Released by: Madman Entertainment.
Region: Four.
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (anamorphic)
Disc 1:
Ran, Ichise, Yoshi and Onishi's stories all collide as the 'spectacle' gets under way. But even as that conflict starts more is revealed about Yoshi's end goal to show that the 'spectacle' is merely the begining for him. It gets sufficiently heated that the enigmatic Class begin to show their hand and appear in Lukuss to ensure their dictates are met. Increasingly Onishi and Ichise's fates become intertwined even as Yoshi tries to manipulate Shinji and Ran to his ends.
Finally we get to fully understand what Yoshi thinks he is doing even though that raises very disturbing questions about where he has come from and what has happened there. On top of that we see all the main characters grappling with the question of destiny and how you view it. Ichise serves as our guide here as he serves as the touchstone each major character talks to - to try and influence to their particular agenda.
While I still am not entirely sure where the series is going the mechanics of what it is about and how it wants to show this to us is quietly becoming clear. The brutality reaches a widescale climax here as fighting breaks out en-masse over the city and yet while the individual actions are chaotic there is a purposeful pattern behind it all that Yoshi is driving towards. Indeed in many ways Yoshi has a point, albeit one unencumbered with more than a few social niceties. Certainly the actions he has set in motion are going to have far reaching consequences for the city as a whole.
Video wise we continue to enjoy the crisp anamorphic 16:9 transfer that allows the dilapidated and run down feel of Lukuss to soak through the screen. Combine it with the strong Japanese and English 2.0 Dolby Digital soundtracks and you easily get drawn into the strange world of Texhnolyze again as it reveals more. Extras are fairly light with the best being the expanded audio- outtakes. It seems the pressure of doing the English dub has got to the production crew a little and to unwind they have fun mercilessly re-interpreting various key scenes in this volume. This segment has been expanded considerably and is much better of an the effort than the previous two volumes.
All in all while a little light on extras Texhnolyze as a series continues to push into a dark gritty place with it's story. As such it doesn't disappoint while revealing a few of its mysteries only to show the larger machinations of what is going on. This is the kind of edgy, dark and downright risky to make anime we simply don't see so often these days. A real pleasure to watch unfold.
Finally I have my speculations and observations for this episode online.