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Funimation has released the 24 episode anime series Kiddy Grade several times. In 2004 they released it on 8 individual volumes with 3 episodes per disc, then the next year they put the show out again, this time as four double disc sets. In 2006 they released the whole series once again in a boxed set with a $90 price tag. Now, as part of their Viridian Collection the show gets a fourth release as well as a big price cut. The entire series will now set you back only $50 MSRP, even less if you shop around a little. The show is definitely worth seeking out too. It's an all around fun show with some great battles, a few nice twists and some really funny moments too. While not a deep show, it is very entertaining and amusing series that ends much too soon.

Éclair and Lumiere seem like ordinary kids, about 16 and 10 years old respectively who work as receptionists at the GOTT (Galactic Organization of Trade and Tariffs.) But looks can be deceiving. They're actually ES members, a high powered fighting team who are assigned to the most difficult missions. Even though they only have Class-C powers, they use their abilities to the utmost and manage to get into, and out of, several sticky situations.

Éclair has the ability of "Power." Not only is she strong, she's inhumanly fast and quite agile. She tends to run into situations announcing her presence (and giving up the element of surprise) with a hilarious "Ta-Da!" Her main weapon is her lipstick, which she uses to write her name on a wall and then peels off the writing into along, flat rope that she then uses as a whip. As a backup Éclair packs a Walther P99 automatic gun which sometimes comes in handy. (A possible nod to James Bonds Walther PPK perhaps.)

Lumiere doesn't go in for the flashy theatrics of her partner, preferring to follow the advice she often gives Éclair: "A lady really should be more elegant." Her power is "Puppet" the ability to hack into and take control of any computer she can touch or access with nanite 'strings' that she can emit from her fingertips. The girls are also helped on their missions by their giant robot/mecha Donnerschlag and their sentient spaceship La Muse.

The first third of the show is pretty much a 'mission of the week' type program, and these are the most fun. It's funny to see Éclair burst into a meeting of hostile foes dressed as a pizza delivery girl with her trademark "Ta-Da!" and then proceed to wipe the floor with them. Lumiere's powers are even more impressive, and when the other ES members make fun of Lumiere and Éclair because they only have Class-C abilities, you really start to wonder what the more powerful ES teams can do. (It's quite impressive when you eventually find out too.)

The show takes an unexpected turn about a third of the way through as we see that the GOTT and the group's commander aren't the benevolent organization that everyone thought it was. The show grow more serious in this middle section, and truth be told the show moves a bit too fast. The GOTT goes from being a great and wonderful organization to the pawn of evil in a blink, and some of the actions the organization takes doesn't necessarily follow from what has gone on before, but this wasn't enough to mar the series.

The final third has the organization, as well as Éclair and Lumiere rebuilding. This section had some good twists in it and, while still having a serious tone, was a little lighter and more energetic. There's not a lot I can say about the final story arc without giving away some significant spoilers, but the series ends well with a giant battle that was impressive and fun.

For another take on the show, read Todd Douglass' reviews of the earlier boxed set here.

The eight Kiddy Grade DVDs, which seem to be identical to the individual releases, come in an eight page pressboard 'book'. Each DVD is housed on one side of each page. This isn't my favorite style of packaging. The pages are a bit flimsy and I can see them becoming worn and damaged over the years, and I worry about the DVDs themselves getting scratched as they are slid in and out of their pockets. I wouldn't let this packaging dissuade anyone from buying the set, but it is worth mentioning.

Audio:

The show comes with the original Japanese audio in stereo as well as an English dub in both DD 5.1 and stereo. I alternated languages for a while and eventually settled on the 5.1 track since the action scenes sounded much more impressive than the stereo Japanese track. During the battles the rears got a good workout as did the subwoofer. The English cast was pretty good too, though Lumiere's voice was a bit too high pitched for my tastes I soon got used to it. There were no audio defects worth noting.

Video:

This full frame show looks pretty good. The colors were solid and the blacks were strong, especially in the shots of deep space. The level of detail was fine too. On the digital side there was some aliasing, especially among fine lines in the background when the camera was panning across them. Aside from that, the show looked fine.

Extras:

There are a fair amount of extras scattered across these eight discs, though nothing really earth-shattering. There's the obligatory clean opening and closing, a series of image galleries, some Japanese promotional videos and commercials used to promote the show, and text profiles of some of the main characters.

Final Thoughts:

This was a fun series! Though the middle third was a little unexpected and not as entertaining as the other parts, the series taken as a whole is very enjoyable and well worth watching. This is one of those series that when it's over you're a bit sad that there isn't any more. This nice set collects the whole series at a bargain price and comes highly recommended.

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