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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

Features:
  • Color
  • Animated


Description:

Although only recently released in the U.S., Gasaraki is already dividing viewers into enthusiastic admirers and detractors who dismiss it as dull and needlessly complicated. In the not-too-distant future, a conflict modeled on the Gulf War rages in the Middle Eastern nation of Belgistan. The defeat of the American-led U.N. ground forces suggests that dictator Colonel Stilbanov has somehow acquired breakthrough weaponry. Meanwhile the powerful Japanese Gowa family is conducting elaborate experiments that combine a Noh dance performance by the Yushiro, the youngest of the brothers, the development of bipedal battle mecha, and an attempt to contact an extremely powerful force from another dimension. Their efforts are thwarted by Miharu, a young woman who can communicate with both Yushiro and the mysterious power. Miharu is a prisoner of the sinister cabal who control Stilbanov. Gasaraki offers some polished animation and interesting mecha designs. But director Ryusuke Takahashi has the unenviable task of setting a convoluted plot in motion while introducing more than a dozen characters, some of whom have very similar names, while others remain unnamed. The story is initially difficult to follow, and Toru Nazaki's script wastes the viewer's time with pseudotechnical instrument readouts and military jargon. Contains these episodes: 1. "On the Ancient Stage of Stone," 2. "Opening Movement," 3. "Tantric Circle," 4. "Mirage." Unrated; suitable for ages 12 and up for violence, largely restricted to machine versus machine, and occasional profanity. --Charles Solomon
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