The main character is a being called Grave (his longer name is Beyond The Grave as given to him by the scientist that reanimated him but more on that later), a nearly indestructible "man" armed by the twin guns Ceruberus after the mythological character from Hades and a coffin full of even more destructive weapons. In Gungrave 1, the premise was established that a couple of street punks, Brandon Heat (AKA: Gungrave), and Harry MacDowel, were both taken into a Mafioso-type organization known as Millennion. Harry uses his brains and Brandon uses his brawn, after a series of misfortunes that gave them little choice considering their goals in life. In Gungrave 2, , the series continued their rise into Millennion as they handled assignments of varying natures, making a mark as valued employees worthy of inclusion at the top ranks. Then in Gungrave 3, the guys make it into the inner circle of the organization, each using a different method that hinged on luck as much as skill. While I never saw volume 4, the basic deal must've included the death of Brandon (which shouldn't be a spoiler if you've watched the series) as well as Harry's rise to the top. The latest volume of this excellent series is Gungrave 5: The Protector, where Harry expands the scope of Millennion by selling the services of his Orgmen, the supernaturally powerful beings seen in the very first episode while Brandon is revived to protect a very special young lady with ties to his past.

The episodes here included 17) Mika, 18) Grave, 19) Superior, and 20) Brother. From the death of an established original character from the series to the showdown between Brandon and a couple of his former allies, the series picked up some steam from volume 3 and took the final jump into the supernatural aspects of the series. To be frank, I would've enjoyed watching a more traditional mafia series without the Spawn-like underpinnings of the show but it worked on several levels and I hope to eventually watch the fourth volume given the strength of the show here. Grave's theoretical invincibility was put to the test in a manner that most science fiction/fantasy anime series would never touch on (at least in a meaningful way)

I've enjoyed the series from the beginning and this was a nice way to spend a bit of time too. While I wish Geneon would've been considerate enough to send the missing volume in order to keep the details in context, the strengths of the show were enough to get me to think of it as being worth a rating of Recommended, even if you are smart enough to watch this one all by yourself. Seeing Brandon fight the manipulations of his evil (former) comrades and do what must be done before Millennion took over the world was interesting and I can only imagine what happens next time given the solid manner in which this series has built up.

Picture: Gungrave 5: The Protector was presented in 16:9 Anamorphic widescreen color in the originally shot 1.78:1 aspect ratio. It looked crisp and clear with the kind of darker color scheme that suits the material. I saw no compression artifacts and the only grain seemed intentional as it signified a flashback of importance (helping me to keep track of the key plot elements). The animation style used was sometimes minimalist in how little movement took place or in how many frames per second were employed but unlike the videogame, such moments often, if not always, convey more than the overly busy styles of other shows.

Sound: The sound was presented with several choices for the consumer, including an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track, a Japanese 2.0 Dolby Digital track, and the superior 5.1 Japanese DTS track that really shined as I listened to it on a friends top of the line set up. There were the usual English subtitles available on the Japanese tracks and I honestly enjoyed the dub as much as the original (although enhanced) Japanese tracks. The show really made great use of the back channels and the special effects employed were good enough that a blind person would've been appreciative of the care that went into it. As far as the dub track went, the voice actors seemed talented in how they handled their roles too; something that many anime lovers find rare these days. Try both of the 5.1 tracks and you'll see why I liked them so much but I had no problems with either.

Extras: The only extras were some trailers, conceptual art, and a textless opening and closing.

Final Thoughts: Gungrave 5 was a set of four episodes that had some decent replay value but kept me on the edge of my seat nonetheless. Rather than a mindless killing machine, Brandon (AKA: Beyond the Grave), still managed to show his humanity all the way through, even knowing that it would all end soon. If you're looking for a show off the beaten track, this would be a solid choice to make with your hard earned dollars as the depth of characters, the writing, and even the technical aspects all gelled into a winning formula that is rare in anime these days.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVDTalk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003 and Best Of Anime 2004 article or regular column Anime Talk