Review of Kiddy Grade: Vol. 4

Introduction

Disc 4 of Kiddy Grade is upon us, and the world of Éclair and Lumiere is turned upside down as conspiracies are revealed, loyalties are questioned, and learning the truth means that some difficult decisions must be taken. This isn`t the best place to join the series as the story enters an arc that relies on past knowledge, but if you have been watching Kiddy Grade this far, the episodes on this disc are reward indeed. In episode 9 on disc 3, a mission to the planet Dardanos awakened horrifying memories of a past life for Éclair and as that episode ends, she requests time off from her duties.

Kiddy Grade relates the adventures of the GOTT, the Galactic Organisation of Trade and Tariffs, policing trade throughout the galaxy of the distant future. The stories focus on two cybernetically enhanced warriors working for ES, Éclair and Lumiere, both capable of taking on the toughest of opponents and facing the most trying of circumstances. They are also teenaged girls, of course.

There is an error on this disc The Present Future, in that the episode selection screen has the titles for Episodes 7-9 displayed. The error is only on the menu though as the episodes on the disc are actually the correct 10-12. Also this may be an error confined to my review disc.

Rebirth/Slave
As Éclair`s memories continue to resurface, she`s finding it hard to reconcile who it appears she once was with who she is now, especially when it appears that GOTT has been responsible for appalling crimes. Depressed and introspective, this isn`t the best time to be assigned on a mission to protect two ES members.

Set/Free
GOTT send Éclair, Lumiere and Armbrust to mediate a trade dispute on the garden world of Aure, a world modelled on Earth and owned by direct descendants of Earth people. They are trying to resolve a labour dispute with the imported indentured classes, but what Éclair finds is tantamount to slavery. When her orders compel her to deal with the uprising, she finds that she cannot countenance the slaughter of innocents. Éclair and Lumiere must choose a path from which there is no return.

Frozen/Life
Éclair and Lumiere have been expelled from ES and are on the run from GOTT with Armbrust in tow. They are merely looking to escape, but while the other members of ES reflect on these events, GOTT leader Eclipse has ordered Internal Section 13 to capture Éclair and Lumiere by any means necessary. Betrayal and counter-betrayal await them.

Video

The picture is presented in the original 4:3 format, and the transfer is perfectly adequate. Like most modern animation, computers have taken the place of pencils and paper, and that is immediately apparent from the precision of the animation. However, that fact soon faded from the awareness, and I was left to appreciate the design of Kiddy Grade`s world. The character design is simple but distinctive, and the realisation of the future world is intricate and well thought out. It`s a wholly realised future world with a consistent technological society based on the large scale and gargantuan. Warp gates and space elevators abound, as do the beautiful paradisiacal worlds of the future. The animation in this disc did seem improved on the episodes in disc three, so I guess that may have just been a blip.

Audio

There are a fine choice of soundtracks here, DD 5.1 and DD 2.0 English as well as DD 2.0 Japanese. As per usual, my preference is for original whenever possible, and the dialogue is clear throughout. Kiddy Grade also has some nice pop lite tracks for the credit sequences, and the incidental music has a sense of scale and orchestration more often associated with feature films. It`s all very impressive. You can only select one subtitle track from the menu, and depending on whether the language track you chose was English or Japanese, the disc automatically plays either subtitles for the dubbed track, or translated subtitles for the Japanese track. You can switch between them on the fly if you wish.

I`m usually loath to sample the English dubs, but Kiddy Grade makes a welcome exception. Instead of merely translating and filling the extra lip movements with extraneous dialogue, the voiceover has gone back to basics and provided a dialogue that not only conveys the story accurately, but also sounds natural when spoken. The actors also suit the characters, so it`s fair to say that you don`t lose anything by going with the English dub, indeed the DD 5.1 track gives that surround sound oomph to the space opera action, so no matter what your personal preference is when it comes to soundtracks, you`re in a win-win situation here.

Features

The extras seem to be evaporating on the Kiddy Grade discs as the series progresses. Disc 1 had plenty of extras, but Disc 4 only has the usual 90-second image gallery with slides from the episodes, the title sequence minus the text and seven text character profiles. There is an Easter Egg if you can find it that has the original Japanese copyright warning. I believe there was something similar on disc 2. Unfortunately that is all there is this time around.

There is the usual jacket picture that is displayed when the disc isn`t spinning, and thanks to seamless branching, you`ll either see the English or Japanese credits played depending on which language you chose from the menu.

Conclusion

Oh my! Kiddy Grade is certainly insidious, and has me ensnared as we reach the halfway point in the story. It started off innocuously enough as we were introduced to the GOTT members as they went about their larger than life missions, resolving trade disputes with high kicking action and colourful special powers. The light nature of the stories was reminiscent of a Saturday morning cartoon, albeit leavened with some adult content and some intelligent sci-fi. The first few episodes introduced Éclair, Lumiere and their colleagues, and the episodes were primarily great fun. But slowly darker themes entered and a grand overreaching story was hinted at. The characters became more three-dimensional and human and I just wanted to learn more about them, until Éclair`s flashback at the end of disc 3. Disc 4 completely alters the outlook on Kiddy Grade, as the corruption at the heart of GOTT becomes apparent, Éclair`s memories begin to return and she finds it hard to accept just what she may be responsible for. When Eclipse pushes her too far, she rebels and defies GOTT orders, and although Lumiere decides to help her friend, it becomes apparent that Lumiere knows more than she is letting on. The plot is becoming deliciously complex with conspiracies within conspiracies, and although the tone of the stories remain light, there is a darkness to Kiddy Grade that has snuck up on me without me realising it, and I find I am compelled to watch further just to see how the story develops.

There is a certain mindset to get around first. You have to accept the incongruity of the galaxy being saved on a regular basis by teenaged girls. There`s plenty of childish behaviour as well as moments of action and drama, and while the characters are drawn as objects of fantasy, with plenty of skimpy costumes, they are portrayed as naïve and innocent. But as we learn on this disc, appearances are deceptive and these ES agents aren`t as young and innocent as they look.

The stand-alone stories have gone now, and the emphasis is strongly on the development of Éclair`s thread. Rebirth/Slave looks at how she comes to terms with her memories, and although Set/Free could work as a stand-alone episode, with the GOTT once again resolving a trade dispute, it`s Éclair`s development that is again at the heart of the episode. Armbrust`s character remains an enigma though, and he switches sides with ease until his motivations are impossible to divine.

Kiddy Grade is one of the better cyberpunk anime series that I have seen of late. While the story is getting dark, the tone remains light-hearted and the balance is perfectly judged. The scripts are excellent and the stories well worth watching, extending and adding to the entertaining stories on the first two discs. The characters are well rounded and enjoyable to watch. Disc 4 thrusts us right into the middle of the conspiracy in GOTT as events take a sinister turn for Éclair and Lumiere. There may be a question of value for money with just over an hour of material on each disc, but with the story as involving as this, it becomes a small complaint. My anticipation for Disc 5 is almost unbearable.