edition is that the packaging is very light. Instead of the "pop-out" dvd holders, it has cardboard cases you have to slide the DVD's out of. I don't know about you, but I'm always paranoid about my DVD's getting scratched while moving them in and out of such cardboard sleeves. I actually ended up storing them in clear CD jewel cases separate from the box. This version is about $10 cheaper, so I guess I can't really complain, but I would have liked some sturdier and bigger packaging. There are also a few mistakes in episode labeling (the name of episode 9 on disc 2 is switched with another episode name, or something like that). It does seem like Funimation did cut a few corners with this new budget edition.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Politics seen through the eyes of children., December 7, 2008
This review is from: Gunslinger Girl Box Set - Viridian Collection (DVD)
Welcome to Secton 2, where the assassins are both proficient and hard to spot. That's because, in addition to having cybernetic enhancements and mindwipes to keep them conditioned, they are also little girls. If looked at as a morality issue, don't worry: Section 2 takes good care of their young killers. They assign each of them a "brother" to watch after their development, take only the worst cases and actually give them back life, and they work for the "betterment" of society. So what if nobody is allowed to see them in action, that innocents are sometimes killed, and if the lifespan of the girls can be altered if too much conditioning is used? At least they get another chance at life. It has been a while since I've seen an anime that was so collectively complete. Many stop taking lessons from prior shows and just get into killing, and others take the opposite approach and only look at life through political eyes. Gunslinger Girl does both of these and does it in a unique way: instead of having one point-of-view throughout the series, you see life through the girls and the brothers and other people that are involved in various incidents. This means that you see the problems that arise when connections run too deep, when a brother doesn't care, when things spin out-of-control, and through a variety of other measures. The art is superb, the stories are always good and keep building the characters throughout the process, and each person in the show is different. Gunslinger Girl makes sure to make each person a life unto themselves: they do not want confusion to reign, nor do they want generic copies to rule the day. To say I recommend the series is an understatement. I sat down one day and watched the whole series all the way through, then say down again and watched it with others. As I did I caught little things that compounded in the stories, giving me a different perspective each time I watched. That meant that it felt like a new assault on my senses each time, with a range of emotions accompanying each show. If you have never checked out the series, this is a good way to do it. The set is really affordable now, is perfect for watching, and leaves little to chance when it comes to design. I like that - I needed something new in my life to make me want to watch anime again. Many of the shows have become tired and this was a nice breath of air.
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