Product Details

• Actors: Yuri Amano, Robert Chase, Elly Fairman, Megumi Hayashibara, Chieko Honda
• Directors: Hiroshi Negishi
• Writers: Okada Megumu
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• 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: Manga Video
• DVD Release Date: November 27, 2001
• Run Time: 50 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005RDS6
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,309 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Shadow Skill" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't judge this anime by it's cover. It's actually, good!, November 25, 2001

By 

Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Shadow Skill (DVD)

When I first saw the DVD cover, I said to myself...oh geez, not another "hentai" anime. Fortunately, I read about the anime and how popular voice actress - Hayashibara Megumi (Ranma, Video Girl Ai, Slayers, DNA^2, etc.) was doing the voice of Elle the main character and so, curiosity led me to check this anime out.

The anime is a fantasy meets martial arts type storyline. Elle is the master of the "SHADOW SKILL" (also, her nickname) which is a fighting style that female slaves learned with their feet because their arms were chained. Along the way she is joined by several friends, one is a young man named Gau who learns from Elle.

The action is fast paced and has its share of humor but it also has its fare share of violence and a lot of blood.

As for the series, "SHADOW SKILL" is an interesting one because it consists of an OAV series and TV episodes. The DVD features three OAV's combined to make one movie and the epilogue features two episodes from what I believe is from the TV series. You'll see a noticeable difference between the OAV and the TV episodes (and like most anime, most of the time the anime TV series and the OAV series are different).

The OAV features the adventures of Elle and friends and the epilogue spotlights on Elle and Gau and the relationship between teacher and the stubborn student.

The DVD quality is very nice and the audio sounds good via Digital 5.1 but I preferred to watch the Japanese audio track (2 CH) with English subtitles. From what I have heard from the English track, the voice acting was far off from the Japanese version and it wasn't in the same quality compared to other Manga Entertainment dubs.

As for special features, there is a character info. and photo gallery from the series. Also, a trailer and Palm/Manga Entertainment trailers are included.

All in all, "SHADOW SKILL" is a very entertaining anime. Despite it's hentai looking DVD cover, this anime is anything but. Think about it like Slayers, Bastard and a twist of Street Fighter. One can only hope that Manga Entertainment releases the TV series on DVD.

If you are into fighting and fantasy type anime, you may want to check out "SHADOW SKILL", you won't be disappointed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome for the Epilogue alone, August 31, 2006

By 

A. Cozad - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadow Skill (DVD)

I don't know which started first, the series or the movie. The Epilogue alone is what made this DVD worthwhile. It is as other reviews described below with great light and shadowing effects. The action is simply spectacular and will leave the martial artist in you drooling for more. As its name suggests, it takes place pretty much at the end of the Shadow Skill series with Gau and Elle facing each other in combat to see how much Gau has grown as a Shadow Skill fighter. There are no words to describe how great the fight scenes are!

The only downside to this DVD is the actuall movie itself. At first, you can tell it's Anime style is different from the Epilogue. It's alright, but as it progresses on, it's like their funds began to dry up on this project. The Anime progressively looks worse and worse until at one point I swear one of the characters was looking like E.T. with her eyes! I couldn't stand watching any more of it as horrendous as it was looking. THAT and the fact that the movie basically covers the same storyline you can catch in the t.v. series DVDs (which look a lot better and are a lot funnier too!).

But overall this DVD is well worth it for the Epilogue! Don't bother with watching the other half of the DVD being the movie and go for the t.v. series on DVD instead!

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, August 26, 2005

By 

Ronnie Clay "R.C." (Winnsboro, Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadow Skill (DVD)

In a war torn world, a martal art called "Shadow Skill" exists, and you must fight to survive. Although interesting, pretty boring characters and a very hard-to-follow story line with several plot holes (I'm not kidding, and I fully understood "Akira"). However, the bit of story line that does make sense is pretty good, and the fight sequences are excellent.