Xenosaga, Volume 1 - theOtaku.com

"plenty of fighting action"

"a dramatic and action-filled series"

"a science fiction series that returning fans as well as those new to the franchise can enjoy together"

Xenosaga fans will definitely want to check out this edition of theOtaku.com Screening Room. Up for review today is the first volume of in the animated Xenosaga series. Based off the popular science fiction video game the story introduces some new characters as revisit some fan favorites. Don't miss our review of Xenosaga The Animation: Enter the Gnosis - Volume 1!

• Disk Title: Xenosaga The Animation: Enter the Gnosis - Volume 1
• Release Date: September 11, 2007
• Approximate Play Time: 100 minutes
• Rating: TV14
• Language: English and Japanese with English Subtitles
• Extras: Textless Songs, DVD Credits and Trailers for other ADV releases.
• MSRP: $29.98

Over 4,000 years after abandoning the Earth, humanity is in peril. Under attack by a merciless enemy from another dimension, the crew of the spaceship Woglinde is fighting not only to save their own lives, but also to defend a mysterious monolith with unknown powers. It is called the Zohar, and the evil Gnosis will stop at nothing to get it. Enter KOS-MOS, a robotic black-box weapon as dangerous and misunderstood as she is beautiful. Designed to protect humankind, she could very well be the downfall of her creators - or she may be their only hope.

Overview: Four thousand years have past since mankind left their Earthly ties to venture into space. Vector's Chief Engineer Shion continues her work with the unstable KOS-MOS, the ultimate anti-Gnosis weapon. After a deadly incident with KOS-MOS which resulted in the death of her boyfriend, Shion along with the other researchers proceed with their work cautiously. In addition to her work with KOS-MOS Shion also works with Realians which are mass produced human-like androids. After befriending a young female 100 Series Observational Unit, Shion gives the obviously worried unit the bunny charm off her phone. The heart to heart is interrupted by the cocky Virgil who sees the Realians as nothing but tools despite the fact they have freewill. Unfortunately the fate of humanity lies in the balance as the threat of an alien entity, the Gnosis, become more deadly when they attack. After retrieving the monolith known as Zohar the space battleship, Woglinde, finds themselves under attack by the powerful Gnosis. As the battle wages on and things begin to look bleak for the humans and Shion finds herself face-to-face with Gnosis, KOS-MOS breaks free of her restraints.

The 100-Series Observational Unit and Shion are intercepted by the murderous Albedo. Kirschwasser once belonged to the Albedo until she ran away and hide amongst the humans. With the treat of killing the unconscious Shion the unit agrees to return with him. This leads Shion to believe that the Observational Unit was killed when she regains consciousness. With the aid of a Realian, Shion unfortunately makes her way into the middle of battle as they try to escape. While in the grips of the Gnosis, Shion has a vision of a young girl watching her. But before the Gnosis can kill her KOS-MOS makes her appearance and dispatches the Gnosis by unleashing the Hilbert Effect allowing the Gnosis to be easily taken care of. With preprogrammed orders KOS-MOS takes Shion, her assistant Allen and Virgil to safety as she continues to fulfill her orders to protect Shion and the Vectors' employees and the Zohar. As the only survivors make their escape a group of cargo shippers comes across the wreckage of the fleet and find themselves being given orders by KOS-MOS.

As KOS-MOS commandeers the ELSA and its crew they also find Shion's escape pod which they take on board. Elsewhere the parties which KOS-MOS have been reporting to continue to watch from afar. Back on the ship Shion meets MOMO, a Realian girl who looks very similar to Kirschwasser and her cyborg escort Ziggy. They also are on their way to the Second Miltia System. Elsewhere Albedo returns to base where Kirschwasser learns that they want to recover MOMO as well as the Zohar Emulator. Back on the ELSA the crew and it's passengers make their way to the Second Milita System when there peaceful trip is interrupted by an attack while in hyperspace by a supposed disbanded organization know as U-TIC. U-TIC is after MOMO who is the prototype of the 100 Series which might contain the ability to access the Zohar.

Since taking MOMO from U-TIC, the organization is determined to reclaim the 100 Unit prototype. Taking evasive action the ELSA find themselves out of the range of the U-TIC ship. Now the U-TIC ship finds themselves the prey as another ship, the Durandal piloted by Jr. and his crew, arrive on scene. They are in pursuit of the ELSA as well, but as allies. Unfortunately they find themselves in trouble again when KOS-MOS purposely damages the ship forcing them to leave hyperspace directly into a large legion of Gnosis. Luckly the Durandal gates out to come to their rescue. Despite their best efforts things are still looking dire causing KOS-MOS takes matters into her own hands.

Overall Xenosaga The Animation: Enter the Gnosis - Volume 1 takes both existing fans from the video games and those new to the franchise on an animated science fiction adventure. The story follows a small group of people as they become wrapped up in the struggle for survival amongst the chaos of political posturing and deadly alien beings. With plenty of fighting action the animation is equal to that of it's contemporaries. The spider web story line is a complex mix of enemies and allies, intertwined in this sci-fi action adventure. Characters are diverse and as the story progresses each of the core members are developed. Xenosaga The Animation: Enter the Gnosis - Volume 1 is a science fiction series that those returning fans as well as those new to the franchise can enjoy together.

Xenosaga The Animation: Enter the Gnosis - Volume 1 contains episodes #1 Awakening, #2 Imminent Defeat, #3 Chance Encounter and #4 Jaws of Death.

Verdict: I never played the video game Xenosaga so when the anime version was released I was worried I would be totally lost when it came to the story line and characters. I was pleasantly surprised. Xenosaga The Animation: Enter the Gnosis - Volume 1 does a good job introducing viewers to the Xenosaga world so those who are new to the franchise can jump in and enjoy the series. Mecha, aliens and a diverse cast of characters makes for dramatic and action filled series. After viewing the first DVD I am interested in checking out the game to see how it ties in with the animated series. Xenosaga The Animation: Enter the Gnosis - Volume 1 is an action filled dramatic introduction to the series and it's colorful cast of characters.

Posted on Monday, September 17, 2007 (Archive on Wednesday, October 17, 2007)