Get Backers Volume 7: Venus Interrupted

Review Date: 2006 September 30 14:25

Reviewed by: Azure

Released by: ADV Films UK

Age Rating: 12

Region: 2 - UK

Volume 7 of 10

Length: 125 minutes

Subtitles: English

Audio: English 5.1 Surround
Japanese 2.0 Stereo

Summary

It looks like the Get Backers are going to get some alone time weather they like it or not, separated first on a mission and then by what appears to be personal problems; can the Get Backers really survive?

Review

Volume Seven of Get Backers contains a generous five episodes, the end of a longer story started the previous volume and then a couple of one-shot episodes.


There’s no particularly heavy content this time around with the series, instead concentrating on the shows simple premise, if a client needs something returned then Ginji and Ban will get it back. Being well into the series now the items that the duo have to return are getting increasingly bizarre, the ‘Eternal Goddess’ the art piece that Ginji and Ban have to retrieve for example bears and extremely odd secret. Yet to it's credit Bet Backers happily explains the plot points well, turning the arc into a surprisingly sweet romantic tale.


The two one shots are much more enjoyable, as with many shounen action series it’s at it’s best when forced to tell the story efficiently, the fights are short to the point and fun. The ‘twist’ in episode 34 is so obvious it probably shouldn’t really count as one, but it does set the stage for the action comedy, which Get Backers does so well getting the obligatory Brice Lee gags out of the way at last, the fights in that one sequence make the whole DVD worth it!


The final episode of the DVD sees Ginji one again take on regular villain Jackal, though sadly the fight isn’t nearly as good as previous conflicts between the two, though it does hint at further conflicts between the two inevitable as Jackal seems to be one of the few returning villains of the series.

There’s only one real extra this time around a video interview with voice actors Christopher Loveless, Michael Mergen and Adam Sultan as always with this kind of extra it’s best to wait until after watching the main anime as there are a few spoilers.

There’s a notable change in animation style from previous episodes as the series reaches well into its mid 30’s, though thankfully it’s still of a good if not fantastic standard. It’s still enjoyable material, but mostly it feels like an interlude as very little of the longer plot threads get touched upon. Get Backers is a series which manages to balance the silly and the serious playing on the conventions of the genre for some much needed laughs.

Rating: 7/10