Pretear Volume 4 - Anime Advanced
- Anime Advanced
- Vincent Del Vecchio
- 06/24/04
- click here
"With a great story and conclusive ending, the show kept me entertained."
Pretear Volume #4
We sit down with ADV's last DVD installment of Pretear and give you the final word.
Review Hardware Used: Panasonic CT-32HL43 Tau Series PureFlat HDTV Monitor, Panasonic RP-82 Progressive Scan Region Free DVD Player w/ Monster Video 3 Component Cables, Yamaha RX-V596 DD/DTS 5.1 Surround Sound Receiver, Klipsch Quintet 5.1 Speaker System w/ matching KSW-12 400 watt subwoofer, and Monster Audio cable all around.
Disc Description
The Fate of the World Hangs in the Balance!
Pretear Himeno Awayuki and the Leafe Knights are doing their best to defeat Takako, Princess of Disaster, and her demon hordes. However, Takako has transformed Mawata into the Puppet of Darkness, the power source for the Great Tree of Fenril, which will destroy the Earth! To prevent the apocalypse, Himeno and the Knights must rescue Mawata and stop the Princess of Disaster once and for all. Will Himeno?s love for her family, friends and the Knights be enough to save the world? Or will the power of evil vanquish love? Don?t miss the amazing final installment of Pretear!
Disc Review
Content: (This section may include spoilers)
With the final volume of Pretear, the battle reaches the boiling point! With Sasame now on the side of evil and the Princess of Disaster setting her sites on Mawata, Himeno must fight with all she?s got. With time running out, she returns home fearing the worst; and the worst is exactly what happens.
By the time Himeno arrives at her home, Sasame has already had enough time to trick Mawata into thinking that nobody in her family cares for her and he is her savior. This scene is very well done as we see Mawata?s last ounce of defense fade against Sasame and her apparent fall into Takako?s trap. By the time Himeno can do anything, she finds her step sister in Sasame?s arms, believing that he will be the one to comfort her and set her free. Little does she expect that this is all a trap set by the Takako, the Princess of Disaster.
As Mawata explains her actions, we learn that deep inside, she?s been suffering from her father?s death just as much, if not more than the rest of her family. This was hinted at numerous times during the course of the show, but this is the first time we get to here it directly from Mawata. As she goes on about her problems, Takako springs her trap. Sasame is drawn into her arms, much to Mawata?s dismay and the two share in a kiss. These actions are enough to break Mawata. Takako takes this chance to use Mawata?s despair to summon the Great Tree of Fenril, which will devour all the Leafe and destroy the world. As this is happening, Mawata is taken into the tree as its energy source, soon to be devoured entirely.
Himeno goes off to face Takako as the rest of the family powerlessly tries to free Mawata from the evil tree?s grasp. Himeno pleads her case, and after a while Takako sees the love the family has for each other as they are able to free Mawata. The tree, needing more energy, attacks Takako. In the scuffle, Sasame is injured, which causes a change in Takako?s heart.
I don?t want to ruin the ending for anyone so I?ll just say that what ensues is a heart-throbbing sequence that you just have to watch to appreciate.
Video:
The video quality in Pretear is astounding. The colors are vibrant and beautiful. Little or no color bleeding occured and if it did, we certainly could not tell with our review equipment. Jagged edges and pixel blockage are nothing to worry about with this release. The video is a visual treat for the eyes.
Audio:
In order to have the most comprehensive review, the disc was first enjoyed in its native language of Japanese. Afterwards, we went back and viewed it in English 5.1 audio. Both tracks are spot on. The Japanese track had no audible problems, with most voices coming from the center channel speaker. Sound effects were loud and clear as was the music.
The English 5.1 language track sounded fantastic. Voices came from the center speaker while the music and sound effects sounded properly staged. The bass was crisp and intimidating when it needed to be and subtle and ominous when the scene called for it. Definitely bliss for the ears.
Menus:
After a quick two second animation, the menu becomes static with the Pretear opening theme song in the background. The main menu here is nice and simple. Navigation is easy and quick with almost no noticeable wait time between starting a scene, switching between main and sub menus, and choosing an episode. There?s nothing that makes these menus stand out above all other releases but the quick response time and simple navigation are very welcome. Good stuff here.
Extras:
In this final volume of Pretear, we get a nice selection of extras. Clean Openings and Endings and an entertaining ?behind the scenes? type deal with some of the voices behind the characters. We also get some production sketches and a round of ADV previews for upcoming shows.
Dialogue:
Everyone loves good subtitle structure and Pretear delivers. The text is standard yellow with black border. This is pretty much the standard in subtitles these days. Everything was easy to read and timed superbly. The subtitles font and size make it easy to enjoy the show while not having to squint and stare, which can result in missing some on-screen action. ADV has done a great job of making the viewing of subtitles on this disc as painless as possible.
The English dub quality in Pretear is top notch ADV. Coupled with the 5.1 sound, watching the dub was a joy to the ears. ADV took their top tier talent and ran with them. Not only was the quality of the voice actors and actresses very good but the emotion put forth by them is excellent. ADV?s voice acting roster is currently one of our favorites, up there with Bang Zoom and Coastal Carolina. Don?t feel ashamed to watch the dub for this show folks. With it?s 5.1 surround sound and quality cast, your ears will thank you.
The Bottom Line:
At thirteen episodes, the Pretear experience was over all too quickly. A lot of times I find myself wishing that thirteen episode shows were twenty-six episode shows and this one was no different.
Although, even with the smaller episode count, the show did leave me with a fulfilled feeling, something that doesn?t always happen with this type of genre.
Pretear has, for the time being, reassured me that the magical girl genre is far from dead and there can still be some enjoyable moments to a well written and animated show of this kind. The whole love conquers all thing has been done numerous times by numerous shows but it?s a theme that works; and if something works, don?t fix it.
With a great story and conclusive ending, the show kept me entertained. I am very picky with my anime, so with Pretear being able to keep my eyes glued to the screen as well as it did, that definitely says something about this series.
Content 9.0
Video 9.0
Audio 9.0
Menus 8.0
Extras 8.0
Dialog 9.0
9.1[not an average]
Posted on Thursday, June 24, 2004 (Archive on Saturday, July 24, 2004)