In the third volume of E's Otherwise the show gets over it's sophomore slump, mostly.  The plot doesn't move forward much in the first couple of episodes, but then picks up in the second half of the disc.  The program has definitely changed in tone from the first few shows, turning to the adventure-of-the-week format, but there is enough mystery and interesting subplot to keep me watching.  For now at least.

In the future, the whole world is controlled by 12 large corporations.  Even governments are under the thumb of these powerful conglomerates.  One of them, Ashurum, has been collecting people with psychic ability to form a fighting group.  Their latest acquisition is Kai, a quiet young man who is a pacifist at heart.  Ashurum has created this group in order to protect other psychics, who are feared and hunted throughout the world.  Or so they claim.  While that's a good story to tell the young E's, Ashurum is only using the psychics for their own ends.

In the first volume, Kai and the other E's are ordered to attack the city of Gald in order to route out some rebels.  During the attack Kai gets knocked out and separated from the rest of the group.  He's found, wounded, by Yuuki, a sort-of private eye who takes on jobs other people turn down, and his young friend Oska.  They nurse him back to health and Kai decides to stay with them.  He's never been in the outside world and it's new and exciting.  So Kai and Yuuki team up and start taking on some real tough assignments.  But Ashurum hasn't forgotten about Kai, and they want him back at any cost.

This volume starts off with two-part story where Kai takes on a body guard assignment.  He's supposed to make sure that a young pampered rich boy is safe during his stay in Gald, but the job is more dangerous than he expects.  The person he's guarding is the son of the CEO of Ashurum's biggest rival corporation.  This kid has come up with a mechanism that can not only shut down psychics and their abilities, it can also kill them.  He's come to Gald to test out his device, and is surprised to discover that the weapon has already been manufactured and distributed by his father's company.  Is this kid an innocent dupe, or does he have a more sinister motive for coming to Gald?

Next we get a stand alone episode with Oska.  While looking through the various ads from people looking to hire someone like Yuuki, she notices someone who wants their lost cat returned to them.  She decides to take on the job herself, and ropes Kai into helping her.

The last show on the disc moves the narrative back to the other E's being held by Ashurum.  Kai's biggest rival in the group, Shen-Lon, finds that his powers have been increasing.  But not nearly as fast as those of his sister.  To see just how strong the two have become their handlers decided to test them; by pitting the two siblings against each other in a no-holds-barred fight.

This show is still moving a little slower than I'd like it.  It has evolved into a adventure-of-the-week show much like The Getbackers.   While that's not necessarily a bad thing, this show doesn't have a lot to set it apart from the myriad of other shows that have the same format.

The show is still pretty weak on characterization, something I wish they'd spend more time on.  In one episode Yuuki gets mad at Kai, and I wondered why the two stay living together.  Sure, Kai doesn't really have any place else to go, but by now he has the skills to make it on his own.  If anything Yuuki is the weaker member of the team.

Overall, this is an average show.  I enjoyed watching it, but I had to turn my brain off and just accept everything at face value.  If you started thinking about the shows too much, especially the resolution to the story lines, a lot of it didn't make a lot of sense.

This disc contains four episodes, down from five on the first two discs, in a white keepcase.  There isn't an insert.

Audio:

Like most anime that ADV puts out nowadays, this disc offers the choice of a stereo Japanese track with optional English subtitles or an English dub in 5.1. I alternated between tracks as I watched the show, and I had a slight preference for the original language track, but thought the English dub was fine. The English track was a more full, but the Japanese track wasn't flat at all.  Both tracks sounded fine, with no distortion or other defects.

Video:

The full frame video quality for this DVD was good.  There is some aliasing in the background and some of the fine lines shimmer, but this is a minor issue.  The colors are bright and the lines are tight.  A very nice DVD.

Extras:

Extras on this disc include a non-credit opening and closing, an art gallery of production sketches, and some text actor profiles for the English dub cast.

Final Thoughts:

E's Otherwise is an average show, but not more than that.  The story that had me interested in the first couple of episodes about the small army of psychics that a large corporation was raising to use against their opponents has fallen by the wayside in favor of short stories where the two main characters take on a job to earn some cash.  While it's not bad, the show is weak on characterization and the plots aren't overly strong.  If there's not anything else available, it's certainly worth a view.  Rent it.