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PES 2015 Review

November 24, 2014

PES 2015
Developer: PES Productions
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: Playstation 4,Playstation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Xbox 360
Release Date: November 11, 2014
Price: $59.99 USD – Available Here $89.95 AUD –Available Here

Overview
Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer (also known as PES) franchise has been around for years, comfortably sitting as the “other” go to experience for fans of the sport. While the well known namesake dominated in the earlier part of the 2000’s, we haven’t seen those heights reached for sometime now. With a load of tweaks, new features, and that new generation of polish added, PES is back with PES 2015. Going into a new generation, can Konami score a goal, is this title one to simply pass? Let’s find out.

Gameplay
I think that many out there consider FIFA to be the top tier soccer title out there. As far as sales go, FIFA does rule the market and the higher sales are usually weighted with what has been a more defined and represented product. Pro Evolution Soccer may not have the budget of EA, but it does have a lot more in terms of authenticity. PES 2015 backs this statement, as the gameplay has reached new heights in this year’s version, feeling polished and fluid throughout. To be honest, I haven’t played a lot of PES, so the response time when passing and shooting took some getting used to. Over time though, the delay is forgivable as it leads to more precise shots that feel realistic. Those looking for easy accessibility found in FIFA will be a bit put off by the tactical stylings of this title, but if fans are wanting a superior product of simulation, then they will love the love the detail on display here.

PES 2015 is a slower soccer experience as it is more about the journey to the goal, rather than simply hitting the ball in a net. The AI are proof of this, as the players on the field play smart, opening up gaps by blocking the opponents on the field. You will quickly learn about player formations and outsmarting a stiff defense, as even though your team is smart, the opponents are usually one step ahead. My first game ended at 0-1 as I wasn’t quite equipped with the proper mindset for the AI to be so in tune with the process. By formulating a strategy, you are able to win – and that is what gives PES 2015 its legs and makes it feel distinct. Its all about gaining momentum and running with it, and the least bit of obstacle can change that momentum in an instant, making for some exciting match-ups every time.

A small downside of the game comes down to licensing issues. EA has the wallet to present more, and I would guess Konami – for legal reasons, decided to go for generic names and kits, rather than obtaining the rights to the likes of the English Premier League. This is nothing really new to be honest, but it is a bit of a disappointment to those wanting to get behind Manchester City and all of the other re-branded teams. On a good note, some teams did get licensed, such as Manchester United (the only English Premier representation), and it can definitely provide a laugh to see the ridiculous ways that the developers made it work with the “almost there” brands and names within the game.

When it comes to the in-game modes, the always welcome Master League leads the way, but hasn’t changed too much. The counterpart to Ultimate Team – myClub, is probably the biggest time sink, as players get to spend currency (in-game and real if needed) to build the perfect team to take on the world. I am not a big fan of spending real cash for any in-game feature, but to be honest, PES 2015 doesn’t really require too much legwork to gain GP as it is, so unless it is your preference to gain the points faster, you shouldn’t have to worry about actually paying much in myClub. Become a Legend is also a decent portion of the game to go to, as you can build one player and move up through the ranks and gain notoriety. I spent most of my time here oddly enough, as its very easy to indulge on this train to the top career mode of sorts. Finally, we also have are basic training modes. Sure, its just a tutorial, but players are rewarded with medals and the drills are actually quite entertaining.

Visuals
Presentation has always been a problem for PES, but I will say for a game that has never stood out much in terms of visuals, Konami did an excellent job with the environment and the player models. The animations are fluid and never seem to be too stiff or awkward, which of course benefits the authenticity. I know menus are not important, but the menus need to be addressed next year. I get it PES, you are that kid on the block that is all substance and no style. You have proved that time and time again, but why not flare up the menus to make them more attractive? Sure, there are not too many modes so less is more, but a bit busier load screen and revamped menu could definitely assist in making the look of the game match the five star feel it already has.

Audio
As far as the audio goes, you wouldn’t be missing a lot if you muted the commentary. The team doesn’t even try to make your game exciting, and just sound bored as they ramble on. The in-game soundtrack is not much better. Sure, Konami paid for music and I give them props for that. However, the music that was selected is rather unfitting and sounds like it is coming out of a metal ball instead of an arena. The sound effects however are serviceable and kicks and taps represent the action happening on the field.

Overall
PES 2015 is a great representation of the sport of soccer, and an outstanding addition to the franchise. Gameplay wise, this may very well be the high point of the series. PES however needs to stop settling for second best and put forth the effort to be the best, as it has all of the tools to topple its showboating competition. While the game is great, a few missteps take the full package away from true glory. That being said, you can’t find a more authentic footy title than the fourteenth entry into this series, and even though some of the team names didn’t make the cut, I think PES has a very safe future heading into a new generation.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Xbox Newsbeat: November 19th – November 23rd

Andrew Day

November 24, 2014

Xbox Newsbeat: November 19th – November 23rd

Another week has gone by, and we here at Xbox Newsbeat cannot wait to start serving you the hottest, most delicious news bits from Microsoft HQ. This week is one of celebration, supercar racing and games long since forgotten, so sit back, put your napkin on your lap and get ready to enjoy the Newsbeat!

Many Thanks for One Year With Xbox One

Can you believe it!? The Xbox One has been entertaining us for a whole year already! Time really does fly when you’re having fun. Well what good is a birthday without a celebration! To mark the occasion, Microsoft are sending out personalised emails that detail your achievements on the shiny black box over the past 12 months, and are also offering the following free bonuses for you to nab:

A Year One Gamer Picture
New Xbox One backgrounds: A special Year One background as well as an exclusive Day One background for those who unlocked the Day One achievement
A Year One background image for use on Twitter, your desktop, etc.
A free rental of “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn” (for a limited time)
A free rental of “Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods” movie and a sampler pack of “Dragon Ball Z” TV episodes (for a limited time, available in the U.S. and Canada only)

12 Months down, lord knows how many to go!

Xbox Australia Partners With DJR to Bring Marcos Ambrose Home to the V8 Supercars

Geez, Microsoft aren’t shying away from the partnerships at the moment are they. After last week’s partnership deal with JB HiFi, the home of the Xbox have now announced that they will be joining this year’s NRMA 500 V8 Supercars race in December.

Not only will they have a car in the event, but the driver is none other than Two-time V8 Supercars champion and Australian racing legend Marcos Ambrose – who is returning to Australia after eight years in the US NASCAR circuit to race the Sydney NRMA 500 season finale – appeared at a launch event this morning at Lakeside Park in Brisbane to unveil the Xbox Racing Ford Falcon FG he will drive on December 5-7.

‘Atari: Game Over’ Now Available on Xbox

Atari’s lost games – buried out in the middle of New Mexico were once thought of as nothing more than a rumour, but a new documentary Atari: Game Over uncovered the truth (and the stockpile of games), and now you can watch it directly through your Xbox One.

Atari: Game Over is produced by Academy Award- and Emmy Award-winning producers Simon and Jonathan Chinn, and directed by comic book movie veteran Zak Penn, “Atari: Game Over” explores the video game industry’s first bubble and collapse, as well as the golden age of video games, through the lens of the excavation.

So there we have it, another break-neck instalment of Xbox Newsbeat. Did any of this week’s headlines manage to particularly grab your attention? Let us know in the comments below.

Red vs Blue Season 12 Review

Michael Marr

November 23, 2014

Red Vs Blue Season 12
Studio: Roosterteeth Productions
Publisher: Hanabee
Format : DVD, Blu-Ray – Reviewed on DVD
Release Date: 5th November, 2014
Price: $29.99 – Available Here

Overview

Red Vs Blue and RoosterTeeth are two phrases that are essentially synonymous with the Machinama media genre. What started out with a bunch of lay-about soldiers just standing around and talking in the middle of a boxed canyon has evolved into a massive internet phenomenon, now spanning 12 seasons. Kind of shocking when you consider that, to this day, they’re still lay-about soldiers who do almost nothing but stand around and talk, and drive each other nuts with often hilarious results. It’s usually around this 12th season point in a series’ lifecycle when fans start to ponder as to whether the show starts running TOO long. Like the previous seasons, Red Vs Blue Season 12 has also made its way to DVD. The big question to ask is, does RvB still hold up after all this time?

Story

The plot of season 12 pretty much picks up straight from where season 11 left off, give or take a few months of in-context time. After the (literally) explosive finale of season 11, the Reds and Blues have been separated, and are now heavily caught up in a civil war for the planet Chorus. (The planet they crash landed on in the last season). After meeting with a mercenary named Felix in the last season, Tucker, Caboose, Grif and Simmons have been drafted into the rebellion, with the promise of the chance to help rescue their comrades from the Federal Army. It seems that all the wrong (or right) reputations of the wayward heroes have preceded them, as they are considered by many of their fellow rebel soldiers to be living legends, as the soldiers who brought down Project Freelancer in earlier seasons. Symbols of strength and hope. Beacons of light in the darkness and all that…

As any long time viewer would know, this notion is obviously a completely inaccurate representation of this little band’s abilities. However, as a result of this rather inexplicable fame, each of the four are promoted to the rank of Captain, and given their own squads to train and manage. As Grif put it “Prepare to be sorely disappointed”.

One of the hit-and-miss aspects of the “Idiots-in-command” is the relationship each of the main characters share with their protégés. Tucker’s apprentice is an inept suck-up; Grif’s number 2 is equally as lazy and uninspired as he is; Simmons’ understudy is, well… female, which is a problem to a guy who has serious difficulties in talking to ladies; and Caboose’s underling seems to think his captain some sort of ingenious and respectable military mastermind. The relationships Tucker, Grif and Simmons share with their squads are not particularly funny or interesting, mostly because these second fiddle characters are exactly that, second fiddles. The only instance where it works humorously is in Caboose’s case. Even so, viewers will find it a little difficult to care about these characters in earnest.

In season 12, focus is thrust upon Tucker as the main character. (He is the lead character on the box art cover after all.) Without any sign of Washington, Church or even Sarge around to provide guidance and leadership, Tucker ultimately takes it upon himself to lead the others in their mission to recover their friends by doing what they do worst: working hard. Tucker’s character development and growth as a legitimate soldier in this season is quite appealing to see, especially since the focus of previous seasons have almost exclusively been upon Church. (And they let the viewers know this through numerous in-jokes about that older focus).

A small collection of old faces also return at around the halfway point in the season, just when the whole civil war starts to go really pear shaped. We’re also introduced to a few new characters who I sincerely hope will become regulars in the series, such as Doctor Grey, a borderline psychopathic doctor who is significantly more entertaining than the old Reds and Blues medic. Her cheery demeanor in the face of extraordinary hostility kept things light hearted and solicited some genuine laughing out loud moments in some of the story’s darkest moments.

The shifting story focus from soldiers doing nothing, to soldiers actually doing something heroic in this season is certainly a departure from what RvB has done in the past. The plot continues the saga set up by season 11 quite nicely and is still a greatly entertaining story to watch. It’s still rampant with in-jokes and popular culture references that long time fans know and love, yet it does just enough new to keep the audience invested in watching even after all this time. In particular, the conclusion of this season gives the audience and pretty good idea of where season 13 will take us. And I for one, can’t wait to see it.

Visuals

As with Season 11, Season 12 is filmed in the HD graphics engine of Halo 4. The RoosterTeeth crew still know how to stick to the visual roots of the series, while making the best use of out the in-game customization tools to fashion environments, background elements and camera angles to their liking. The animation is still about what you’d expect from RedVsBlue. There is a lot more environment variance this time around as the Reds and Blues find themselves traversing a large variety of locations across Chorus in an effort to.

One significant change worth noting compared to the last season is the return of CGI action sequences, where certain segments of the show are filmed with custom made CGI instead of the standard in-game machinama style alone. These custom animated scenes were always a glorious highlight in previous seasons, particularly in season’s 8-10, and were noticeably absent in season 11. However, don’t expect the action sequences to be as wild and over the top as they were in previous seasons. Many CGI animated scenes aren’t even action-based at all. Instead the focus is on conveyance of emotion through action, since everybody in this series has their face perpetually hidden by a helmet.

While the general dialogue scenes benefit greatly from the CGI treatment, the combat scenes with it aren’t up to the same standard as they were with previous seasons. CGI is used in action scenes quite sparingly, and even then most of it appears stiff and less epic. Don’t expect “Agent-Carolina-Jumping-Off-a-Building” levels of style this time around. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still fun to see, but just doesn’t deliver the same level of “OMPH” as before.

Audio

The audio style of season 12 is very much keeping in step with the standard of sound and music quality in season 11. Nico Audy-Rowland contributes some very nice musical scores to accompany the situations and environments. The RoosterTeeth crew have also done a bang-up job of using the limited sound toolset available in Halo 4 wherever they can, using in-game sound effects wherever they can, just to instill that sense of “Hey! Remember we’re still in a Halo game!”

The character voice acting is still up to the usual stellar RvB standard with familiar Roosterteeth members making up members of the main cast, with lots of minor voice roles handed out for many supporting characters. The delivery of jokes are still quick and witty, though there are moment when a joke’s completely obvious punchline is coming, BOW CHIKA BOW WOW. It says a lot about the quality of voice acting at hand when you have to convey thoughts and feelings through something without a face, but everyone pulls it off quite nicely.

Extras

As will all previous RvB DVD releases, Season 12 comes stacked with a slew of bonus feature content, including 4 more of RvB’s ever entertaining PSA videos. Also included are the Audio commentary reel from the cast and crew, a blooper reel of some of the bigger gaffed moments of RvB, a few deleted scenes and Teaser Trailers for other RoosterTeeth productions, such as RWBY volume 2 (soon to be reviewed), Best of RT Shorts, and X-Ray and Vav. It’s also very cool to see a few little self-referential Easter eggs hidden throughout the collection, like soldiers watching an episode of RWBY on the big-screen TV.

Overall

It’s worth noting that this is NOT the place to start watching if you’ve never watched Red Vs Blue before. For many of the jokes, a lot of pre-existing background context is needed to understand. And yet I don’t find a thing wrong with this. It shows RvB isn’t being tailored differently to bring in new audiences; rather it’s sticking too much of the already existing formula fans know and love, and delivers more and more of it. Yet at the same time, much is different this time around. Odds are, if you’re an RvB fan, you’ve already seen most of this online already, but this DVD collection is still a definite fan “must-have” to enjoy those moments of hilarity again and again.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Mordheim: City of the Damned Early Access Unleashed

Mateja Simovic

November 23, 2014

The city of the damned, Mordheim, is finally open for adventurers to explore and pillage to their hearts content. Published by Focus Home Interactive and developed by Rogue Factor, the game is a computer adaption of the Games Workshop’s tabletop game of the same name. In return for participating in the game’s early access period, the game will be on sale with a 20% discount in order to facilitate feedback to the developers to improve the game. You can find the game on steam here.

The original game had the players control a variety of warbands including Skaven ratmen, vampires, and human mercenaries (amongst others) as they traversed the ruin city of Mordheim in search of valuables to loot and was an interesting blend of both strategy and role-playing mechanics. The early access version of the game currently offers two warbands, human mercenaries and skaven from clan Eshin (ninja rats), with another two slated for the final release. We’ve previously covered the unveiling of the Sisters of Sigmar as a confirmed playable warband in the game. There are current two procedurally generated maps with randomised elements and two unique maps with the only current game type being deathmatch.

More content will be rolled out incrementally with the devs obtaining player feedback as the game develops. I personally look forward to the prospect of sinking my teeth into the game and to see how the brutality of the Mordheim tabletop game transfers into a video game. Stay tuned for our preview coming soon.

Madman Acquires Log Horizon and Lupin the Third Film

Sergei Lazarev

November 23, 2014

Anime distributor Madman announced two new acquisitions from the floor of the Supanova Pop Culture Convention in Adelaide. The virtual MMO anime Log Horizon and the live action film Lupin the Third.

Easing off on the acquisition accelerator a bit, Madman opted for just two new titles this time. Log Horizon follows the popular online game genre of anime with the world of Elder Tales and 30,000 players finding themselves trapped in the online world. NPCs come alive and players have to get used to their avatars and abilities. (Psst, I heard this is for those who weren’t a fan of Sword Art Online). The anime will be released on DVD/Blu-ray in March 2015.

Lupin the Third is based on a classic manga starring the world’s greatest gentlemen thief and his partners in crime. The movie revolves around a heist to steal The Crimson Heart of Cleopatra. Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and lead by actor Shun Oguri, the film will be both screened and released on DVD/Blu-ray in 2015.

Madman to Begin Distributing Collectibles in Australia

Nathan Farrugia

November 22, 2014

Madman to Begin Distributing Collectibles in Australia

Madman is a company known to many anime fans and have been responsible for bringing all our favourite anime to us in DVD and Blu-ray form for a long time now. Beginning in 2015, Madman Entertainment will be stepping up their game to bring official collectible merchandise to fans in Australia and New Zealand. The deal that involves a partnership with Bandai Namco Games Australia will see figures brought over direct from Japan from popular brands such as Tamashii Nations, Banpresto, Megahouse and more.

The first wave of merchandise will be Tamashii Nations’ new range of Dragon Ball Z ‘Tamashii Buddies’ figurines which are exclusively offered through Madman Entertainment. The four figures include Super Saiyan Goku, Super Saiyan Vegeta, Super Saiyan Trunks and Piccolo. Each figure stands at 9cm tall and is greatly detailed with perfect head to body proportions which is great if you’re not a fan of Pop Vinyl like figures. Each figure also has a unique background and case that allows you to arrange the figures in any way you like. Tamashii Buddies will be landing in Australia and New Zealand on January 15 and are available to pre-order now direct from the official Madman site at $24.95ea. New items from Tamashii Nations, as well as Banpresto, Megahouse and others will be available throughout 2015 and beyond from the merch section of Madman’s site.

New Dragon Ball Xenoverse Story Screenshots

Nathan Farrugia

November 22, 2014

New Dragon Ball Xenoverse Story Screenshots

We recently reported on the latest Dragon Ball Xenoverse scans to come out of V-Jump Magazine in Japan this week and as per usual, the official Dragon Ball Z Games Facebook page has now translated most of that information but have also released a heap of new screenshots not previously seen before. Some of the new screens focus on the Battle of Gods storyline which appears to be included in the game albeit slightly altered to fit in with the whole storyline alteration concept of Xenoverse. If you look carefully there is a screenshot of Super Saiyan Vegeta grabbing a pudding cup. Maybe he managed to save some for Beerus who will finally get to eat some pudding!

Bandai Namco also shared that the Tenkaichi Budokai mode will allow the company to create special tournaments that people all over the world can participate in. In some bad news, Giant characters such as Great Ape Vegeta are confirmed to be sidelined to boss battles only, however you can verse them solo in story mode or with other people in the Parallel Quest co-op mode. Check out the 61 new screenshots below and let us know what you think about them in the comments below.

Telltale’s Game of Thrones Teaser Trailer Released

Alex Hover

November 21, 2014

Days after releasing the first details and screenshots of the new Game of Thrones game, Telltale Games has released a teaser trailer on their YouTube channel. The trailer (displayed below) specifically centers around Episode one (named ‘Iron From Ice’) of the six part series.

Upon viewing the trailer, you might immediately recognise the female voice narrator of the trailer, as Emmy award nominee Lena Headey, who portrays Cersei Lannister in the popular HBO show. Lena Headey gives a general preview of the story, setting a sinister tone for House Forrester, the family who are entangled in the War of the Five Kings. The trailer displays several scenes with some familiar characters within and a brief glimpse of combat.

At the time of writing, no release date has been confirmed for the game, but is expected to be released by the end of the year.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Part 1 and 2 Review

Sergei Lazarev

November 21, 2014

Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Part 1 and 2 Review

Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Part 1 & 2
Studio: SHAFT
Publisher: Madman
Format: Blu-ray
Release Date: November 12, 2014
Price: $69.95 – Available Here

Overview
Anime movies that summarise an entire show’s worth of content into two hours are a fickle thing. To put it bluntly, I’m hardly a fan. History shows us that they straddle a very fine line between offering newcomers an everything-you-need-to-know yet still coherent story and collapsing in a jumbled, poorly-paced heap.

Despite being a 12 episode TV series, hit magical girl anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, known as “Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica” in Japan, still received the movie summary treatment in the form of two films. It was almost inevitable. The show has garnered so much fandom in recent years that to suggest it’s the new-age Evangelion wouldn’t be so far-fetched. Whether it deserves that status is debatable yet here we are. Does this collection of two films serve as a worthy supplement or should newcomers and fans alike just stick to the TV episodes?

Story
If you aren’t familiar with the Madoka Magica story, it’s not your typical magical girl anime. If you’re coming into this show expecting a new age Sailor Moon I suggest you stop and take a deep breath before proceeding. At this point it’s hardly a spoiler discussing the nature of this beast when the blurb itself mentions something along the lines of “strange warning”, “impending loss” and “drastic change”. Not too subtle, is it! Especially when this is the work of Gen Urobuchi, the writer behind Fate/Zero which funnily enough also has an ill-fated, wish-granting plot line.

Madoka Kaname is a typical, kindhearted 14 year old girl with loving friends and family going to school like anyone else. It’s when transfer student Homura Akemi arrives when things start to get just a little strange. A person Madoka has never seen before seems to know her well, a fluffy white creature appears hated by some but loved by others and the existence of Magical Girls and their enemy, Witches, are revealed.

Known as Kyubey, the white animal has the power to turn any young girl into a magical one and grant them one wish they desire while they’re at it. Sounds like a Nigerian scam right? Well the forlorn atmosphere and dark undertones of the anime from the start has all signs pointing to “yes”.

The plot sucks you in right away as you’re left wondering where this train is going to go. Other than the pure Madoka, each character has some kind of flaw woven into their personality which they must overcome or risk falling into an abyss. The writing steadily becomes more and more sophisticated and by the second film you’re left with conversations of existentialism, the universe and what it means to be human. It is during the second film that the flaws of summarised anime films rears its ugly head.

Plot points and explanations start moving faster than your ears (or eyes, if you’re reading subtitles) can keep up with. It’s still hauntingly dark and positively gripping at times, but this is information originally stretched across 12 episodes with slow build ups to shocking revelations. Here it’s just in your face leaving newcomers more than a little bewildered and scratching their heads wondering just what that ending was the heck about. Mind you even some of us who have seen the series like myself have no idea what’s going on with the ending, much like the notorious End of Evangelion film by Hideaki Anno which almost acts like a spiritual precursor if the writers of Madoka were to have their way.

It’s no doubt “cool”, in the epic, cosmic sense and you do come away from the experience shell-shocked and dribbling like a baby, but it feels like too much at once with too little progression. A subjective complaint, perhaps, but I do feel like the ending tried too hard to end, rather than let the pieces fall into place. Then again, this was probably the intention all along. Nevertheless, a continuation managed to spawn from the madness in the form of a third film which we reviewed HERE.

Visuals
Aside from an engrossing plot you also get some of the most unique visuals we’ve seen in anime currently on store shelves. The animators of SHAFT have done a great job in creating an unorthodox art style that makes every scene, and I mean every scene, have some kind of interesting feature or background you wouldn’t normally see. It’s a mad mixture of refined architecture, creative design and, at times, raw emotion.

The compilation movies could also be considered a remaster of the TV series. Many scenes have been retouched, altered or improved in some way compared to the original TV series. SHAFT has a history of having OCD tendencies, changing things around in their home video releases sometimes down to the smallest frame.

Audio
The audio that makes the experience in a show like this. The voice acting in Madoka is superb. Emotions constantly run high in this tragic, Shakespearean epic and the voice actors have gone above and beyond their job description. For me, Madoka’s highlight has always been the beautiful soundtrack by Yuki Kajiura known for her work in anime such as Tsubasa Chronicles, Fate/Zero and, more recently, Sword Art Online. The haunting melodies and violent orchestra grabs your attention from start to finish.

Extras
I almost forgot this was a limited edition release, and as such you get a very nice art box housing the two Blu-ray discs as well as a booklet containing art work from the series. If you managed to grab the box with the original Madoka Magica TV release, this suits it well. Unfortunately it’s nothing too sumptuous, being more for fans who like to have their anime organised in a box rather than play around with loads of goodies.

Overall
Madoka Magica is definitely an experience, one that explores the classic tragedy theme all too well, if a little by-the-book. If you always dismissed magical girl anime as being too “girly” then this is the one to watch. It’ll turn your world upside down. For newcomers these two films are a great and powerful digest of the series, if only a little rushed towards the end. This collection is probably the most well done summary I’ve seen of a TV anime.

However, I’ve always preferred to just watch the series instead for more depth and character development. It is after all only 12 episodes. For existing fans there’s very little new content in this recap collection and all but the most ardent fans would drop the extra cash for another viewing. Ultimately though, this fact does little to detract from the quality of the release on offer.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

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