Product Details

• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Adv Films
• DVD Release Date: November 13, 2007
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000VKJ6YA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #247,549 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Demons exist in our world. Known as "Viruses," they are shells of men and women, sad yet fearsome beings cursed with an insatiable hunger for human souls. The only thing keeping the innocent alive are the Venus Vanguard, an elite group of hunters tasked with the extermination of Viruses. Lucia is their top killer, cold, calculating, and a deadly shot. Fate shines on Lucia when her path crosses Sumire Takahana, a young student with the ability to become a living anti-Virus. There’s just one problem with the Vanguard’s newest recruit – when she enters into a rage, there’s no stopping her!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not what you might think..., June 2, 2008

By 

Timothy Perper (Philadelphia PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Venus Versus Virus, Vol. 1: Outbreak (DVD)

Two pretty girls, one with an eye-patch and a gun, the other with strange powers; demons eating people's souls; magical brooches; a panoply of cliches, eh? But "Venus Versus Virus" (VVV) isn't so pleasant, and it isn't about girls with guns. It's about demonic possession, fear, and revenge.

Many of the reviews I've read of VVV see it as a none-too-well done magical girl show. But VVV defies easy classification and will irritate viewers who cannot see the hatreds and fears that hide beneath the pretty colors.

Ruchia - she has the gun - wakes up in several episodes screaming from nightmares where she cannot escape from her terrors -- and even when she is awake, she simply doesn't have the physical strength to fight demons. By contrast, Sumire is timid and eager to make friends, but she is also terrified, if only because when she goes berserk, she literally rips demons limb from limb and then turns on her friends next... Unlike many other stories about girls who fight bad guy demons, humans, and aliens, in VVV the girls' conflicts are not with external enemies but are internal: fear, loneliness, a crushing sense of being abnormal, and a yearning to have a safe home and family.

Although VVV is not as surreal as "Alien Nine" - which is also about girls who fight aliens amidst their own crushing terrors and confusions - both stories share the premise that life with a gun facing *these* demons is not a happy way to go through adolescence. The animation is not at all elaborate, but the simplicity of design and background creates a perhaps inadvertent minimalist creepiness in which, for example, Sumire stands on a darkened street and starts to scream. Only slowly do multiple-eyed blobby demons materialize, but Sumire just screams as we wait for her to run amok and start tearing them apart with her bare hands. The demons are just unhappy blobby things with lots of eyes, but Sumire is a genuine menace. So it's not the demons that get to you -- it's the chaos in the girls' minds.

In the background is revenge. Ruchia remembers her father killing her mother when Ruchia was a little girl, and she wants him dead. Ruchia's obsessions and Sumire's berserker rage make an excellent match: no one could call the two heroines exactly sane. Ruchia and Sumire's transformation into focused, vengeful killers with immense strength resembles the transformation of shamans described by Carmen Blacker in "The Catalpa Bow," her book about Japanese folk religion. Screaming chaos resolves itself into fury, and the result must either be slippage into insanity and death or elevation into an enlightenment that, against all tenets of Buddhism, seeks the total destruction of the enemy. Ultimately, the issue is power: by awakening the forces who dwell within them, Ruchia and Sumire must die or kill. So, despite cliches about girls with guns, VVV excavates what lies *beneath* the superheroine mask of the magical girl - and much more deeply than one might expect.

Don't bother with VVV if you want a prettily colored anime about pretty girls who bake pretty chocolate cakes for pretty birthday parties. VVV is not light entertainment about girls running around Tokyo saving the world. It's about demonic possession, fear, revenge, and death. So ignore the reviews that say VVV is one more cute magical girl show: it's a lot worse than that. Powerful, yes; pretty, no.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Catchy Virus, June 27, 2010

By 

A. J. BOOTON "AJ-san" (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Venus Versus Virus, Vol. 1: Outbreak (DVD)

Perhaps I have poor taste, but I was instantly hooked on this short series. So much so, I actually seeked out the original ADV release after purchasing the complete series, with the three single discs and wonderful artbox (besides Bandai's magnetic artboxes, I think ADV comes in second with the sturdiest and coolest artboxes); instead of the usual black, clear or sometimes white colour case, the older ADV release came in never-before-seen-by-me light blue-like cases, which goes great with the whole dark, gothic look of the packaging; one thing good about boxed sets being released, the original material is cheaper to hunt down in the long run -- however, the double clear case 2-disc holder of the boxset release was a nice change and surprise from the recent slimcase phenomenon that never protects the disc(s).

I also haven't read the manga, so maybe I remain ignorant; but evenso, I tend to enjoy my visual medium different than the written material, it leaves both to be special in their own right. So I could care less if the anime takes liberty on storytelling or changes up the characters. Crucify me. With that being said, even after the first episode, I was attracted to and very much sucked in by the quick character development and the mysteries that shrouded around certain personalities. I mean, come-on... an antique dealer (Lucia, a one woman Venus Vangaurd) storefront owner who takes on clients that see Virus-es (evil spirits - similar to xxxHolic) and runs a backroom where equipment is developed to fight off these corrupt souls?!? Sign me up.

And then the sweet character girl Sumire, who at times needs to turn beserk-er (Claymore anyone?) in order to further battle the attacking Virus? After being enthralled by such side characters as the cute soulless dolls in xxxHolic, and the battle drone soulless dolls of Murder Princess (another great 6 episode series), I was pleasantly surprised to be introduced to Laura/Lola and her twin sister... another great pair of soulless twin dolls. Bonus. I also have no problem with the hard-shelled bad-arse protagonist of the show ending up with somewhat of a hidden human-soft-side. I thought the quality of animation was great, along with the recorded music and great colour palette used. There was also just the right amount of comedic and serious moments. The only downside to this short release?, simply wishing it was longer.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cool little serie base the manga of the same name, July 7, 2008

By 

Etienne Brousseau (Montreal, QC Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Venus Versus Virus, Vol. 1: Outbreak (DVD)

Venus Versus Virus is a great serie that tells the story of a young girl name Sumire who, after a small accident start to see monsters(virus). With the help of Lucia and her shop Venus Vanguard, Sumire will learn that she might be the solution to the virus problem. The animation is your basic Japanese style with big eyes and so on, so nothing new here, but the music is very strong, especially the opening theme and I really like the 2 main caracter(Lucia, Sumire)+ the story is great. I reccomend strongly.