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In the near future, a violent battle rages between two alternate dimensions in space and time - La'cryma, home to the protectors of humanity, and Shangri-La, whose inhabitants are bent on the annihilation of all time-spaces. A group known only as the Dragon Cavalry is dispatched from La'cryma on a journey through the various known dimensions in search of the Dragon's Torque, the only thing that can stop the invasion and prevent the destruction of all possible realities.

Back in the present, twelve-year-old Haruka and her friend Yuu are comtemplating running away from their home city to live in Tokyo when, to their shock and confusion, they meet a member of the Dragon Cavalry calling himself Karasu. He not only believes that Haruka possesses the Dragon's Torque but also claims to be an older version of Yuu from fifteen years in the future. In his own time-space, Karasu once failed to save Haruka's life and vowed to protect the Haruka in the present time-space from anyone and anything deemed to be a threat to her. But another being also has an interest in the present version of Haruka, one even more formidable than the Dragon Calvary and the insidious warriors of Sangri-La-the mysterious mask-like figure known as Noein.

This dvd opens well enough with simply designed menu that guides you nicely to the appropriate sections. The problem with this menu is that actual background is too clever for its own good. The text is made up of little dots of light that light up when highlighted, which can be problematic as the colour used is yellow and even highlighted the glow is so bright that it makes it hard to read. This aside the actual content of the disc is not bad as well as the usual options you are also treated a nice extras section that features a guide(By the director & lead V/A no less) around the real life town thes anime is based on. This is a nice addition as you get to see the reference points the animators used when creating the series and only makes you appreciate there work more.

The disc aside,the actual anime itself is a delight to watch, the mixture of 2D & 3D animation is beautiful to watch ( The show has over 6,000 animation cels shot per episode which is twice the average number for a normal animated TV series) and although the blend isn't seamless it certainly adds to the viewing experience especially in the battle scenes.

The only problem with the anime though is the plot and the way it is structured. The problem here being that you feel, particularly during the first two episodes, that you playing catch up and this could potentially put the casual viewer off watching. Another plot point issue that arose on this disc, was that after spending several episodes building up the plot and tne pace all this is seemingly abandoned for an episode that seems to have little relavence to anything until two thirds of the way through it. Although it helps the development of some key characters, it seemed a bit of a waste of the previous efforts to develop the pace & plot.

These points aside, the show itself isn't too bad, the

characters are easy enough to identify with and although slow to start off with, the plot is drip fed enough to you to keep you interested and make you want to watch more.

It must also be noted at this point, that although the show is well scored, it does suffers from something that seems to be a pandemic in recent anime releases, inappropriate title music. The shows opens with an up beat and pacey ballad, which then wrongly leads the viewer to believe the tone of anime matches this, which in this case it doesn't.

It is a mystery why the director chose to do this especially considering the attention to detail in other areas is faultless, so perhaps only time or the director, will tell why this done.

Overall this show and the disc were quite enjoyable and but for the issues raised would have scored higher. As it is the show is certainly one to watch and you won't be cheated for your money and time, only rewarded.

7.5/10.

Stuart Claw