Review of Elemental Gelade: Vol. 5

Introduction

Blame MVM. Blame Christmas. Blame Blu-ray. Hell, blame the government; everyone else does.

The distributors of `Elemental Gelade` sent the Volume 5 check disc in so far from release date that it`s lain almost forgotten under a pile of high definition discs, turkey carcasses and disgraced ex-Labour MPs. I say almost forgotten, as being the joyful little anime it is, it`s just the review that`s been neglected in favour of awful yule-tide specials, family bust-ups and of course, the magnificent 5-disc edition of Blade Runner: The Final Cut which saw its release just in time to sneak onto my list for St Nick.

It`s release day today for the fifth volume of this quaint little anime as this review goes live, so I`ll skip the formalities of a synopsis as there`s one at the top of the page.


20. Fictitious React
19. Unspoken Thoughts
20. Viro
21. The Truth Unfolds

Video

Full-frame 4:3, and you`ll be hard-pressed to find any major technical flaws with the transfer. The show itself is bright and colourful, with some fairly energetic animation and the quaint, semi-cutesy visual style that seems to go down well among the broad-appeal anime fans. There are a few evident artifacts during some fast-motion scenes and a few instances where the visuals notably soften or dull, but you really have to be looking for these to pick them up.

Audio

English dub or native Japanese with subtitles, but disappointingly only in Dolby Digital 2.0; a strange choice for such an action and set-piece orientated show. Still, the tracks are both clear with solid mixing. The voice cast on the Japanese track is notably more mature-sounding and versatile compared to the rather dull and samey Americanised dub, which when combined with the manga-faithful artistic choices in terms of character design, does tend to make it feel like you`re simply watching a Saturday morning `toon for kids, doing the show an injustice in the process. Also worth mentioning is that the score is full of pop-ish tunes if that`s your cup of tea, and the theme tune which opens the show is truly a bubblegum J-pop fan`s wet dream.

Features

A music video for the ending themesong `Promise`. Pleasant enough ballad, but the video is an incredibly dull rip-off of the incredibly unimaginative one Coldplay cut for `Yellow`.

Other than that, an art gallery and trailers.

Conclusion

Once again, I find myself at something of a loss for words when confronted with the task of reflecting on the fifth volume of `Elemental Gelade`. It has little, actually nothing, to do with the quality of the series, and everything to do with the fact that unlike most anime serials, the show doesn`t really seem fit for review every four or five episodes; the series` lack of ambition, the deficiency of an engaging over-arc and the fact that nothing, with the exception of character relationships, tends to change over the course of a volume. The goal of finding Edel Garden almost seems as distant as it was in the beginning, and is little more than an excuse to push the characters on a journey. Given a little tweaking here and there, `Elemental Gelade` could have been milked for dozens more episodes and turned into another long-running cash cow in the vein of `Naruto`. After all, Monthly Comic Blade are still publishing the manga on which it`s based.

But it`s so pleasantly likeable, so full of energy and well put-together that you can forgive the fact that, when it boils down to it, little really changes from volume to volume bar places and characters. The nature of adapting an unfinished manga tale into a self-contained anime story has clearly been problematic, with producers adjusting the anime as the manga gets released, infusing it with crossover elements as its brother goes to print. But if you more-or-less ignore the story and take the show at face value, it`s a lot of fun. The (Japanese) voice performances are excellent and in volume 5, the relationship between the bumbling Cou and the timid Ren continues to touch and amuse, even if it appears to be making no real progress. The humour is still of the silly cross-purposes and the very Japanese `accidental inappropriateness` variety, but with such vigorous fervour propelling the jokes and the exaggerated art-style carried over from the manga, you can`t help but find it all delightful. Or rather, a more masculine, less flowery term for delightful.

The over-reliance on companion-battles as progression in almost every episode is still disappointing, especially now the characters have developed to a point that they could chew a little more in terms of plot, but then in all reality that would probably alienate its target audience who tune in for the fireworks; bear in mind, the show wasn`t created for your average UK anime fan. Even though, volume 5 is another enjoyable volume of anime nonsense for teenager and adult alike.