After quite a wait between volumes, the second volume of Geisters has been released by Anime Crash. This elite military squad has its work cut out for them this time around as they test some difficult biosuits, and fall into a deadly trap while on patrol.

The Geisters have to test some new bio-suits that are very difficult to handle, but are also very powerful. These suits take a big toll on the wearers, and the Geisters hate them, but they are being pressured to take the testing further and further. Alcion seems to be having the most trouble handling the suits, until he gets emotionally overwhelmed and almost passes out. Instead of losing conscienceness, Alcion goes mad and gains almost total control of his suit while attacking everything in sight.

After that, they get a break from the suits and get back to the field. They are assigned to check out the Silicon Jungle, but it's a trap. The resistance has decided to take the Geisters out, and they almost succeed. When Victor gets hurt, the team evacuates, but Dean is still trapped in the maze of quartz 'trees' that make up the jungle so the Geisters take off without him under heavy fire. Shai jumps off the transport and stays behind to find Dean. The two hook up, but they are terribly out numbered and have no way to escape.

It's too bad that so much time elapsed between volumes, since this series has some complex political maneuverings and machinizations and its hard to keep track of all of them at times. I had forgotten a lot of the details from the first volume, but most of it came back as I watched the show. There are actually several overlapping layers to this plot. There is the story of the individual Geisters and their personal problem, a larger plot of the Geisters fighting the Siliconians and the rebellion, and then the political maneuvering of the powers that be in the ruling council.

The first couple of episodes deal more with the political problems on the planet and the background to one of the characters than straight action. I was a little lost in parts since I'd forgotten some of what came before, but it wasn't too bad. I have to admit that I enjoyed the second half of the disc much more, since the Geisters were out in the field doing what they do best: fighting.

The series seems to be suffering from the sophomore slump a bit. This volume didn't seem nearly as exciting and interesting as the first. They've introduced the characters and set up the premise in the first volume, and now there is a slight lull before the real action starts. This happens a lot with anime, and I expect that the next volume will pick up the pace.

A word on the animation: the main characters are designed and drawn very well, but the background characters are rather crude, and look like something that would have been seen in Robotech decades ago. They also cut back on the animation for the main characters when they aren't the focus, using fewer lines to draw their features. This saves money, but it effects the look of the show too, making it feel a little cheap.

Like the first volume, Anime Crash put together a pretty good package. The DVD comes in slipcover, and the clear case has a reversible cover. One side has a full color image and a summary of the show with UPC. The reverse had a more minimal illustration that I really liked, and a synopsis of each episode. (And both sides have the volume number on the spine! I hate when they leave that off.) Inside there is a thick card stock insert with a biography of Alcion.

Audio:

The DVD offers you the choice of an original Japanese language track in stereo, or an English dub in 2.0 or 5.1. I viewed the show with all three tracks on different episodes, and I had a slight preference for the original language. The English tracks were very nice though, with good voice actors. The main characters and supporting cast all had realistic sounding voices. Unfortunately the very minor incidental characters sounded really silly with strong fake accents. This isn't too bad since most of these people only have a line or two.
The sound quality is very good. All three soundtracks have a good dynamic range, but the English 5.1 is the most forceful. (The explosions and battle scenes sound great on that track.) The sound is clear with the echoing of footsteps on a metallic floor coming through perfectly. The dialog is easy to understand and there is no distortion.

Video:

The full frame video is also very good. The colors are nice and vivid, and there is good detail and shading. The encoding is very good, resulting in a disc that is almost free of artifacts. There is some very minor aliasing in the background when the camera moves, but this is almost invisible.

Extras:

There are a good number of extras included with on this volume. First off is Behind the Scenes: US Dub Sessions, a ten minute interveiw with the various voice actors. It was nice getting to see their actual faces and hearing what they thought about the characters, even if some of the questions were a little lame.

There is also the Korean opening to the show, a photo gallery, and two US promo spots.

The neatest extra isn't on the disc though. Included with the DVD is a card to send away for a free Geisters figure. It is only good while supplies last, of course, but they don't charge any postage and handling. A very classy way to give an extra something to the fans that won't fit in a DVD case. I can't wait to see it.

Final Thoughts:

While Geisters suffers a little from the sophomore slump, it's still a pretty good series. It has a good mix of action and intrigue, and some mysteries that add to the show's charm. They are doing a good job of filling in the character's backgrounds and histories, and making them more three dimensional. This program shows real promise. Recommended.