Aquarian Age Volume 1

Review Date: 2005 July 29 12:28

Reviewed by: Azure

Released by: ADV Films UK

Age Rating: PG

Region: 2 - UK

Volume 1 of 3

Length: 125 minutes

Subtitles: English

Audio: English 5.1 Surround
Japanese 2.0 Stereo

Summary

Kyouta, Shingo and Juichi want to become pop stars, finally the group get their dream as they are picked up by the Cosmopop agency. Things are complicated when Kyouta starts seeing strange visions on top of that one of his closest friends Yoriko begins to act strangely, are they growing apart? Or is it something more?

Review

Aquarian Age certainly has a lot of ground to cover, there’s the complex relationship between the male and female leads Kyouta and Yoriko, the story of Kyouta’s band and the strange supernatural goings on. The question is of course how well each of these stories blends in. Initially the focus is on the band and it felt like I was watching one of the music themed anime out there. I can’t say I wasn’t enjoying it, even if things were going a little slow. It was something like three episodes before we even see Kyouta sing. The scenes with Kyouta and Yoriko were also enjoyable but pretty typical, and extremely slow.

The supernatural aspect is supposed to overlay all of this, as we see flashes of magical girls fighting in the sky interrupt the action. At first I was intrigued, but again the slow place ruined things a little, by the time we get to learn more about what’s going on I felt irritated I’d rather know how the band was getting on. That isn’t to say that the magical aspect was entirely irrelevant, by the final episodes on the disc the magical plot line begins to influence events in Kyouta’s life directly. It’s perhaps lucky that five episodes are included on the DVD, I’m not sure I’d have watched on after just three.

The animation is also average, although I have to admit that I liked the highly stylised character designs by Hisashi Abe. Each character is thankfully clearly recognisable as the cast continues to grow. The music suits the show well, the opening theme particularly stands out.

Aquarian Age well made, but it seems a little too similar to what has gone before. I found myself thinking repeatedly of another Broccoli series Galaxy Angel, another show packed full of female characters. The pop star storyline is the most enjoyable aspect, and I have to say Aquarian Age would have been much more enjoyable if that’s what had been focused on. The slow pace doesn’t help either Aquarian Age is a three DVD series, this makes the end of this DVD a third of a way through, simply put more should have happened by now .The DVD itself has a good amount of extras including behind the scenes footage, character designs and a production booklet full of quotes from the Japanese cast and song lyrics. Fans of Broccoli productions will find plenty they like here, but it’s not one of their best.

Rating: 6/10