Star Blazers - The Comet Empire - Series 2, Part II (Episodes 6-9)

Rating:
Summary: The Looming Threat...(plus some cool features!!!)
Review: Star Blazers: The Comet Empire Part II, contains episodes 6-9 (out of 26) of the second season of the cult-favorite Americanized Japanese Anime series from the early 1980s.
In addition, the DVD also contains more animation galleries and a pretty cool interview with two of the voice actors from the series.

The Comet Empire Saga picks up where the Quest for Iscandar leaves off. Two years has passed since the Starforce returned from Iscandar with the Cosmo DNA restoring earth to all its glory following the waves Gamilon planet bombing. Mankind has risen out of the ashes and restored itself again to a thriving civilization. With everything seemingly returned to normal the stage is set again for the fate of mankind to take another dramatic turn for the worse as an even bigger and more treacherous foe looms in the darkness of space, threatening to destroy mankind once and for all...

In this particular volume the Star Force, having gone against all orders from Earth Command, is traveling throughout the galaxy searching for clues as to what the mysterious White Comet truly is and just who sent the mysterious plea for help.

Here is a summary of the five episodes included on this DVD:

Episode 6: The Star Force comes to the aide of the Space Marines base on the Planet Broomis after the base is attacked by a detachment from the Comet Empire.

Episode 7: What could destroy the Argo first, the invisible submarine sent by the Comet Empire or the newly integrated Space Marines who just can't seem to get along with their hosts???? Plus, more mysterious cries for help from space!!!

Episode 8: While continuing to track the frantic pleas for help from Telezart, the Star Force becomes entrapped in a deadly Space Time Storm that threatens to rip them to shreds!!! Should they get past this threat they may finally find out the answers to who is their mysterious benefactress and just what is the threat of the mysterious White Comet hurtling toward Earth.

Episode 9: The Star Force captures an enemy pilot and comes face-to-face with the enemy fleet!!!

In addition to the above great episodes, the DVD also contains these following exclusive (and pretty darn cool!!!) special features:

1. A 15-minute interview with Ken Meseroll and Eddie Allen, the voice actors who voiced Derek Wildstar and Leader Desslok. This part I of a continuing interview that will be featured in subsequent releases of the series. It's a pretty cool interview where the two men talk about how they landed their roles and how the audio voice over process was done. You get some insights into some of the issues such as translation from the original Japanese versions, getting the voice tracks synced up correctly with the animations, etc. All-in-all, it's a nice bonus.

2. More Nifty Galleries and Write-Ups: The DVD also contains three additional galleries featuring schematics or animations with write-ups for the following topics:

a. Inside the Argo: Great information about the upgrades made to the Argo from "Quest for Iscandar" to the "Comet Empire" saga.

b. Star Force Equipment: More cool information about the Star Force's planes, weapons and other equipment.

c. Desslok and the Gamilons: Great background story as to what happened to Desslok and his followers in the two years between "Quest for Iscandar" and "Comet Empire" and their new and deadly ally.

Summed up, the DVD extras are a great extra as they fill a lot of the blanks storywise and provide great background. Plus, the interviews are pretty interesting. Overall, the bonuses are a winner.

Overall, the Comet Empire saga, in my opinion, is definitely the best story arc out of all three Star Blazers sagas. This particular volume continues the slow burn to the ultra-intense showdowns between the respective forces. The best is yet to come.

Summed up, if you were ever a Star Blazers fan, give this (and all past and future volumes) a watch. It's great for a trip down memory lane. If you've NEVER seen Star Blazers, give it a try. It's a cult classic from the 80's (along with other Americanized anime greats like Robotech, Voltron, Transor Z, etc). The animation may look slightly dated, but the storyline still holds its own very well against anything out there today. Due to limited distribution this show may have slipped by the radar of a lot of people but it caught on like a fire with those who did catch it. Give it a watch and see what all the commotion was about.

Highest Recommendation

Rating:
Summary: The Looming Threat...(plus some cool features!!!)
Review: Star Blazers: The Comet Empire Part II, contains episodes 6-9 (out of 26) of the second season of the cult-favorite Americanized Japanese Anime series from the early 1980s.
In addition, the DVD also contains more animation galleries and a pretty cool interview with two of the voice actors from the series.

The Comet Empire Saga picks up where the Quest for Iscandar leaves off. Two years has passed since the Starforce returned from Iscandar with the Cosmo DNA restoring earth to all its glory following the waves Gamilon planet bombing. Mankind has risen out of the ashes and restored itself again to a thriving civilization. With everything seemingly returned to normal the stage is set again for the fate of mankind to take another dramatic turn for the worse as an even bigger and more treacherous foe looms in the darkness of space, threatening to destroy mankind once and for all...

In this particular volume the Star Force, having gone against all orders from Earth Command, is traveling throughout the galaxy searching for clues as to what the mysterious White Comet truly is and just who sent the mysterious plea for help.

Here is a summary of the five episodes included on this DVD:

Episode 6: The Star Force comes to the aide of the Space Marines base on the Planet Broomis after the base is attacked by a detachment from the Comet Empire.

Episode 7: What could destroy the Argo first, the invisible submarine sent by the Comet Empire or the newly integrated Space Marines who just can't seem to get along with their hosts???? Plus, more mysterious cries for help from space!!!

Episode 8: While continuing to track the frantic pleas for help from Telezart, the Star Force becomes entrapped in a deadly Space Time Storm that threatens to rip them to shreds!!! Should they get past this threat they may finally find out the answers to who is their mysterious benefactress and just what is the threat of the mysterious White Comet hurtling toward Earth.

Episode 9: The Star Force captures an enemy pilot and comes face-to-face with the enemy fleet!!!

In addition to the above great episodes, the DVD also contains these following exclusive (and pretty darn cool!!!) special features:

1.A 15-minute interview with Ken Meseroll and Eddie Allen, the voice actors who voiced Derek Wildstar and Leader Desslok. This part I of a continuing interview that will be featured in subsequent releases of the series. It's a pretty cool interview where the two men talk about how they landed their roles and how the audio voice over process was done. You get some insights into some of the issues such as translation from the original Japanese versions, getting the voice tracks synced up correctly with the animations, etc. All-in-all, it's a nice bonus.

2.More Nifty Galleries and Write-Ups: The DVD also contains three additional galleries featuring schematics or animations with write-ups for the following topics:

a.Inside the Argo: Great information about the upgrades made to the Argo from "Quest for Iscandar" to the "Comet Empire" saga.

b.Star Force Equipment: More cool information about the Star Force's planes, weapons and other equipment.

c.Desslok and the Gamilons: Great background story as to what happened to Desslok and his followers in the two years between "Quest for Iscandar" and "Comet Empire" and their new and deadly ally.

Summed up, the DVD extras are a great extra as they fill a lot of the blanks storywise and provide great background. Plus, the interviews are pretty interesting. Overall, the bonuses are a winner.

Overall, the Comet Empire saga, in my opinion, is definitely the best story arc out of all three Star Blazers sagas. This particular volume continues the slow burn to the ultra-intense showdowns between the respective forces. The best is yet to come.

Summed up, if you were ever a Star Blazers fan, give this (and all past and future volumes) a watch. It's great for a trip down memory lane. If you've NEVER seen Star Blazers, give it a try. It's a cult classic from the 80's (along with other Americanized anime greats like Robotech, Voltron, Transor Z, etc). The animation may look slightly dated, but the storyline still holds its own very well against anything out there today. Due to limited distribution this show may have slipped by the radar of a lot of people but it caught on like a fire with those who did catch it. Give it a watch and see what all the commotion was about.

Highest Recommendation