Some surprising events take place in the third volume of Texhnolyze, and some thing become clearer.  There are some interesting plot twists but still a lot of mystery.  While the accent of the show changes in this volume, it is still an intriguing show.

In this volume Yoshi, the wanderer from the surface world, starts the 'spectacle' creating chaos among the various factions in Lukuss.  The Organo start to worry about the state of the city, and a some of the members decide that the organization would be better if they were running things.  No matter who wants more power, the easiest way to get it is to put the blame Onishi.  Of course, the Salvation Union is still out there, hoping to take power form the Organo.  Things look like they've gotten out of hand, with events starting to escalate at a more rapid pace.

While all this is happening, the mysterious Ran continues her wanderings through the city.  Things become more clear to her, and she claims that she can "see everything."  She doesn't like what she sees though.

I didn't enjoy this set of episodes as much as I liked the previous tow volumes, though the show is still very good.  In this set, the focus has been turned on the different factions that are trying to gain control.  It played out a lot like a typical gangster movie, with alliances being offered and rejected.  They really down played the science fiction aspect of the show, which was the thing I enjoyed the most.  Because of this shift of focus, this volume was also easier to understand than the previous two, but there is still a large amount of mystery.

It is still a very interesting show, and the visuals are still stunning in the way to present the lower depths of Lukuss and there are many interesting scenes.   I'm interested to see what the next volume brings.

Audio:

This DVD gives you a choice of a Japanese or English audio track, both in stereo, with optional English subtitles. I listened to half of the disc in each language. While I preferred the sound of the Japanese voice actors, I thought the English talent did a very good job. They made sure that the dialog matched the lip movements, and didn't try to go for any fake accents to make the characters sound unique.

The sound quality was very good, though I was hoping for a 5.1 mix for this show. There was some use made of the front soundstage at appropriate moments, and the dialog was clear and easy to hear. There wasn't any unwanted noise or hisses in the soundtrack, and the subtle sounds that were used throughout made this a nice sounding DVD.

Video:

The anamorphic widescreen video looked pretty good. The lines were a little soft, being slightly blurred, but this seemed to fit with the the transfer was very good. There were very few instances of compression artifacts. The colors were usually darker earth tones that reproduced well, and the contrast was very good. The image quality on this DVD goes well with the intricate and densely populated visuals.

Extras:

This disc contains a textless closing, and nine minutes of outtakes.  These latter were pretty funny, made even more so by the serious aspect of the show itself.  Well worth a view.  There are also trailers for Submarine 707R, Samurai Champloo, and R.O.D.

Final Thoughts:

This show continues to be interesting and engaging.  While the focus shifted somewhat, making this set of shows feel like a mafia movie, it is still a show worth checking out.  If you didn't like the first two volumes, this one probably won't change your mind.  But if you enjoyed the start of the show, this volume won't let you down.   Definitely Recommended.