Gasaraki-Volume 2: Circle Opens, The (1998)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	Main Menu Audio & Animation Gallery-Episode Production Sheets Notes-J.S.S.D.F. Profiles Notes-Glossary Theatrical Trailer Trailer-Neon Genesis Evangelion; Martian Successor Nadesico Trailer-Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 DVD Credits
Rating
Year Of Production	1998
Running Time	73:54 (Case: 75)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Ryosuke Takahashi
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Nobuyuki Hiyama Mami Kingetsu Yuji Takada Sho Hayami Isshin Chiba Satomi Korogi Takehiro Koyama Seiko Fujiki
Case	Click
RPI	$29.95	Music	Kuniaki Haijima

    Gasaraki is an animated Japanese television series centred around a group of soldiers who pilot a new series of revolutionary weapons in the form of large mechanized robots.

    Yushiro Gowa is a member of the Japanese Special Self Defense Force (JSSDF) and is the lead pilot in a group that are helping to test a revolutionary new weapons platform. This new weapons system is based upon large mechanized robots, called Tactical Armor (TA), that have been developed in secret by the Gowa corporation. This corporation has strong and influential ties with both the military and the government and is headed by Yushiro's father. The company is also conducting research into a mysterious energy source that is somehow summoned when Yushiro performs a traditional Noh dance. Gowa is not the only group investigating this phenomenon - a rival corporation is conducting similar research.

    The series contains realistic mecha designs by Izubuchi Yutaka who also worked on Patlabor 2 and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. These designs are coupled with numerous realistic action and combat sequences that will definitely appeal to any fans of the genre. In addition to the impressive mecha fighting sequences, the show contains an intriguing storyline with numerous political subplots and an investigation of the mysterious spiritual forces.

    This series was first released in 1998 and consists of twenty five episodes that will be released on a collection of eight discs. The show contains a mixture of computer generated animation as well as traditional cel type animation. These different types of footage are well integrated and the action blends easily between them.

    This DVD release contains the following three episodes. I have included a very short description for each but as these may contain some very minor spoilers you may wish to skip directly to the Transfer Quality section.

The Touching
    The TAs are involved in their first hand to hand combat and they find the geographical location causes problems they had not anticipated. Yushiro comes face to face with the girl in his vision.

The Puppet
    The war comes to a sudden end and the forces prepare to pull out. Yushiro leaves to regroup and heads to a temple to try and find Miharu.

Return
    Yushiro and Miharu are rescued by a mysterious person and it is not clear if they work for Gowa, Symbol or another group. The group make their way out of Belgistan and encounter strong resistance forcing them to devise a daring counter attack.

Video

    During these episodes, a number of artefacts are intentionally animated while screen displays and video footage are presented. These artefacts are often used to alert viewers that the images portrayed are being displayed on a monitor and these are not distracting once you become aware of their presence.

    The full frame transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is consistently sharp and clearly reveals the detailed animation. No low level noise was detected at any stage during the transfer. The transfer displays excellent shadow detail and the animation shows a surprising level of detail in the dark backgrounds.

    The transfer utilizes a wide range of colours including many subtle shadings and these are always cleanly and accurately portrayed.

    A small amount of Gibb artefact ringing is visible during the closing title sequence for each episode. This is quite minor and is only slightly distracting.

    As often seen during anime transfers, the fine lines in the drawings do produce a number of aliasing artefacts. Some examples of this aliasing may be seen at 21:26, 31:09, 32:03, 33:31 and 35:29. Each of these artefacts are quite minor but due to their frequency they are moderately distracting to the viewer.

    A number of very minor film artefacts may be seen during the transfer. Examples of these artefacts may be seen at 10:21, 12:38, 27:40 and 34:47. All of these artefacts are very small and are never distracting.

    A single set of English subtitles are provided on this disc and they display the same problems as the first disc in the series. These subtitles are usually presented in yellow but on a number of occasions when multiple people are speaking, lines will appear in black. Unfortunately, these black subtitles are extremely hard to read and often blend into the background forcing the viewer to pause the disc to be able to read these sections. Hopefully, this problem will be corrected on future discs as it is extremely annoying to the viewer. A set of burned in lyric subtitles appear during the closing titles sequence for each episode.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The dialogue was always clear and easy to understand during both tracks.

    As this is an animated feature, there are the expected obvious problems with audio sync for each soundtrack. No dropouts were detected at any stage during the transfer.

    The score by Kuniaki Haijima features a number of traditional Japanese musical pieces and this works well with the on-screen action helping to bridge the traditional mystical and modern military worlds.

    The surround and subwoofer channels were not utilised during the transfer.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Episode Production Sheets

    This is a collection of fourteen designs of characters and vehicles from the show each with a single page description.

JSSDF Profiles

    This is a collection of nine short profiles of different members of the Japan Special Self Defense Force.

Glossary

    This is a collection and explanation of five different terms from the show.

Trailer: Gasaraki (1:31)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with an English musical Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Trailer: Neon Genesis Evangelion (1:08)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a musical Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Trailer: Martian Successor Nadesico (1:31)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Japanese musical Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Trailer: Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 (1:27)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a musical Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Interview with assistant director Goro Taniguchi
• Production notes

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• Nothing

    As the Region 1 version of this disc does not have the subtitle legibility problem and includes a series of production notes and a short interview, my slight preference would be for this disc. Hopefully these extras will be included on future discs released in the series.

    Gasaraki is an enjoyable animated series that features well designed mecha and an interesting political subplot.

    The video transfer is acceptable but is let down by a relatively high number of aliasing artefacts and a number of almost unreadable black subtitle sections.

    The audio transfer should appeal to both fans of subs and dubs.

    The extras included are interesting but the exclusion of the production and interview notes found on the Region 1 version of the disc is disappointing.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall