Presentation
The box art is simple and elegant with a picture of Sara’s Strain squaring off against Ralph’s Gloire on a black background. It sums up the entire series with just a simple picture. The individual boxes holding the DVD’s are also really nice. One box contains a picture of Sara’s Strain on the front with Ralph’s Gloire on the back, while the other shows the opposite. The back of both DVD’s show various scenes from the series in little hexagonal shapes interposed over the main picture. The background art for the series is somewhat lacking, though understandably so this most of it occurs in the vastness of space. The scenes that don’t are beautifully and artistically done. Particularly the way the scenes that occur in sub-light speed make the action seem that much more frantic and intense. The character animations are very well done and do not detract from the overall feel of the anime, though like much of the series seem to be simplistically done. The largest amount of detail, however, is shown with the Mecha. The designs and detail put into the mecha are breathtaking and beautiful. There is a bit of nudity in the series, but it rarely takes away from anything that is actually going on in the series. For the most part it’s very well used. The opening song and ending songs both sound incredably sad, which is incredably fitting for this series, as there are quite a few times you’ll find yourself looking for a Kleenex. The music is soft and sweet in most places, but during intense actions sequences is sharp and suspense building. It is a very good mix. The American and Japanese voice actors do an amazing job and really convey the emotions of the characters well. The series is very easy to follow, and you’ll find yourself constantly awaiting the next volume.
Extras
The extras are pretty well rounded for this series. It has a trailer before each disc and quite a few good trailers on the second disc. It also features a very nice ship gallery that also adds in a bit of additional info about each ship. It has really well done Character Art Gallery as well, also offering additional information on the series more important characters. This set also features the standard text less opening and closing themes, as well as commentary for the Episode “Back Turned to Peace”.
Overall, I enjoyed this anime. It offered just enough mystery to really keep me interested. Even once the mystery is revealed you can’t help but to watch more to see how it will be resolved. I certainly recommend this anime if you enjoy intense action, well developed characters, an ensnaring story and you don’t mind the mecha battles that take place every so often.