Review of Yugo The Negotiator: Vol.4 - Russia 2 - Rebirth

Introduction

My father briefly owned a Yugo when I was a kid, but as soon as I was sixteen, and my driving test became imminent, I faked not being able to fit in the front seat without getting my legs jammed under the steering wheel. He soon traded up to a Datsun. I almost made it through the series without bludgeoning anyone with that irrelevance, but the temptation was too great in the end. Still, there is only so much a man can negotiate in life, so it`s almost with a sense of relief that I approach the final volume of Yugo The Negotiator. This hasn`t been a series to grab me with any degree of intensity; instead it`s been a rather intermittent and unsatisfying experience, much like that wretched car. The first volume of the Pakistan arc certainly had promise, but it was utterly wasted in the conclusion of the story. Then the Russia arc began with volume 3, and with a new director and animation studio, once again set about raising my hopes of a decent story. If it follows precedent, this final volume should be a stinker.

Yugo Beppu is the world`s finest private negotiator. He`s reputed to have never failed, and when the descendant of an exiled Russian nobleman approaches him, looking to be reunited with his distant cousin trapped in the former Soviet Union, Yugo is moved to help. However, Yeltsin`s Russia isn`t the bastion of freedom that was promised by the collapse of the communist state, and there are ulterior motives yet to be unravelled. The final three episodes of the Russia arc are presented in Volume 4: Rebirth.

5. Interrogation
Yugo`s intention in trekking all the way to Blagoveschensk was to get a face-to-face meeting with the head of Intelligence in that area, Major General Garrachova, to actually negotiate with someone who can authorise Nadenka`s liberty. Their first meeting doesn`t go to plan, when Yugo is trussed up and injected with truth serum, so that the General can find out the secret of the rings. The Romanovski legacy is hidden in a Swiss Bank account, the number etched into the rings. But there are only thirteen numbers, and three are missing. Can Yugo keep the secret? Does he even know it?

6. The Mystery Of The Rings
It`s Captain Olga Elenova who comes to Yugo`s rescue, when she promises that gentle persuasion will succeed where more punitive measures have failed. When Yugo acquiesces, it`s because he can finally meet with Garrachova in a position of parity. He`s avoided divulging the secret of the rings thus far, simply because he doesn`t know it. Now he`s trying to trade that non-existent knowledge for Nadenka`s freedom.

7. For Nadenka
Yugo`s playing hardball with Garrachova, even with a gun at his forehead. He refuses to divulge what he knows about the rings until he can see that Nadenka is well and unharmed, but the truth of the matter is that he`s taking a big chance on Nadenka being able to decipher the rings` message. Garrachova agrees to take him to Nadenka, who lives with her adoptive parents in an isolated Siberian village, but it is more an education than a journey for the cynical and cruel General.

Video

The 4:3 transfer remains clear and sharp, with only a minor shimmer around fine detail to whinge about. But whereas the Pakistan arc was notable for some excellent artwork, impressive character designs, and very stylised look, albeit at the expense of the animation, the Russia arc loses the detail and broad scope, resulting in an anime style that is far more generic in terms of the world and character design, but the animation is relatively more dynamic. There are far fewer static shots in the Russia arc.

Audio

You get a choice between DD 5.1 English and DD 2.0 Japanese with optional translated subtitles or signs. I did notice a couple of errors in the subtitles this time around. As I expected, the Russian accents didn`t bother me as badly as the Pakistani ones in the English dub, and it was on the whole a little easier to listen to. But to be honest, if someone sounding like the English language Yugo turned up as a negotiator, I would be more inclined to think of him as a menace than a mediator.

As for the music, the two credit themes may have been remixed, but they still don`t suit the show at all. The incidental music still seems to have escaped from an eighties daytime soap melodrama, but given the more generic look of the animation, it doesn`t seem as out of place as before.

Features

The sleeve notes this time around look at some of the weaponry depicted in the show, as well as a closer look at the Kristos rings. The glossary of terms and the map is repeated from the previous volume.

There are two interviews this time around, with Director Shinya Hanai taking up 4 minutes to talk about the Russian arc, while Character Designer Kenichi Imaizumi and Series Planner Kenichi Kanemaki get together to put a few soundbites across for 2 minutes.

The Character Relationship Chart is identical to the one in volume 3, with the sole difference that the spoilers that were left untranslated before get translated now.

The Russian arc music video lasts 5 minutes, and features the end theme in full.

The Japanese Depiction of Russia lasts 15 minutes, One final time, it`s a set of commentary specific scenes taken from the last three episodes, and ADR director Scott McClennen is joined by cultural advisor Eddie Shannon to wrap things up for the series. There`s a little attention paid to the torture scenes, and some of Russia`s history, which proves significant in the climax.

You get the usual clean credit sequences, and the disc wouldn`t be complete without trailers for Area 88, Madlax, Gilgamesh and Samurai Gun.

Conclusion

Well, that wasn`t such a chore! There I was expecting the worst from the Russia arc of Yugo The Negotiator, anticipating it to fall into the same sinkhole that devoured the Pakistan arc in the end. Yet in the final volume, the second half of the Russia arc, it manages to maintain consistency of story, pacing, and the same level of intelligence all the way to the end credits. What started off as an interesting cold war thriller about the missing billions of Russia`s legacy, gets a conclusion worthy of the set up, has the necessary twists and turns to keep things interesting, and manages to stick a moral message into the finale to boot. If you enjoyed the first half of the story, then you should have no qualms about picking up the second half.

But… On the whole, I was disappointed by Yugo The Negotiator, a title that frankly smacks of false advertising. What I had hoped to see was something unique, different, challenging, something that broke out of the usual anime boundaries. What I got was a rather creaky old school action drama, with Yugo more of a secret agent than a negotiator, relying more on his ability to soak up torture than his ability to be persuasive. Even in the commentary, the final torture sequence seemed one too far for the commentators, who at that point were finding it hard to take the character seriously. There`s precious little mediating going on in this show, and it all feels a little too generic as a result.

That wouldn`t be too much of a problem, but what does for Yugo are the pitiful characterisations. These are cookie cutter stereotypes, where heroes stand tall, with jaws firm, villains twirl moustaches, or cackle maniacally, minions follow orders without question, the innocent are angelic, and women fall for Yugo on the strength of the testosterone he exudes while being trussed and horsewhipped for information. At the end of the series, I still haven`t got a handle on who Yugo actually is, what his motivation is, and he`s the main character. Failing a little depth in that department, the show could have been made more interesting with a little self-deprecating humour, but it remains determinedly po-faced throughout. In actuality, I`m drawing parallels with Golgo 13, another example of humourless unreconstructed male anime, but to be fair, Yugo The Negotiator is better than that, at least in the Russia arc.

Yugo The Negotiator is mediocre, middle of the road anime that does what it sets out to with the minimum of fuss. Its strength is the authenticity of the settings, and the level of research done for its plots. The Russia arc also benefits from a pretty decent story, one that certainly holds the attention through all seven episodes, and the pacing is much better than the Pakistan arc, but its weakness again is in the characterisations. Despite the familiarities and clichés in the characters, it still manages to swing it in terms of originality with its settings and story. It wasn`t my cup of tea, but if you are persuaded to take a look, stick with the Russia arc, as the Pakistan arc is a bust.