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Gasaraki - The Summoning (Vol. 1)

Gasaraki - The Summoning (Vol. 1)

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

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Interesting Plot and Superb Animation
Review: I first picked up a copy of Gasaraki after hearing that it was from the guys that made Mobile Suit Gundam and Patlabor so great. Gasaraki also has a shot for greatness . Due to time constraints, I put it on my shelf after only watching the first episode. Thankfully, when I had some free time, I popped it into my DVD player again and was glad I did. Near the end, I found myself wanting to go out and buy the second DVD to continue the story. Average anime fans might find Gasaraki a little bit slow at parts due to the fact that the majority of the time deals more with the characters and less with the mecha and battles. But then things start to speed up as we find out what's really going on on Belgistan...

Unlike other mecha animes, the TAs (tactical armors)in Gasaraki do not distinctly have "faces", so the mecha become less characters in the anime and more functional machines. Contrary to some belief, the plot of Gasaraki seems very orignial, and takes a more realistic approach to mecha. In fact, throughout the begining, there are only 2 mechs that actually appear in the show. Just like current military research and development, the next generation TA would probably roll off the production line in at least ten years after its present predecesor. This is very much a political thriller, and under all the government involvement, two separate companies are actually fueling the war for their own purposes. The english voices are suprisingly pretty good too, and fit the characters well. While the first episode may not fully grab everyone's interest, sit this one through to the end and you'll find yourself liking it more than you thought, at least I did. While the extras just give a brief overview of Gasaraki and then basically direct you to ADV's website for more, the glossary was kinda nice just to brush up on some of the characters and their roles. A little confusing at first but then getting better, Gasaraki proves there is more to it by the end of the first DVD.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Nice animation but kinda boring
Review: I picked this video up under the assumption that it was something like Gundam and Evangelion. It is, and it's not particularly original. The animation is better than a lot I've seen, but that's one of the few good things I can say about it. The characters are monotonous and the story line is too confusing to get anything out of. The mecha is realistic but boring. I'm completely lost on the whole Noh thing! This video didn't offer me anything I hadn't seen anywhere else, and to top it off, it was confusing and boring, so I can't really reccomend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow.
Review: I saw this only a little while ago and I must say that it is one fantastic series. It is reminiscent of Neon Genisis Evangelion, only instead of human in robots vs. aliens, it's company vs. company. It has great character design < much like NGE>, and the mecha's good too. If you like Neon Genesis Evangelion, I recommend you see this series. At first glance it may seem like an imataion, but it's much more than that.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: not for me
Review: I thought that this series was going to be as good as Neon Genesis, but it dosen't come close. In Those regards it is nothing like that series at all. There is this espionage thing going on, there is this mecha thing going on, and there is this crazy dancing stuff. What does it have to do with each other? They never explain it in these four episodes, and all these elements feel like seperate different anime themes just thrown into the mix. The anime itself has some good art to it, but without the story to back it up you find yourself baffled while watching it. At times you felt that there was a build up to some excitement, an explanation, or even something interesting, but the episode would just end at that point. The next episode would not build on this excitement, but would just add more elements to the unexplained story. The overall feel is that you started watching this in the middle of the series. If you like espionage, mechas, and crazy things then this is right to your tastes.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Bland and Boring
Review: I'll jump right to the chase: Everything this anime has, we've seen done before twice as well. It begins with a bunch of conspiratorial scientists trying to summon some extradimensional entity. They fail, but don't seem too dissapointed. Instead, they shift their attention to the UN's latest war. It seems that a recent weapons test has drawn America into yet another campaign against some pissant nation. This, our conspirators believe, will be the best opportunity to use their new mecha in combat. Here's where it gets boring. For about an hour and a half we watch a bunch of men in suits talking and debating. We get to see press conferences of the war, which is nothing new. The dialogue could have been from our latest conflict in Kosovo. We've heard it before in real life. Then the characters spend some time convincing the UN to use their new mecha. Again, they rehash things we've heard before in other shows. Anyone who has read any Shirow manga will be downright bored as they review mecha applications. The film is apparently attempting to have a military feel, but it fails on that count too. Anyone who knows anything about the military will immeadiately recognize glaring errors. The insignia, callsigns, procedures, and customs are all totally, horribly wrong. This would be forgiveable if the army only made brief appearances, but the entire show seems centered around military action. When the guns finally start going off, it is again covering old ground. The things that surprise the characters are old news to the audience. Macross, Evangelion, Masamune Shirow, and even Robert Heinlen have shown us mecha that are far more interesting than what we're presented with. They're just... bland. Perhaps the worst part of the whole show is the characters themselves. Where Eva and Macross had characters with distinct personality traits, all of the characters in this show are made out of cardboard. They have no outstanding characteristics and nothing we can identify with. I hate to say it again, but they're just... bland. The tape ends with a cliffhanger, as opposing mecha squads are about to battle each other. The problem is, I don't care who lives and who dies because they're all the same. There's nothing in this movie that really catches your attention or even gives you a reason to keep watching. So the bottom line for this video is... been there, done that, got the T-shirt. If you're new to anime you won't find anything really impressive here and if you're an anime veteran you'll probably be bored.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waste of time
Review: I'm not one to write off a confusing Anime. I still don't fully understand Lain or Boogiepop Phantom. But at least with these animes I understood the basic idea of the story and by the end I had resolution. Gasaraki just left me dazed and confused. Don't waste your time with this. There are tons of anime out there and most of them are way more worth spending time on then this one. Honestly I wouldn't even give it one star. Please, please, please go check out something else like Lain, Boogiepop Phantom, Trigun, GTO, Bubblegum Crisis 2040, Cowboy Bepop, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi, Samurai X. Need anymore suggestions?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waste of time
Review: I'm not one to write off a confusing Anime. I still don't fully understand Lain or Boogiepop Phantom. But at least with these animes I understood the basic idea of the story and by the end I had resolution. Gasaraki just left me dazed and confused. Don't waste your time with this. There are tons of anime out there and most of them are way more worth spending time on then this one. Honestly I wouldn't even give it one star. Please, please, please go check out something else like Lain, Boogiepop Phantom, Trigun, GTO, Bubblegum Crisis 2040, Cowboy Bepop, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi, Samurai X. Need anymore suggestions?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Very boring...stay away from this one!
Review: I've seen and have many Japanese animation titles and believe me, don't waste your time with this one. I don't know where these other people reviewing this are coming from, but this was so boring that I could hardly stay awake. The plot, characters and animation is very bad...whoever said the animation is great in this is full of it! You want to see good animation? Watch "Ghost in the Shell" or "Blue Submarine #6" and both of those have GREAT stories to boot. Other good ones are "Trigun", "Akira", "Outlaw Star", "Cowboy Beebop", and "Escaflowne: The Movie" just to name a few. Save your money and time and STAY away from this one.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Very boring...stay away from this one!
Review: I've seen and have many Japanese animation titles and believe me, don't waste your time with this one. I don't know where these other people reviewing this are coming from, but this was so boring that I could hardly stay awake. The plot, characters and animation is very bad...whoever said the animation is great in this is full of it! You want to see good animation? Watch "Ghost in the Shell" or "Blue Submarine #6" and both of those have GREAT stories to boot. Other good ones are "Trigun", "Akira", "Outlaw Star", "Cowboy Beebop", and "Escaflowne: The Movie" just to name a few. Save your money and time and STAY away from this one.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tom Clancy-esque
Review: If Tom Clancy was a Japanese writer and incorporated mechas/robots to his novels, Gasaraki would be his work. Gasaraki (at least the first disc) has everything a Clancy novel has, i.e. techno-thriller, political intrigue, military combat, clandestine operations, and more! Okay, so the Kai/Gasara sub-plot is a bit far-fetched, but that's what makes it so interesting. I got hooked to this series at the Dance of Gasara. There is much more I like about this series (and hopefully it continues that way in future discs), but I'll let you discover them for yourself. If you like sci-fi anime and Tom Clancy novels, I highly recommend Gasaraki.


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