Volume 4 of Galaxy Angel Rune brings the series to an end, and not a moment too soon.  While there were a few laughs in this series, it doesn't live up to the humor found in the earlier incarnations.  Added to that is the outrageous price that Bandai Visual is asking for the discs.  At nearly $50 a pop, the laughs per dollar ratio is way too low.

Series Background:

The characters from Galaxy Angel, Galaxy Angel A, and Galaxy Angel Z aren't in this show.  Instead we find a new group of misfits trying to keep the peace and presumably searching the universe for Lost Technology.  This group of Galaxy Angels consists of five misfits who are amazingly similar to the previous team.  They include Apricot, the child-like main character, the captain Lily who gives the team their moral compass, even if it's at the point of her sword, Anise who is constantly in debt, and Kahlua, who is always in her lab performing magical experiments.  Sometimes she mysteriously turns into Tequila, a lesbian who has the hots for Apricot.  There's also Nano, a floating cat head.  Together these oddballs have to defend humanity from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

This volume:

With the way the Angels keep messing up things, it was only a matter of time before their superiors took some action.  Well that time is now!  The powers that be send Sakae to re-train the Rune Angels, something they aren't too excited about.  There is an out though.  If any one of them can beat Sakae in an area of training, their education will be complete.  The only problem is that Sakae is the strongest life form in the universe.

Next up is a murder mystery.  Suzuki, one of Natsume's servents, is murdered and it's the Rune Angels who are determined to crack the case.  When all of the evidence points to Anise however, until another body turns up...then it looks like Lily's the culprit.  Could one of the Angels really be a murderer?

The seemingly mandatory trip to a hot springs episode is up next.  When a mysterious comet is heading towards Earth, the angels investigate only to discover that it contains a hot spring.  Totally forgetting their mission, the girls start to relax.  Unfortunately the people planet-side are planning to blow the comet out of the sky, Angels and all.

Finally, the series wraps up with a fairly amusing episode.  While Apricot is visiting her sister Milfeulle, the other Angels find some Lost Technology.  The only problem is that this particular item turns them evil.  (I hate when that happens!)  It's up to Apricot to save her team mates, but how can she fight them??
 
Like the previous volumes, the shows on this disc really doesn't do too much for me.  The whole show is a parody, and while it can be amusing at times, it often ends up being too silly or stupid to really enjoy.  The hyper-kinetic style is just too over-the-top for my tastes.  While the copious in-jokes are fun they aren't enough to make the show actually funny.

This disc contains episodes 10-13 of the series.  It comes in an attractive pink keepcase with a reversible cover and a nice booklet insert.  The booklet contains sketch art, character profiles, special attacks and notes some quick jokes viewers may have missed.

Audio:

Like the other volumes of this series, these episodes lacked an English dub.  With a fast-talking comedy show like this one the subtitles often whiz by at a fast rate and sometimes it's hard to keep up, so an English track is always nice to include.  Bandai Visual has been releasing a lot of discs without an English track, and though I often prefer the original language English dubs should be included.  There are many people who prefer to focus their attention on the action on the screen rather than reading subtitles, and releases like these will only serve to alienate those viewers.  I know that the market is very tight now, but cutting the dub track to save money isn't the way to go.

Okay, enough of the rant.  The Japanese track was in stereo and sounded fine.  There wasn't a lot of use made of the front soundstage but the dialog was clear and the sound effects were strong.  There wasn't any hiss, dropouts or distortion to mar the playback.

Video:

The 1.78:1 video quality was also very nice. The colors are bright and the lines are crisp.  There was only a slight hint of aliasing and other digital artifacts that are hardly worth mentioning.  The fine lines on the characters did not shimmer and disappear like they do on some discs.  I was very happy with the look of these shows.

Extras:

This disc also contains a clean ending for all four episodes and another segment of Angel Rune Sentiment.  The latter is a rather unusual extra for an anime disc.  It is a short (3 minute) live-action movie each featuring an actress from Galaxy Angel Rune.  It was nice to watch but afterwards I was thinking "Okay....why was that included?"  Finally there is Angel Troup Recital Rune, a concert clip featuring the voice actresses from the show.
 

Final Thoughts:

When most series end, I'm a little disappointed.  There's a bit of sadness knowing that it's all over.  Not so with Galaxy Angel Rune.  The feeling was more like elation.  This program just wasn't as funny as the previous series and the stories didn't hold my interest.  It was more of a chore to make it through this disc than a pleasure.  Unless you were enamored of the previous volumes, just skip it.