Betterman - Seeds of Death (Vol. 3)

Rating:
Summary: It's starting to degenerate....
Review: After cleaning up the mess left by the killer worms that appeared in "Tenth Night" Keita, Hinoki, and the rest of the gang head to a special research facility to consult Dr. Umazaki, a wormy scientist who has supposedly been researching future food sources to benefit humanity. Little do they know: Umazaki is the madman behind all the mysterious hanky-panky our heros have been investigating.

Umazaki turns out to be a real crack pot. He's used everything from mind control to genetically engineered insects to reek havoc, all so he can grow animus flowers, which allow Betterman Lamia to transform.

Still with me? Were it not for the visuals in this series and the soundtrack, BETTERMAN would impossible to enjoy. Some of the dialog is a tad cheesy. Besides that, the creators of this series have sprinkled random scenes and flash-backs all over these episodes, which may confuse the viewer rather than enlighten. It's these details that stop me from giving BETTERMAN a full five-star rating.

There are, however, some excellent action sequences in this volume. Keita and Hinoki battle hordes of monstrous insects using their NueroNoid. Unfortunatly, they and the rest of the Akumatsu crew end up going crazy after getting a wiff of Umazaki's latest creation: a huge flower-like creature that uses chemicals to control human beings. The best part of "Seeds of Death" is when Hinoki inhales some of the noxious brew and starts laughing like an idiot, (which is a big change from her moping around calling herself one). We get a little more character development from Shou, but Keita is still the only main character with any deep development. Not that Keita is very appealing, I might add.

This volume is only worth your time if you are a big fan of BETTERMAN. It features four episodes rather than five, but there are still plenty of nice extras.