Friday 22 January 2016

ANIME REVIEW: WORLD CONQUEST ZVEZDA PLOT COMPLETE SERIES COLLECTION


World Conquest Zvezda Plot Complete Series Collection (episodes 1-13) DVD
World Conquest Zvezda Plot Complete Series Collection
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 12
Running Time: 309 Mins
Audio: English & Japanese DD 2.0
Release Date: 1/2/2016
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes 

Being out on a top secret mission can make you hungry as Kate Hoshinaga knows, but meeting young runaway Jimon Asoka could be the turning point she needs if she wants to accomplish her mission. Kate announces to her new comrade that she is the Supreme Commander of the Secret Society, Svezda, Lady Venera.

To say this is a fun, fast-paced plot is easy, Kate barely knows him and offers him a job as her right hand henchman - even gibing him a new name, Dva, offering him a steamed bun or a gas mask - if he chooses wisely, he can be the only one apart from her who can be saved from what she plans, the world conquest.

West Udagara is in the grip of martial law and Asuta couldn't have picked a worse night to go out shopping when every store in the area started to set its shutters down, ready for the local police to comb the area. Asuta's life isn't what he had planned as he's left his dad after an argument and found out his credit card has been cancelled - his only hope are the barely sufficient coins in his purse that get him two steamed buns. This is one of the fun things in this anime, wherever the character goes, there are always steamed buns, its like a running joke.

As there is a group called Zvezda, there is also another faction who is around to defend the world from conquest, The White Light Warriors of Justice. They have to infiltrate the Zvezda and find their headquarters, but it could be harder than they think as Kate has a more than competent team around her.

To prove that what we do in life is to do with the choices we make, whenever Asuta meets one of Zvezda's lieutenants, they always give him a choice of what to do next as it seems to be how they operate as alien beings. Each character has a personal way of expressing their annoyance at him and when they want to talk to him, they can't remember his name. Another running joke in this series are the dinner times, most of the characters shy away from eating and he doesn't know why until he finds out how badly the food is cooked.

As a series it has a lot of influences from other anime series, D Gray-Man, Persona 4 and the cuteness of Mawaru Penguindrum. White Light members also have outfits that are similar to the Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets series from the 80's so it also acts as a nice throwback to that era. Kate has plenty of power that comes from her bunny plushie and she can fire several different types of ammo from it, one in particular I thought readers would love: VENERA - TYPE VARIATION FELLING PERSUASION METHOD FLAME FORM.

Episodes 1-13


Bonus Material: Clean Opening and Closing Animation plus Trailers for other anime series.


Summary: Comical, fresh and totally unmissable - will this be the anime of the year 2016?