E's Otherwise Volume 1 DVD Review

By sothis Published: February 8, 2005

PACKAGING AND MENU

7.5 / 10

The packaging for E's Otherwise is good, but a bit busy. The cover is simple, and contains simply the main characters (quite a few) with a sunburst type background behind them. I think my only concern with this is that because of the very wide range of colors in their clothing/hair, combined with the really vibrant red/orange background, it just makes the entire scene very busy and nothing stands out well. Suggestions for future releases might be the people in their uniforms against a ruined city or something, since the consistent colors might help out a little with the look and feel. This busy-ness and lack of focus is apparant when you try to find the title of the DVD. The "E's Otherwise" almost perfectly blends into the background color, which not so conveniently happens to be showing through where the logo is. Combined with bright sea green, pink, white, and blue surrounding the title, and you have something that really isn't noticable. I think making the title stand out a lot more should be a high priority in future releases of E's, so customers' eyes are drawn to the DVD more, and in general it's easier on the eyes.

The back is much less busy and is more pleasing, with a film strip on the left that has screenshots, and a shot of Yuki on the right holding a gun. Admittedly, the artwork is fairly minimal on the back and probably could use a slight touchup. Still good, though. This DVD doesn't have an insert, but that might have been an accident. I'll update this once I know more.

The menus for this DVD were quite impressive, probably one of the best menu systems I’ve seen ADV put together so far. The main menu is a shot of Kai striking a pose, and the selections are made inside a tech-looking circle that spins around inside itself. The menus are quick, with short animations between menus, all with music from the theme song in the background. The main menu gives direct access to each episode number as well as languages, scene selection and extras. Each other menu has its own backdrop, and low-key music. I was very pleased with the menu system.

FEATURES

8 / 10

This DVD actually had quite a lot to offer as far as extras. First are the clean opening and closing animation sequences, a MUST in my opinion, but all too often studios leave them out. Also there are production sketches, which are an array of black and white sketches of the characters and scenery, and a few items. One of the most unexpected things was the Japanese promo spots, which were basically commercials aired in Japan before the show aired on TV. There are about 12 of them, but they are all basically the same thing repeated. Then of course are the ADV previews and credits, which are standard on most if not all ADV releases.

VIDEO

10 / 10

The video on this DVD is wonderful. The transfer was very good and the video is extremely clean. The other thing to note is how vibrant the colors were. I know this is in part due to the animation studio, but you can easily tell that the colors are a lot richer and more vivid than most other series and DVDs out there.

AUDIO

9 / 10

The audio was also a very clean transfer. The Japanese 5.1 was all I had to listen to, but it sounded awesome on my system. There were no noticeable dropouts when we watched it, nor any distortion. The 5.1 mix was put into good use with a fair amount of ambient noises coming from the rear speakers, but you really heard it during the fight scenes. For the most part the dialogue comes through the center, with a few scenes where shouting could be heard to the side or behind.

CONTENT

8 / 10

I remember when E's Otherwise was aired on Japanese TV. It looked and smelled like a Scryed ripoff, so I was quick to assume it was a Scryed ripoff, and wasn't interested in viewing it. Needless to say, watching these three episodes (the only available on the screener) was quite refreshing and really made me want to watch more.

Although the overall premise may make you think of Scryed, in reality I felt the mood to be more like Witch Hunter Robin. Essentially, people in the future have psychic powers, and "normal" humans are afraid of them. There's an abandoned city that's not so abandoned, being run by thugs and stray humans and persecuted psychics alike. Then there's the company of sorts that takes in stray psychics to work for them (taking out psychics who need to be taken care of). In WHR fashion, these captured folks are carted off to who knows where for who knows what purpose -- though it's pretty obvious it's something devious.

The five episodes follow Kai, the newest member of AESES, as he interacts with his new team members and goes on his first mission, a mission which has dire consequences. We see the world that they live in, the persecution of the psychics first hand, and the stage being set for conflicts between some of the team members. Episodes four and five follow Kai as he interacts with the people of Gald and realizes his life at Ashuram might not be as it had seemed. Definitely turns into filler around that point, but still very interesting nonetheless.

The animation is beautiful with vibrant colors, and interesting fight scenes. I really like this style of character designs, which definitely have a newer feel to them. The scenery and backgrounds are gorgeous, even when the scenes are simply a burned down city. The intro song is one of the catchiest I've heard, with good music throughout the series as well. A varied cast of characters can be found, all of which aren't developed enough yet to get a good idea of their strengths and weaknesses.

In general, I'm really glad I picked this up. A very interesting story with pretty graphics and good music? Worth buying to me.