Features:
- Animated
- Color
- Box set
- Dolby
Description:
Twenty-two years before this 2001 sci-fi adventure opens, the Kanagawa region of Japan was devastated by a major earthquake; the "Lost Ground" suffered the most serious damage. A small percentage of the inhabitants who cling to life amid the devastation are Alter Users, whose psychic abilities enable them to create mecha forms of themselves. Hot-tempered, red-haired Kazuma is a powerful Alter who defies all authority. His obstreperous attitude brings him into conflict with Ryuho, a dedicated officer in HOLY, the special police force recruited from the Alters. They command so much power, their battle reconfigures the topography of the Lost Ground. What sets s-CRY-ed apart from formulaic mutant good guys vs. sinister military-industrial cabal series is the relationship between Ryuho and Kazuma. Like evenly matched high school athletes, they pursue a rivalry tinged with admiration and even grudging affection. Ryuho's bond with the brilliant physician Mimori and Kazuma's almost fraternal romance with the eerily puissant Kamani can't compete with the heroes' need to establish who's the strongest, once and for all. s-CRY-ed ends not with the defeat of the screeching Kyoi Mujo and his evil plot, but weeks later, as Kazuma and Ryuho pound the wasabi out of each other, because neither one can bring himself to stop fighting. Like cagey boxers, screenwriter Yosuke Kuroda and director Goro Taniguchi feint and weave, keeping the audience slightly off-balance with their characters' unexpected actions. (Rated 13 and older: violence, mild profanity, grotesque imagery, tobacco use) --Charles Solomon
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