The show tells the story of a young man, Show Zama, whom forces from another dimension abduct. Apparently, some people on Earth have powerful auras that allow them to make use of a special kind of technology that powers a form of mech-robot. Otherwise, the dimension is medieval in terms of how things work and a major war is about to start, hence the need for additional pilots. As the series progressed, the lead character finds he's working for the wrong side and switches over to fight with the rebellion. This does not, of course, sit well with the people that brought him there to fight for them. In Aura Battler Dunbine 3, the show continued to show some growth of the lead characters as their personal situations changed. Show was accepted for his talents and less questioned about his loyalties, Luft's motivations were made clear, and the like. In this latest volume (I didn't get to see the last one), Show and Here's a brief breakdown of the 4 episodes included on this fifth DVD.

Episode Eighteen: Flash Of Garalia:
Since I last watched the show, Show and Garalia must've found some way to go back to upper Earth. The forces of Tokyo hunt both of them down, even though Show has not been the one destroying things at random. Show's parents come into play when the authorities try to use them to capture their son, something they are all too willing to do in order to maintain their social standing. Show hatches a desperate plot to return to Byston Wells but it requires the cooperation of his enemy, Garalia, and she's marginally interested at best.

Episode Nineteen: Battler Show:
Show makes it home only to find his associates under attack in a crystal forest. Show's ability to return seems to have amplified his powers with his aura battler but the numbers greatly favor Drake's forces. Can he save the day when the Zelana is limping along and barely able to fly or will he end up another casualty of war?

Episode Twenty: Bern's Counter Attack:
Show is captured and Neal mounts a rescue effort. Bern Bunnings isn't about to let his new trophy escape and he has plans of his own in order to gain favor with the king after his repeated losses.

Episode Twenty One: Fugitive Elmelie:
Elmelie escapes and tries to find her love, Neal Givens. Her mother sends an ally to find the missing daughter before Neal claims her once more. Neal is stuck enroute to an important attempt to forge an alliance so he sends his best man, Show, to protect his girlfriend and find her first.

The show was about as interesting as it had been in the previous volumes but there wasn't much in the way of extras, the print quality was lacking (although good for its age), and the overall dated style of writing and anime a bit thin this time. It will appeal to anime historians more than anyone else since the limitations were plentiful and the overall quality something less than average this time.

Picture: The picture was presented in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. There were some scratches on the print but considering it's age, that's not a big problem. I didn't notice any artifacts and some of the colors were washed out at times, but ADV did a good job with what they had to work with.

Sound: The sound was presented in Dolby Digital mono with a choice of either the original Japanese track with English subtitles, an English dub, and the dub with song subtitles. It was a decent audio track for its age.

Extras: There was a paper insert that provided a summary of the story so far. This is a good idea since not everyone buys the volumes in the order they come out (for a number of reasons) and the best way to keep someone interested is if they can identify with the characters and events going on. There were also a number of trailers, a clean opening and closing sequence, and a photogallery included on the dvd.

Final Thoughts: While no one's going to mistake this series as a lesson in high art or great military tactics, it was fun to watch and a cut above the usual beat them up, shoot them down, style of military anime show. It was very similar to the original Gundam series and fans of it will certainly appreciate the complexities this series has to offer. Unlike many newer series, or at least Americanized versions of them, people do die in the show which is something more series should recognize (glamorizing war is never a good idea). I lowered the rating to Rent It since most of the episodes seemed like rehashes of the previous episodes, with little new to offer the viewer, but it wasn't a bad series to enjoy.

Look for DVDTalk's Best Of Anime article for more choices in the best anime on the market today!