Movie: Fantastic Children V1 was "a story about a group of children who appear to be immortal and in search of someone who is continually reborn every hundred years. The children are called The Children of Befort though the pacing of the show is such that not a lot of exposition takes place on the first volume of five episodes, so exactly what that means was unclear to me at the time of this initial writing. Apparently, they've wandered the globe as a group, searching for this missing link to the puzzle, for longer than any of them can remember. They are all around 11 years old in the sense that their memories are lost before puberty, forcing them to restart again though they have devised a means to store their memories in crystal form so they'll have a better chance of remembering their quest. In terms of the timeline, it jumps around a bit at first, forcing the viewer to keep a close eye on the screen at all times, with the way the material is edited providing a bit of a challenge for fans to keep up with. As the episodes progress, the jumping around in time gets better (meaning that there is less of it) and the story easier to follow but the nature of the show is such that the director is trying to keep from providing spoilers himself, lending to the pacing that is sure to draw at least some complaints from those of you who enjoy action above all else. The series is largely set in 2012, a near future where things are much like they are currently, with some minor variations. The Befort Children get a lot of the initial attention, introducing them, a loss of one of their party to the authorities, and the introduction of a similar looking young man who is clearly from the same background, though on an opposing side, who is also searching for the missing girl in the mystery. Exactly what she means to all of them and how this will interact with the rest of the world is as yet undiscussed but it is certainly made up to be considered important to the parties searching for her."

Okay, Fantastic Children V2 began where Fantastic Children V1 left off; Thoma saving Helga and Chitto from an orphanage as well as from a group of white haired boys desperately hunting her down. The history of the Children of Befort was made clearer, at least in the sense that they had been around for hundreds of years throughout Europe and recorded in one form or fashion in paintings, literature, and eventually photographs. The side story that Fantastic Children V3 focused on in regards to some scientists using x-rays on a mysterious stone called "The Fragment" to study it's unique properties, detective Cook's pursuit of the truth as well, and Kirchner's place at the GED project all became crystal clear as the flashbacks unfolded to show how he was lost in the oblivion. It was also interesting to see the origin of the orsel on Earth as a dangerous byproduct of their experimentations with the children's role in the substance barely touched upon at this point.

The episodes this time were 6) Kokkuri Island, 7) The Children of Befort, 8) A Warm Family, 9) Orsel, and The Ged Group with the linear path of the story unfolding as deliberately as before, this time with a lot better understanding on my part as to what was going on. Rather than the villainous type of shady characters they had appeared as in the opening volume, the children were shown as somewhat more driven but benign, seeking the truth of their goal more than trying to obtain what they sought by any means necessary as some of the secondary players have been established. I don't want to ruin the story for those of you that haven't seen it but suffice it to say that I really liked this set of five episodes too so I rated it as Recommended as I did Fantastic Children V3. I suspect that those of you wanting to see a blend of historical fiction, supernatural activity, and the hard science that appears later in the show will like it even more though I caution you to watch the volumes in order to obtain the greatest amount of pleasure out of them.

Picture: Fantastic Children V2 was presented in the original 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was created in by director Takashi Nakamura for release on Japanese television. The anime looked interesting as though it combined the retro look of some of the most recent shows coming out of Japan, with some of the finer detail you'll get in the bigger budget (far bigger budget at that) shows we've been giving high ratings to of late. The faces, for example, look like storyboard outlines while some of the backgrounds have most of the detail and movement. This plays tricks on the eyes as it gives the illusion of depth at the same time the characters often come across as coming off a sketch pad at the last minute. I'm not sure I like this style as much as some of you will but it was a step towards something different and I have to appreciate that some are trying to offer new experiences in their anime production.

Sound: The audio was presented with the standard choices of a 2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese track or the usual English dub track. To be frank about it, I found the dub voices to be somewhat more appealing this time but that could easily be my own attempt to grasp for the familiarity of language in an anime release that provided little concrete material to latch onto. Most of the characters on the dub seemed to fit their respective roles though and a few of the original track just seemed somehow "off" a bit to me. The music and sound effects were similar in each, with a slightly louder bass track on the dub (was it my imagination?) , and a lot of really interesting music to listen too (I still wish I had an audio CD of it to see if it worked as standalone material). There wasn't much separation and the dynamic range wasn't all that special but the vocals were plainly listenable in each version with little problem (and the subtitles were reasonably close in terms of similarity to the dub).

Extras: There were some trailers but nothing else; no paper inserts, no clean opening or closings, no videos, or anything else.

Final Thoughts: Fantastic Children V2 showed the nature of the series a lot more reliably then Fantastic Children V1 did yet established the pacing better of Fantastic Children V3 too so it was the best of both worlds as far as I was concerned. The mystery was far from revealed but the peeking glances in that sense were such that it filled in the details I was searching for and at the same time kept my mind activated as the worldly history of the children was delved into. The science experiment thread was better written here and the ultimate fate of Kirchner aside, the backing of the GED group as well as its primary financier made the plot thicken more than a little bit; elevating the status of the show above the usual level most anime seems content to provide for. Check it out if you like the cerebral show but keep in mind that there was a lot of action too.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVDTalk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, and Best of Anime 2005 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.