Dai-Guard : Perfect Collection Set

I do apologize for the delay's in blogging. You can expect a few reviews and perhaps a few new tweaks around here. I took the opportunity to dig into the backlog and grabbed the first series that looked interesting. I saw Dai-Guard and immediately thought Mecha sounded just about right. I made an excellent choice.

The set I have in my collection is the Alpha Brick release by ADV. These old sets from ADV, Bandai, etc... certainly live up to their name. It is the size of a brick but doesn't weigh like one. Other than it's clunky nature it does have issues. When I was going to remove the second disc the entire section popped out of the brick. It's a snap together section so I was able to put it back together; albeit annoyed. The cover art for the set is unqiue and well put together. It's very busy, but it captures the atmosphere of the series. What I like the most is the art and design of the discs itself. It's consistent and remarkable all the way through.

As with most ADV releases the video quality and authoring is very good. It's almost a little too good on the PS3 up-converting it. You can see some of the coloring and oh-so-slight (you really need to be nit-picky)animation inconsistencies from when the show was made. This is no part ADV's mistake, I find this to be part of the charm of Dai-Guard. You won't be find any errors or glitches video wise. The designs feel familiar but unique at the same time. Xebec put their stamp on this series so you will enjoy the fruits of their labor. You will be pleased with ADV's efforts and the series overall.

I did encounter one problem with this release and it came in the audio. It is not the 2.0 vs. 5.1 argument nor is it the dub vs. sub. The volume level seemed to drop and raise from episode to episode and from OP to episode to ED. I kept reaching for the remote to adjust the volume accordingly. At times is was borderline ticking me off. If you're an audio person, you've officially been warned. In Dai-Guard you would be hard-pressed to not enjoy your preference between English and Japanese audio. The voice acting is very remarkable as I enjoyed both tracks equally. The both provide the same punch in the comedic and dramatic aspects.

Dai-Guard's biggest strength does not come from the animation, the music, or the voice acting. This biggest strength of this series is found in the writing. I have not seen much Mecha with such character and heart. The development of each and every character is thought out and executed perfectly. Even those characters you might find annoying or don't like at first, they do grow beyond your first impressions. The plot itself is well drawn out and paced as well, with very satisfying and touching moments. It's a fighting robot anime, you wouldn't expect to see this much heart in a series. As the viewer you feel like you know the characters and what they went through. I dare say, this is a rare anime that is very comforting.

Dai-Guard is a series with a lot going for it. ADV put out a high quality series with a pretty decent release. Though, I do feel it could have been given a better release. Maybe if ADV were to re-release this series they could fix it up. Dai-Guard is too good of a series to just sit around for newer otaku never to see. Dai-Guard is comfort food for any otaku who likes good characters and a good story. I give Dai-Guard 5 out of 5 Ibuki kisses!