Peacemaker Volume 3

Review Date: 2006 April 01 08:16

Reviewed by: Azure

Released by: ADV Films UK

Age Rating: 12

Region: 2 - UK

Volume 3 of 7

Length: 100 minutes

Subtitles: English

Audio: English 5.1 Surround
Japanese 2.0 Stereo

Summary

An odd man appears in Kyoto, he brings foreign words and attitudes with him. Tetsu seems pretty taken by the stranger much to the annoyance of his older brother Tatsu who seems absolutely determined to get himself and his brother into trouble. Meanwhile events continue to move without either brother’s knowledge.

Review

Another season and another period action show, in the case of Peacemaker we find ourselves in the turbulent Edo era, thankfully though Peacemaker offers more than enough innovation to become worthwhile. There’s a fairly large cast but the story focuses on two brothers the academic Tatsu and the boisterous Tetsu whose relationship provides several brilliant moments of comedy.

From the very get-go Peacemaker oozes style, leading the way for a number of very hip period anime that seem to appearing at the moment. Thankfully for Peacemaker this works really well aiding the feeling of impeding change rather than impeding the period atmosphere. The animation and music are top quality, the characters move fluidly and the backgrounds are very well drawn. The sequences involving water are especially lovely. Another thing in Peacemaker’s favour are the distinctive character designs. Each character looks different yet there’s a consistent and recognisable feel to the anime.

Peacemaker’s tone alternates between serious and silly in a storytelling style rather like that of Kenshin. Tetsu and Tatsu’s manic relationship contrasts strongly the feelings of danger that other characters in the series seem far more aware of. This contrast is used throughout the show but also provides excellent opportunity for comedy. The youngest brother Tetsu has an unfortunate knack for getting him into trouble, my favourite episode of the disc involved him getting lost, and spending his time travelling with a boy he really ought to consider an enemy. The fights are minimal and fairly short, which is a welcome change for this kind of period anime.

The DVD includes all the ADV usual extras, a reversible DVD cover, a fold out insert, clean intro/ending animation and a commentary with several voice actors from the show which I have to admit is a massive highlight of the disc.

Peacemaker is a hugely enjoyable and well-made show, which really holds it’s, own. As I previously mentioned it reminds me a lot of Kenshin, but thankfully I mean this in a positive way, fans of the redheaded Samurai could do worse than give Peacemaker a look; Gonzo fans finishing up Chrono Crusade may also want to give Peacemaker a go.

In short if you like anime which mixes drama with comedy then Peacemaker is a show to look out for.

Rating: 8/10