The cute and the cool.

Like previous volumes, Shonen Onmyouji volume five has a clear plastic case that reveals a double jacket cover. On the first side is a cute manga-style pin-up of the wind shikigami Taiin on the front, whole on the back is a few screenshots and the DVD synopsis. The reverse cover features the shikigami Kouchin on its front cover, with alternate screenshots on the back. The DVD’s menu simply rehashes the illustration of Taiin from the first jacket cover and has no background music, leaving a simple menu listing. There is also a two-sided art slip that is inserted in the case that features both cover illustrations and the DVD release schedule for the series. The Japanese voice cast is fairly average by most standards, but the English voice cast just doesn’t come to par at all with its characters.

Not the brightest star in Heaven.

There’s not much to see in terms of extra content for this DVD. All you get are the DVD credits, the cast/staff credits for the show, and a small offering of Geneon trailers. While the trailers for Princess Raccoon, Paradise Kiss, and Black Lagoon are all lovely and cinematic, they hardly make the extra features worth viewing. The cast credits are only handy for helping jog the memory for names of familiar voices in the show. Very paltry offerings, indeed.

A story even gods will enjoy.

Shonen Onmyouji, as I’ve said in the past, isn’t really unique in theme. There have been many anime series that have used celestial gods and spiritual magic as the core of their universes; Fushigi Yuugi is one of the more popular examples. However, Shonen Onmyouji differs in its winding and involving story and characters. It constantly shifts focus around and doesn’t focus on any one main character for long enough to exclude the other well-developed characters. (Are you listening, Bleach?) It’s also driven more by the plot rather than be wholly dictated by the battle of the day. But fans of such awesome fights between demons and humans won’t be disappointed; there’s still plenty to go around. Shonen Onmyouji could easily be an understated series, overshadowed by other shonen titles like Bleach or Naruto, but it’s very worth the watching.