Burst Angel is a 24 episode TV show that FUNimation released on six DVDs back in 2005 and 2006.  Now, nearly two years after the show's run was completed, they've released a disc with a  single OVA episode:  Burst Angel:  Infinity OVA.  This prequel episode is good but not really worth the $30 retail price that the disc runs.

Taking place before the series starts when Jo and Meg were still on their own, the pair travel to a big city in order to wish an old friend a happy birthday.  When they arrive however, they discover that the little girl they've come to see has been wounded and is in the hospital.  It seems that the homeless girl saw something she wasn't supposed to.

Meg and Jo aren't going to take that lying down, and go out in search of the monster that hurt their friend.

While this is a good episode, it isn't outstanding.  It doesn't really flesh out Meg and Jo's past much more than has already been revealed, and the characters don't grow or change.  Because of that, this really feels like a filler episode from the series.  Not great and not bad, just a way to kill time.  I was really hoping for more from this OVA.
 
 

Audio:

This disc comes with the original Japanese language track as well as an English dub, both in 5.1.  I preferred the Japanese track.  Some of the voices in the English dub had stupid accents that were pretty irritating.  Both make use of the full soundstage with a good amount of directional effects.  I thought that the voices that come from the rear speakers were mixed a little high, but that wasn't a big deal.  There are optional English subtitles which sometimes overlap with text on screen, but only very rarely.

Video:

This is a recent show, and the anamorphic widescreen image looks really good.  The colors are strong with a good amount of detail:  Images waver as they are seen through the rising heat of a fire, and the glow of a CRT display lights up Amy's face.  The lines are tight and the picture is clean.  As far as digital defects go, I notice some light aliasing in the background, but it was very minor. A very good looking show.

Extras:

This disc has a lot of extras, time wise, but ironically its one of the shortest that's most interesting.  First off is The Lightness and Darkness of Jo, a recap episode that was originally screened at Anime Expo in 2005.  It tells about Jo's early day, and draws heavily from episode 15 of the series.

Next is another recap; Battle Record of All 24 Episodes.  This basically trims the series down to an hour and a half concentrating on the battles.  There's a series of previews that aired promoting the series when it was on TV, a preview of the OVA, and some FUNimation trailers.

The coolest bonus item is entitles Ugetsu Hakua (Character Designer) Special.  This 2 ½-minute short looks like the opening to a sequel series.  It looks very cool, showing the Angels (minus Jo of course) a few years in the future.  Meg has matured and is competent, Ami's a high school student (or that age at least), Sei is the business woman-type.  When duty calls they leap into action, ready to kick ass and take names.  The most poignant shot in this short clip is Kyohei, who's dressed in a cook's uniform standing outside of an impressive castle.  He's achieved his dream of being a chef, but he has a wistful and slightly sad look in his eyes as he stares off into the blue sky.  This is a great way to wrap up the series, and I hope they're considering making an entire show based on this opening.
 

Final Thoughts:

While another Burst Angels episode is something to be happy about, this one didn't leave me cheering.  It wasn't bad, by any means, but it didn't add anything to the story of the show.  Feeling like a filler episodes from the series, it was fun to watch, but this 25 minute episode in not really worth the money that FUNimation is asking.  The copious extras are mainly recaps of the series, but the short Ugetsu Hakua Special which played like the opening to a sequel series was really cool.  Definitely worth watching, but make this a rental.