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Gate Keepers - New Fighters (Vol. 2)

Gate Keepers - New Fighters (Vol. 2)

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $26.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not a 5, and not a 4, more like a 4.5
Review: 1.) Episode 4 - Finding a New Warrior - The trio (Reiko being the new addition) are on a mission to look into another potential Gatekeeper: Tyoutarou Banba, also known as Bancho. When Reiko gets lost along the way, it's up to Shun and Ruriko to test if Bancho is indeed a gate keeper. Shun becomes convinced that Bancho is a gate keeper, though Bancho never actually displays the ability, and Bancho ends up tagging along with them to help when invaders are reported to be attacking a rally organized by Bancho's mentor.

2.) Episode 5 - Run Towards Your Dream! - A.E.G.I.S. introduces the Gatekeepers to a potential recruit, Kaoru Konoe. She demonstrates amazing athletic skill, but she surprises them by saying she refuses to join A.E.G.I.S. Shun, along with the rest of the team, try to convince her to join, but she doesn't want to, because she doesn't see the point if she's "going to win anyway". When she witnesses an attack by invaders, however, she might just change her mind...

3.) Episode 6 - After a particularly disorganized battle, Shirei decides the team needs a captain and sets elections for the next meeting. Shun, Ruriko and Megane are front runners after the coveted position. Meanwhile, there are strange happenings going on in Kaoru and Reiko's dormitory, and only they seem to have noticed. The gate keepers are on the case, motivated by the fact that whoever solves the mystery will most likely be elected as the team captain

In this DVD you get another AEGIS card of Shun and the cover continues to have the reverse Japanese cover. The animation is still very superior to other series. This disc also managed to keep up the energy and feel of the first couple of episodes nicely, even with things being the typical plot of bringing in more teammates. It really comes down to the old adage of there being nothing new to tell, but an infinite number of ways to tell it. It's all about the execution of the story, and Gatekeepers succeeds in spades.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It's me again
Review: Oh, I never mentioned the extras they give you in the first DVD. Well, you get two ikkle AEGIS cards: one for you and one for Ruriko. (However, you only get one in the second DVD, and that's Shun's.) The other cool stuff is on the DVD itself. You'll get to look at line drawings (they should have more of these) and more graphics. Pretty alright.

But the episode introducing Bancho is a bit of a bore. You feel as if the GateKeeper of Time has decided to torture you in a timeloop and the episode seems to go on forever... But Bancho's a funny guy, so maybe that'll help things move along. You're given an ounce more of information from Shirei, as well as learning his ultimate pet peeve; and two more GateKeepers are discovered. You'll feel the frustration of Ruriko interviewing... (man, I've forgotten her name!)... Piano Girl every time she pops up in an episode. And the strange thing is... She doesn't do anything! She doesn't mess up like Shun or go all out like Ruriko! She just shrugs and cheerleads! Koaru's pretty different and, due to either my misinterpretation or a foggy translation of the Japanese script, hard to understand when it comes to explaining her lack of GateKeeping entusiasm.

Once Kaoru's on the scene, the love triangle is born. And the Invaders just keep on coming...


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