Generator Gawl Volume 1: Human Heart, Metal Soul - DVDvisionJapan.com
- DVDvisionJapan.com
- 01/01/01
- click here
SUMMARY
Late one night, a storm sweeps through Tokyo. It marks the arrival of Gawl, Koji and Ryo. Koji and Ryo's mission is to prevent Professor Takuma Nekasa from discovering a medical breakthrough that will destroy the future. Gawl's job is to protect them. He is a generator, half man, half machine fighter.
After a rough arrival, Gawl and his friends attempt to find Professor Nekasa. The sooner they complete their mission, the sooner they can go home. To work undetected, the three men take the guise of young students at the prestigious Ouju Academy where Nekasa works. While looking for a place to stay, they meet Masami.
Unfortunately, the two of them take an instant dislike to each other, and she becomes obsessed in trying to find out about her new houseguests.
Unfortunately, their arrive has not gone un noticed, and more and more generators from the future start to arrive. Their mission is to stop Koji and Ryo before the succeed. Now, Gawl has to fight the generators, and avoid Masami's infernal meddling.
Can Gawl defeat the evil generators, protect his friends, and not kill Masami? Can the future be saved?
Should it be saved?
DVD VISION TEST
VIDEO:Video is crisp and clear. It's amazing that with the bright color pallet, there are no instances of color bleeds, or noticeable pixels. There is no garbage, flecks, or errors. Still, since it is a newer release, there should not have been a lot of need for digital clean up. As usual, ADV films has made a killer looking DVD.
AUDIO: Sound for both versions is crisp and clear. No exciting surround sound elements, but no pops or whistles on our Sony stereo and Gateway computer.
On the TV, the sound is great with some moderate effects coming from the speakers.
EDITS: By using the clean (textless) open and close, they have replaced the Japanese credits with English. Also, the episode titles have been replaced.
EXTRAS: Typical extras. Character sketches, creditless open and close. Nothing exciting. Better than most ADV releases, but not as good as their Sin or Gasaraki. Some extra background info about this series would have been nice.
WIDESCREEN REVIEW
STORY: This series is a surprise. Expecting something along the lines of the unremarkable 'Hurricane Polymar' (made by the same company), I did not expect to enjoy every minute of each episode. I have great respect for the Tatsunoko Pro Project room for writing a series that is a great mix of action and comedy, with some clever foreshadowing thrown in for good measure.
ACTING: The voice acting on the dub track is great. Once again kudos to ADV Films for a great voice cast. There is one exception, the voice of Koji is kind of dull and emotionless. If Jay Hickman is going for 'Mr. Spock', he did it.
The Japanese language cast does a pretty good job, but compared to the dub, the voices come off a little too stoic.
FAN SERVICE: Zero. There are some sexy looking babes, and plenty of short skirts, but no panties or a naked Masami. At least on this disc
CONCLUSION
If you base your ideals about this series from the trailer on other ADV DVD's, you may pass this one up. That would be a mistake. While not on par with 'The Guyver', it is still a great 'bio-armored' series.
Generator Gawl was a pleasant surprise., for all of us. While there are some decent action scenes, the comedy elements are much more entertaining. The solid writing, and clever sight gags help elevate this series from the so many other 'monster of the week' anime. However, if you are looking for a suspenseful or epic series, you won't find it here. Not a lot of progress in story development is made, and the characters are pretty much the same as when we start. There is the promise of more background information on the next disc, so we will stay with it.
For some of you anime purists out there, the fact that the dub script differs a little from the original Japanese may irritate you. Fortunately, the Dub script is just as funny, and in some cases, a little more so.
While there is violence, there is very little gore. The transformations are not overly graphic and there isn't any cursing. This makes it easier to watch this with the kids around. The box suggest 12 and over, but you can take it down a notch or two and not worry about dramatic experiences.
This is not a groundbreaking series, but it is a vast improvement to Hurricane Polymar, which was also made by Tatsunoko Pro. The animation is decent, and the character designs are attractive, and not overly fanboy-ish.
Generator Gawl is a fun anime to watch. While it may not be original, it is entertaining. So sit back, grab your popcorn, and have a good time.
Posted on Monday, January 01, 2001 (Archive on Thursday, February 01, 2001)