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Review

by Maral Agnerian,

Angel Links

DVD 3 - Broken Angel

Synopsis:
Angel Links DVD 3 - Broken Angel
Change is in the air at the Links Group, and everyone's life seems to be at a turning point. A shipment is stolen right outside the gate of the Links Group, and Meifon is determined to get it back. This time, however, it's strictly a ground caper and she and Kosei set off alone, and face a Tao Master!

And later, Valeria, who was once a strategist for the awesome Einhorn Empire, comes face-to-face with an old comrade who offers her a deal. Meifon receives a visit from a long-lost Uncle, but this family reunion ends in tragedy. And, once again, Meifon struggles to come to terms with the terrible destiny that is unfolding before her.
Review:
Volume 3 of Angel Links does not, thankfully, go back to the pirate-of-the-day formula of the first volume, but rather continues from Volume 2 in terms of character development. Most importantly, though, in episode 10 the secret of Meifon's past is finally revealed.

The first two episodes on this disc are mostly unrelated to the Meifon mystery, although there are a few scattered scenes that drop hints and lead up to episode 10. In episode 8 Meifon drags Kosei into a den of beggar-pirates who've stolen a shipment right out from under her nose, and although she seems to be a bit of a fluffhead sometimes, in this episode we do get to see that Meifon isn't just a pretty face with big boobs--she's actually pretty good in a fight. Good fight scenes and a rather creative way of defeating the bad guy made this episode fairly entertaining.

Episode 9 is Valeria's turn for a bit of attention, revealing some of her past when an ex-boyfriend in the Einhorn military shows up to try and win her back, while collecting information on Angel Links in the meantime. It's mildly interesting, but the motivations of some of the characters, the ex in particular, seemed a bit strange and hard to take seriously. Somebody other than Meifon gets a chance to yell 'Links Cannon...SHOOOT!' for once, but other than that the episode was a bit flat.

The culmination of the disc, though, is episode 10, in which Meifon meets an old friend of her grandfather's, and the truth about Grandpa, Leon Lau, and Meifon finally comes out. It would be fairly interesting just for that, but the action sequences are pretty nice too.

The visuals continue to be excellent, with one exception--there's really cheap computer morphing used for the Tao Master in ep. 8, which really got on my nerves and was rather surprising given how good the animation usually is. The dub continues to be hit-and-miss; Kosei's dub voice continues to be rather annoying, and Meifon seems to be yelling all the time, no matter what's happening on-screen. The menus and interface are the same as in the other discs (ie. bland but useful), and just in case you haven't seen that damn launch sequence enough, the only extras on the disc are the day and night versions of the launch sequence. Whee.

If you've watched the previous volumes of Angel Links and want to know what happens, this disc is worth picking up for the revelation of the mystery surrounding Meifon. It's still not anything groundbreaking, though...
Grade:
Overall (dub) : C
Overall (sub) : C+
Animation : A
Art : A

+ Reveals important information about Meifon's past
cheap CGI morphing, annoying dub voices

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Production Info:
Director: Yuji Yamaguchi
Script:
Masaharu Amiya
Yasuko Kobayashi
Jirō Takayama
Storyboard:
Yasunao Aoki
Yutaka Kagawa
Masakazu Obara
Go Sakamoto
Yoshihiro Takamoto
Megumi Yamamoto
Yūsuke Yamamoto
Story:
Takehiko Itō
Hajime Yatate
Unit Director:
Tōru Kitahata
Masakazu Obara
Kazuhisa Ōno
Hiroshi Tsuruta
Tetsuya Watanabe
Megumi Yamamoto
Yūsuke Yamamoto
Akira Yoshimura
Music: Toshihiko Sahashi
Original creator:
Hideaki Ibuki
Takehiko Itō
Hajime Yatate
Original Character Design: Hiroyuki Hataike
Art Director:
Hiroshi Katō
Hiroshi Okubo
Manabu Ono
Masaru Satō
Animation Director:
Hideo Maru
Asako Nishida
Takuro Shinbo
Noboru Sugimitsu
Tsutomu Suzuki
Akira Takahashi
Susumu Yamaguchi
Kohei Yoneyama
Animation Character Design: Asako Nishida
Mechanical design: Rei Nakahara
Sound Director: Masafumi Mima
Director of Photography:
Shūichi Itō
Koji Toki
Producer:
Naotake Furusato
Atsushi Sugita
Licensed by: Bandai Entertainment

Full encyclopedia details about
Angel Links (TV)

Release information about
Angel Links - Broken Angel (DVD 3)

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