It's a series about a couple of private agents that are not officially linked to the government but act on its behalf whenever the royal family needs protection (usually protection from scandal more than anything else but in the high stakes world of the protection business. The team is comprised of a slob guy, Rowe Rickenbacker, and a tidy guy, Jack Hofner. Being straight, I identified more with Rowe but that's just me. In any case, the two compliment one another in a number of ways, usually keeping that sort of male bonding kidding going on at all times, especially when things look bad. The country they work in seemed patterned after England but that's a logical leap since we're all familiar with James Bond and the British Secret Service through the movies. The duo always seem to fall into the right place at the wrong time, getting swept up in events that they are obligated, as gentlemen, to fix. While I prefer seeing mechanized robots, fantastical worlds of magic, and a host of other anime shows, this is one that made me smile more often than not and had some serious replay value, proving anime is not just for kids any more.

Episode Eight: Out Of Phase:
It's been two weeks since the last terrorist bombing attributed to Angel but the duo are still working on the case, waiting for a new lead. Noelle is now safely tucked away in a mansion and the guys take a small case while they wait for things to heat up again. The case involves a large emerald that has been stolen and is about to be fenced. The team tries to capture the thieves and much of the background story deals with Noelle's attempts to learn her new place in life.

Episode Nine: Suspended Game:
The guys are going to attend a baseball game (Rowe's first) but get stuck in a bit of a sticky situation. Rowe is trapped on a lift, high above the ground, with a man going into diabetic shock. The Princess is finding her new life a burden and it seems like the old man is not going to make it without some serious help from the team. That the man is the father of the only player in the game from Ishtar is a mere coincidence, isn't it?

Episode Ten: The Discard:
The terrorist bombing pick back up and the team finds most leads pointing in Noelle's direction. They don't want to believe she has anything to do with it but they are unsuccessful in finding anything to exonerate her. When she goes to open a bank account in a DTI bank, her first public appearance, the terrorists find they have mixed feelings since a lot of innocent people, including their friend, will die. What can our heroes do to stop it all?

I would have liked this one a lot more if there had been four episodes or a host of related extras unique to the DVD but I know the series was short lived to begin with. I'm going to rate it as Recommended for the many solid qualities it had and only the lack of more episodes kept it from being rated higher. The themes were genuinely well thought out, complex, and a notch above most anime on the market, making it a good alternative for those who "think" they don't like anime (I tried it out on a few friends that are not into anime and they enjoyed it a lot).

Picture: The picture was presented in 1.85:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen color and looked very crisp and clear. The colors used seemed a bit subdued but that seemed to be intentional and worked well with the content of the feature. I didn't notice any dropouts, artifacts or other problems with the DVD transfer.

Sound: The audio was presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo with a choice of either the original Japanese or dubbed English. There were also optional English subtitles for those who prefer them to learning Japanese (or, I guess, English). The vocals were clear and distinctive as was the excellent music.

Extras: There weren't a lot of extras this time, just some Japanese television commercials, a paper insert, and trailers to titles like Master Keaton , Texhnolyze, Haibane Renmei, Lupin The 3rd, Sakura Wars: The Movie, Mao Chan, Mahoro Matic, Someday's Dreamers, and a couple of others (many of them looked very appealing to me).

Final Thoughts: Geneon is really hitting its stride of late in terms of the anime they have decided to focus on. Licensed By Royalty is yet another release they can be proud of, with a lot of cross-over potential that the genre could use to disprove the thought that anime is just for kids. If you've never liked anime before, give this series, from Volume 1, Volume 2 and then this third release, a look and let me know what you think; you may be surprised at what anime has to offer these days.

For other good anime shows, read: DVDTalk's Best Of Anime!