The series started off with an elaborate party at the incredible mansion of a wealthy multi-billionaire named Klein Sandman (no relation to another rich guy named Kleinman in the real world). No one knows anything about him except that he was able to get leaders from all the most powerful nations of Earth at a single place thanks to his influence. The setting was the near future and Earth has been at peace for the better part of a decade with all the nations combining their military into a single force. Earth has colonized Mars and Jupiter, slowly extending the reach of mankind towards the stars. During the party, a young man named Eiji ducks out and starts searching the mansion, eventually setting off an alarm. He is chased by numerous hotties in maid outfits, each showing ample cleavage and fan service. While he evades them, he comes across a youth about his own age that seems clueless so Eiji tried to fight him but the guy is simply too skilled at ducking and dodging for him to hit.

While this is happening, Sandman makes an appearance at the party, telling the leaders of the world that Earth is in danger from an alien force that is even then attacking man's outposts as it sweeps towards Earth. They scoff at him until reports come in and it then falls on a group of youth piloting fighter jets of a very advanced nature and the evasive young lad in a larger mech-robot, Grand Kaiser, to do battle with the invasion fleet. We learn the name of the boy is Touga (also spelled Toga in the credits) and that Eiji is an integral part of the defense force due to a genetic marker that allows him to work the ship he ends up in. With plenty of mistakes made by all, they save the day and the fight is on. Earth's leaders decide that they don't trust their savior (probably due to his megalomaniac speech given to them at the party) and end up getting in the way more often then not, causing another layer of bureaucratic problems that haunt the heroes from time to time.

Okay, so it sounds pretty much like a dozen (or more) other movies or series right? Well, not exactly in that the alien attackers, called the Zeravire, have come in great numbers and seem to be able to learn from their mistakes. They are mechanical in nature but also infinitely adaptable so whatever works one time, tends to fall flat the second time it's tried. While Eiji and the other pilots (who join into the Grand Kaiser much like the multitude of shows like Power Rangers to form an even more powerful robot) learn to work together, they are still hampered by a relatively limited number of attack moves which leaves them vulnerable.

That Eiji was suckered into joining the team in order to find out what happened to his missing sister (maybe the answer came in the second season) and really wants no part in this deadly game with the aliens added a slight layer of complexity as did the way the others did by virtue of how they treated him. The other pilots are all women, except for Touga of course, and seem to suffer material personality quirks themselves. Touga has been sheltered his whole life inside the mansion so he's about as emotionally exciting as a blade of grass while gals like busty Mizuki would never sink if lost at sea due to her ample sample of a chest. Others like Luna are so emotionally unstable that I wondered if the genetic ability to pilot the ships caused inherent bipolar disorders but the two dimensional character is no stranger to anime (or any other form of electronic entertainment).

In all though, I could see where younger audiences might appreciate the minor fan service, the action, and other elements enough to overlook the many flaws and pick this one up now that ADV Films has lowered the price and collected the entire first season in a single boxed set. It's not that it was so much lamer than many other series out there so much as the parts it borrowed to make the season "work" (and I use the term lightly) didn't always fit well together. The thought of fan service usually makes me at least smile but it was so sparingly used here that I wondered why they bothered at all. The grandiose speeches tossed in would've made for comic relief if they weren't so stiff (in Japanese they actually sounded pretty cool but the translation made me wonder if a bunch of mentally disabled people contributed to the show). I'm going to rate this one as a Rent It although I could see kids liking it more and jaded old anime fans from "the good old days" wanting to set fire to their copies.

1) Fortress of the Deity
2) Mission of Gravity
3) Labyrinth
4) The Princess in the Tower
5) The Girl Who Wouldn't Laugh
6) Toga's Day Off
7) Drill Girl on the Beach
8) Storming the Castle
9) A Distant Embrace
10) Crack
11) The Thing That Was Lost
12) Because You're With Me
13) White Steel Fang

Picture: Gravion: Complete First Season was presented in the same 1.33:1 ratio full frame color as it originally aired on Japanese television several years ago (in 2001?). It was a colorful show as shown on the front DVD cover, reminding me more of a comedy anime than an action/adventure series. In all, there wasn't a lot of movement that wasn't simply panning the cels or moving a little bit of the frame, indicating a lower budget show yet it really wasn't a bad looking show in most ways and it held up to many others I've grown fond of. I didn't see any scratches on the print or major compression artifacts but it was a decidedly limited looking picture.

Sound: The audio was a bit better than the picture in terms of quality though with the usual choices of the original 2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese track or the newer English language dub in a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround. Most of the separation between the channels was with the music although the action sequences had their fair share of this too but while the dub sounded better in terms of the special effects and music, the original vocals were substantially better sounding than the dub (and I like many of the English language vocal actors in other shows; perhaps the writing was the culprit). John mentioned the lack of "punch" when he reviewed it and this did seem to be a factor; dubs almost always enhance the sound effects more than this one received, making it sound fairly wimpy for this type of show.

Extras: There were some trailers and three thin paks included in the cardboard case. This is the price you pay for lowering the MSRP so much; you give up the extras. It's a decent trade off for me but extras might've elevated this one enough to grab a higher rating if they were really really (really) good.

Final Thoughts: Gravion: Complete First Season had some unintentionally funny moments on top of far too many jokes that fell flat. The action sequences were too melodramatic and the writing seemed to pull stuff out of nowhere in terms of keeping the story coherent. Still, I like the genre enough to accept the limitations of the material and check it out as a rental, but perhaps using it as a party show, one where everybody makes the dialogue up as the shows progress while you all get drunk, would be a solid use of this one. It's funny but people working on this one also worked on RahXephon, Zone of the Enders, Mobile Suit Gundam, Peacemaker, and Samurai 7; so where did it go wrong?

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, and Best of Anime 2005 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.