Product Details

• Actors: Kappei Yamaguchi, Takehito Koyasu, Kyôko Hikami, Junko Iwao, Dave Pettitt
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Bandai
• DVD Release Date: April 1, 2003
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000089QDQ
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #105,389 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Animation > Characters & Series > Betterman

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
After falling by the wayside for several episodes, Algernon, the mysterious monster Keita, Hinoki, Sakura, and the rest of the cast who set out to fight, returns. Revelations pile up as the filmmakers attempt to explain what's going on: Keita had a partial brain transplant as a child, which enables him to synchronize with the "neuronoid" robots so well; Hinoki is Lamia's sister (which explains the matching rainbow hair); etc. The visuals range from CG images of brains to the Aztec Calendar Stone (erroneously described as Peruvian), while the dialogue runs to pseudo-biological jargon, quasi-mystical references, and shameless borrowings from Evangelion. The ultimate monster that Lamia battles (without help from the main characters, Keita and Hinoki) is a rubbery-limbed, two-dimensional golliwog that commands neither power nor menace. The story simply falls apart, and the characters aren't interesting enough to put it together again. (Rated 13 and older: violence, grotesque imagery) --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Better" than many say., December 8, 2003

By	"drallosaurus" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

"Betterman" is the type of anime series that is, essentially, a novel length story told over 26 episodes. Many negative reviews seem to be from viewers who were confused early on, became irritated, and then determined to dislike whatever came next. So much of what is going in the nature and structure of the work is missed. Watched carefully and with concentration, the "Betterman" saga is no muddle. It is exuberant and unrestrained, but isn't that a big part of what we come to anime to see? The dial gets turned to "11" without hesitantion. By the last episode of this final volume, all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. Mysteries unexplained from as far back as the very first episode are now made clear and we see one, complex, sprawling story has been set before us, a small piece at a time. In many ways "Betterman" is an old-fashioned horror/mystery much like H.P. Lovecraft's "At The Mountains of Madness" or "The Shadow out of Time". I recommend watching the complete series, a few episodes at a time, over a period of nights, and you may find the complete work worth your time and attention.