The show draws from the wealth of material surrounding the Final Fantasy games that have been popular for years and years but also invents a number of new characters and scenarios so as to keep from forcing the audience from having to know what went on in those long, and often difficult, games. In short, the series is almost homage to the games rather than an actual spin off. The show is set in the near future where a cataclysmic battle took place between two large monsters that came from a beacon of light. The area was devastated and the beings disappeared but a ghost train appears at regular intervals to transport people to another world, Wonderland, which is a series of interconnected cities floating in an ethereal place. Each city has its own properties regarding the laws of physics and its own set of characters, some of which are friendly while others are quite hostile. The show centered on a trio of young adventurers who were trying to search for people they cared about (two of them for their parents), as detailed below in my episode breakdowns:

Episode Twenty: Yu: The Secret Of Gaudium:
As the puzzle theme continued, the latest block the group is placed in happens to be right outside Earl Tyrants castle in Gaudium. In keeping with the wacky way things have progressed, Yu (and Chocobo) end up in the enemy stronghold. Yu meets with a small boy that appears to have a chip on his shoulder; not knowing the boy is Tyrant himself. Tyrant shows him his hearts desire, but things seem amiss and that sets Yu into a deep funk.

Episode Twenty One: Cactus: The Wandering Sea:
With the submarine stranded on a desert world, the crew is attacked by a bunch of small cacti called Cactar. After finding out the cactus people are threatened by a sentient ocean called The Wandering Sea. The crew comes to terms with the Cactar and use a variety of technological means to assist them in their fight against the sea. All efforts fail and only Kaze stands between the sea and the Cactar but with his Magun still frozen, what use will he be?

Episode Twenty Two: Moogle: Long Lost Memories:
The latest attack on our adventurers is a method that has them relive their own pasts, trapping them in a realm of their own design. They come across a monk-like cat named Moogle, a former companion of Kaze and a master of the soil. Reunited with his long lost ally, the two fight Tyrant's plot with limited success, and at great cost. This episode was interesting due to the way it unveiled the past of so many of the crew and would've been a better basis for the series had it been implemented sooner.

I'm going to be a sport and rate this as a Rent It although it looked like the production was rushed even more than earlier volumes. There appears to be only one more volume left in the series and I think it was mapped out for a much longer run so the corner cutting that took place became especially evident here. Fans of the video game may like it more than I did but most of the time, the 12+ rating given it by ADV seemed a little on the high end (it looked geared to kids younger than that).

Picture: The picture was presented in the usual 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The look of the show was quite unique in how it mixed more traditional styles of anime with modernistic CGI effects. I wasn't too keen on the limited drawn anime style of the characters (they often looked like low budget quickies) but after a few episodes, it grew on me a bit more than I thought it would. In any case, the picture always looked good and no problems were evident.

Sound: The audio was presented with a choice of 5.1 Dolby Digital surround English or 2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese with optional English subtitles. The English track was superior in terms of the ambiance, special effects and music while the voice acting was somewhat better on the Japanese track. Both were clear and crisp within the limitations of their source material.

Extras: The best extra was the audio commentary track on episode twenty two with voice actors Robert Newell (Cid) and Bill Wise (Moogle) as guided by director Charlie Campbell (interestingly enough, J. Brownlee was listed in the credits as providing one of the voiceover spots but no mention of this was made during the commentary; thankfully they introduce themselves at the beginning of the credits). I think the commentary was good with each of the performers telling a bit about themselves and the show. This was perhaps the strongest commentary of the series so far since each of the participants appeared focused on the show more than adlibbing unrelated stuff off the top of their heads. I hope to hear them on future commentaries if they can maintain such quality. There were a number of sketches and illustrations presented on the DVD as well as the usual trailers to shows like Kino's Journey, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Saiyuki, Angelic Layer, Azumanga Daioh, andGravion, paper insert, and a double-sided DVD cover.

Final Thoughts: This is a series that I strongly suggest you watch in order since it builds upon itself as the series continues. Like Volume 5, it had some merit but the appeal was limited and the themes kind of simplistic, unlike much of the other releases being put out by ADV these days. Maybe the last DVD will contain a lengthy interview reel like some other releases have had but getting only three episodes made this one kind of pricey for what it had to offer.

For much better anime choices, look at: DVDTalk's Best Of Anime 2003