To Kazuki Muto it all seems like a dream when he recalls saving a young girl from a strange monster, but dying in doing so. An encounter with a teacher who changes into something else – and finding his lost backpack in a location from his dream – jolt him, but not as much as having his life saved by the girl from his dream. He learns that Tokiko Tsumura, the girl from his dream, is an Alchemist Warrior who is trying to save the world from monsters called homunculi.

Tokiko saved his life by replaced his ripped out heart with a medallion called a kakugane – a magical device that gives its owner a powerful weapon, called a Buso Renkin, that is the essence of the person’s fighting spirit [in his case a spear with a long haft and a trailing red banner]. He learns that homunculi eat humans to life – the younger the better! Because he is the person he is, he insists on joining the fight.

The Buso Renkin Box Set #1 collects the first thirteen episodes of the popular series and introduces Kazuki [and us] to a world unlike anything he’s ever encountered. We meet his friends [the usual gang of idiots who complicate things at the worst possible moment, or get jealous of his new “girlfriend”], his sister [who is already pretending that Tokiko and her brother will marry – making Tokiko her sister-in-in-law], and several villains from the world of the homunculi – though not all of them are, in fact, homunculi.

The series is smart, wickedly funny and very entertaining. The Buso Renkins of the various Alchemist Warriors [and some homunculi] are wildly diverse and create unique battles. The characters are engaging and the pacing is fast enough to keep the viewer engaged, even during the character and exposition arcs. The first thirteen eps doing a very nice job of introducing the main characters and establishing the series mythology – and are entertaining as heck, to boot.

Features: Three Audio Commentaries [by the English vocal cast]: Episode One: A New Life; Episode Six [The Butterfly of Black Death], and Episode Nine: The Hayasaka Twins; Behind the Scenes of Buso Renkin, and a set of Postcards featuring various characters. The set comes in a bookcase-styled package with a card stock slipcase with embossed print.

Grade: Buso Renkin – Box Set 1 – B+

Grade: Features – A

Final Grade: A-

Imagine, if you will, that you could easily, and in total anonymity, execute criminals who had gotten off on a technicality. Not only that, but the only person who could even hope to figure out your identity was a consultant for the police – and your father was the police chief. This is the situation in which Light, a young man who has come into possession of a Death Note.

By the time Volume Four opens, Light has made an impact on crime but somehow not completely covered his tracks. Even better [or worse, if you’re the police], there is a second person who seems capable of the same kind of vigilante justice. Light has become known as “Kira” to the police, so he thinks of this new person as the Second Kira. And did I mention that each owner of a Death Note has a supernatural companion? Well, they do.

Throughout the four episodes on DN4, the cat and mouse game between Light and L [the aforementioned investigative consultant] is twisted and complex. The capture and interrogation of the Second Kira ties Light to a rising young model/actress and the series’ complications seem to grow at, pardon the expression, light speed. Because of the nature of the duel of the minds between Light and L, the writing needs to be sharp or we would never believe it – and it is that sharp and more [check out the reasoning behind the police chief having himself put behind bars!].

The animation is solid and the character designs seem a bit sharper than one might be used to. Both voice casts are excellent at sustaining the appropriate moods, and the overall effect is just about perfect [I’m definitely going to watch for the first box set!].

Features include: Audio Commentary [English Voice Cast] on Episode 14, “Friend,” Behind the Scenes: English Voice Cast Interviews and Recording Sections, and Production Art.

Grade: Death Note, Volume 4 – B+

Grade: Features – B+

Final Grade: B+

Let’s be clear on this – I have never seen any of the Speed Racer anime´ nor have I seen any of the manga, and am barely aware of vintage merchandizing. Now that we have that out of the way, I have to say that, as a Speed Racer virgin, the brightly-colored film by the Wachowski Brothers is a lot of fun.

Emile Hirsch rocks as the title character, a boy in the process of becoming a man – and a believer in fair play when it appears that there hasn’t been any in professional racer since, well, ever. His rock solid family [John Goodman as Pops Racer, Susan Sarandon as Mom Racer and Paulie Litt as younger brother Spritel], pet chimp, Chim Chim and girlfriend Trixie [a very anime´ looking Christina Ricci] give him the courage to turn down an offer to sign with the top team – at which point he learns of the real nature of his beloved sport. From there it’s only a matter of winning a couple of races [against an entire field of cheaters] and bringing down the Royalton Racing Team [the team he turned down]. Nothing to it – not!

While there’s not a lot of plot to Speed Racer, there’s almost always lots going on as Speed - with the help of the mysterious Racer X [sure it’s not hard to make the connection between him and Speed’s older brother, who is supposed to have died, but it’s a convention – just like nobody recognizing Superman behind Clark Kent’s specs. Deal with it and move on!]. The races are beautifully staged exercises in gladiatorial driving; the fight sequences really capturing the odd, freeze-frame style of anime´ and manga; the cast is clearly having more fun than should be legal, and the whole thing just feels good. The only real flaw in the film is that it’s just a wee bit too talky – but that hardly matters.

For a movie with a candy-colored world [the bright, shiny color of fresh hard candy – not the pastels of rock candy], the emphasis is on the kind of grounding that a good family provides and the kind of justice that is most deserved – the justice of the untouchable evil being brought down by one man with a mission. This may be my first encounter with Speed Racer but it won’t be my last.

Final Grade: A

Tonight the Independent Film Channel premieres the anime´ series Speed Grapher [11 p.m. EST] – a series that features an ex-war photographer who stumbles onto the story of the century – a kind of Hellfire Club for the rich and powerful of Japan.

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Considering the proliferation of animation on DVD, and considering that the dozens of DVDs I received for review constituted a drop in the bucket, here are my picks as best animation/anime´ DVDs of 2007.

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