The Show:
The second to last volume of The Get Backers is another solid
entry in the series. Volume nine starts off with a pair
of stand alone stories and then launches into what is sure to be the last
big story arc of the series. This has been a fun show, and it looks
like it's moving towards a great ending.
Series recap:
The Get Backers are a pair of young guys, Ban and Ginji, who run a business
retrieving stolen or lost objects. Business isn't very good right
now. They live in their car, and have run up a huge tab at a local
restaurant. Even giving their lowly standing, they are quite good
at their job. Once they take on a job, these goofy guys always recover
the object they are sent after.
Part of the reason for this amazing success rate is that both members
of the team have superpowers. Ginji is a human electric eel, who
can generate a powerful electric charge with his hands, and Ban has a 'jag-on'
the ability to create a powerful illusion for up to a minute. With
these powers, and a stubborn streak that doesn't allow them to give up,
the Get Backers are able to recover just about anything.
Volume 9:
Hevn, the negotiator who arranges many of the Get Backers' jobs, has
an episode mainly to herself at the beginning of this volume. When
a group of mercenaries turn up wearing familiar uniforms, they bring up
some unpleasant memories. Years ago, Hevn was working on a secret
research project to develop a alloy with unique properties. One afternoon
a group of men attacked their facility and killed her lover trying to steal
the new metal. When these men show up again, Hevn goes after them
alone to retrieve the sample that they stole.
The owner of the Honkey Tonk, Paul, has his past catch up with him in
the next episode. An old friend walks into Paul's restaurant, a friend
that he thought had been dead for the past ten years. The man, Azuma,
used to be in a small gang of thieves along with Paul. One day their
third member betrays them while attempting to steal a valuable vase, and
Azuma was shot, presumably killed. Now the traitor has shown up again,
this time with a new face and he's holding political office. Paul
and Azuma want to even the score, even though they may not make it out
alive.
The last three episodes are the beginning of what must be the last major
storyline: The return to the Limitless Fortress. Word gets out that
something bad is happening in the Fortress. As impossible as it sounds,
someone has kidnaped Makubex, and they didn't leave a clue. So Ban
and Ginji decide to get Makubex back. Along with Kazuki and Himiko
they go back to the limitless fortress. Things may be more difficult
than they think though, the last of the Four Kings, Kurusu, is responsible
for the abduction, and he's counting on the Lightning Emperor trying to
get him back.
This was another fun volume. I really liked the first pair of shows
that gave some interesting background on some of the lesser characters
in the series. These stand alone stories were always the Get Backers
strong suit, and these two start the volume off at a fast pace.
The story that I liked the least in the series was the original Limitless
Fortress saga. I wasn't that excited when the group decided to go
back in, but this second storyline doesn't seem to be dragging like the
first one. They introduce a lot of new characters with interesting
powers and the fights actually have outcomes that change the dynamics of
the show.
The very end of the last episode is really good and something I should
have seen coming but didn't. I can't wait to see how the series wraps
up.
The DVD:
This DVD presents episodes 41-45 on a single DVD that comes in an Amaray
case with an insert listing the titles of the episodes and the extras.
Audio:
This DVD offers the choice of the original Japanese in stereo, or a
5.1 English dub. I viewed the show with both soundtracks and they
were both good. There was some problems with the English track though.
At the beginning of the first episode the music is way too loud when compared
to the dialog. This evens out after a few minutes. Aside from
that, the 5.1 dub was more dynamic than the Japanese track, with a little
more strength to the bass. The English voice actors did a good job,
putting feeling into the characters without making them sound goofy like
some dubs. The rear speakers are used to good effect.
Video:
The anamorphic widescreen image looked pretty good. The colors
were bright and the image was sharp. There were some digital defects
with aliasing in the background being the most noticeable. Fine lines
tend to shimmer when the camera pans over them, and there was some cross
colorization in the few black and white scenes. These weren't distracting
and this is still a good looking DVD.
Extras:
The only extras on this disc are clean opening and closing animations
and a few trailers.
Final Thoughts:
This penultimate volume of The Get Backers was very entertaining.
This is a fun series that just seems to hit everything right. If
you've followed the series up to this point, you'll be happy with this
volume. Highly Recommended.
Buy: