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| Reviewed by: Jason White 07 Nov 2005 Fafner: Volume Two
| |  Getting back finally to some anime, we take a look at the volume 2 release of Fafner, titled, Ultimate Sacrifice, which features another 4 episodes of the show in uncut format. From Geneon, this is another quality release. My only question is why this show gets 4 eps for a volume 2 but other shows such as Tenjho Tenge only get 3?
From volume 1: Fans of Gundam SEED will like this show as they share the same mecha designer as well as having pretty similar stories so far. The show opens with life on an island called Tatsumiya which has a city on it with a number of modern conveniences but mostly an older look to it all. We meet a few of the main characters that are high school age type kids. Once the quick intro of what regular life is like for them, it all get interrupted and soon everyone is shuffled off to shelters. Seems an alien race known as Festum is attacking them, and all the adults are pretty calm about it and have dual roles as defense members. Even teachers and what not are now different as they assume their defense roles. The main weapon against the aliens is the mecha known as Fafner. The pilot for it, their one and only, gets killed in the first wave of attacks. To defend latter attacks, they have to find a new pilot. Seems the Fafner uses specially engineered people to operate it, and young Kazuki who has no idea of what is going on, is one that has been properly bred. He has to learn fast. Also, to fix their past mistake, those in charge decide to recruit a few young pilots so that they can have backups just in case. Most are shocked or in disbelief, but one young man seems fully aware and ready for the task.
The episodes on volume 2 deal with the characters, on their new roles, on their acceptance of it, and all that. Good development stuff and exposition. Especially of note is near the end of this volume, a main character makes the ultimate sacrifice for his friends and family, which really sinks in the situation to the new pilot teens.
Fafner volume 2 is presented in 1.33:1 full frame. Quality is very good here as expected, with excellent backgrounds and very smooth action transitions. The CGI is nicely integrated and the compression gives way to no issues with aliasing, shimmer or bleed.
Audio is Dolby 2.0 in English and Japanese. Good stuff with directional effects and plenty of forward movement. Clear dialogue and distortion free. Typical of what we have been getting with all these recent anime releases. In other words very enjoyable audio.
Extras consist of some Japanese cover scans, some Geneon previews, and some reversible cover art.
While not the most original in any way, Fafner takes quality over newness. Solid drama and action plus well developed characters. While mecha shows don’t break much new ground, at least doing it well can certainly be appreciated and Fafner seems on track to be a very rewarding show for fans.
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Copyright (c) 2007 Rock Star Media Works, Inc. All rights reserved.
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