The collection had three DVDs and 26 episodes to enjoy. Unlike most series, these episodes were the half length type that serves a younger, less attentive, audience well. The show is set in the future where mankind has traveled the galaxy and interacts with others on a regular basis. There are over 100 planets that have life on them, each known for something special (much like the big cities of Earth), and each with their own brand of police that handle the smaller criminals just fine but tend to need help when the super villain types interject some plan or other. Led by Lt. Colonel Volcott, the team consists of Milfeulle, Mint, Forte, Vanilla, and Ranpha; each possessing a specific type of personality that are archetypal to anime (the voluptuous one, the cute kid, the dominant one who kicks butt, etc.). This appeared to be the second season of the show and starts off with the team disbanded. Initially, the reasoning given is that their destructive powers left a swath of carnage second only to the villains that they were fighting but the real reason is that their interpersonal squabbles had them at each other's throats. Apparently, one of the gals stole a piece of cake and this left them with hard feelings towards one another when no one confessed. We find out early on that the culprit was the Colonel himself but events have transpired where he wants to rebuff calls for retirement so he goes about recruiting the team for action.

The thing is that the gals have all made lives for themselves elsewhere, playing on their unique abilities, and he ends up having to confess repeatedly, suffering the consequences as a result (they're not happy with him; I'll leave it at that). On top of this, a new group, the Galaxy Twin Stars, consisting of two young brothers (one a super genius and the other an action oriented type) have taken over the hero game and done so with far less incidental damage to the surrounding areas they cover so the Angel Brigade has their work cut out for them from the very start. The reason they are all needed is the fact that the bad guys make use of something called the Lost Technology, super advanced devices that attack the worlds. No system can defend itself from these attacks so the groups are called on to stop them.

From what I've written so far, you'd get the idea that the show was actually quite serious but this is far from the truth as the team spends more time worrying about various food items (each episode is named after food) and how to best eat them. The action is almost incidental although I don't recall many episodes going by without some serious carnage involved. The girls act girlish and silly most of the time and the adults are dumb as stumps so you can see why this would appeal to the younger crowd. Here's a list of the episodes included on the three disc set to give you an idea of the action by way of the silly titles:

1. Old Man Detective Novel Rice Porridge
2. Original Angel Parfait with the Works
3. Shuffle French without Dessert
4. Special Appetizer without Main Dish
5. Deluxe Milfeulle Surprise Sandwich
6. Hug Hug Fish Pot
7. Chilled Mackerel with a Prize
8. Slippery Pasta
9. Overpriced Salad Bar
10. Angel Banana Discount
11. Painful Walnut Pie
12. Angel Hotchpotch Taste Test
13. Ultra Rare Fortune Cookie
14. Ultra Hot Kid's Meal
15. Good-bye to Our Steaming Teapot
16. Mustached Beef Rib Rice Bowl with Rich Sauce
17. Pour, Ambitious, Chilled Sesame Chicken
18. A String of Handmade Noodles with No Connection
19. Bamboo-Cutter Platter
20. Wandering Cat Food
21. Frequently Ordered Sushi
22. Fortuitous Family Set
23. All-You-Can-Eat Juicy Yakiniku
24. Glitter Clunk Mixed Juice
25. Junk Ramen, Extra Noodles Available
26. Continuously Pushed Sweet Red Bean Soup

So, as the Angel Brigade saves the world, who is left to save the world from them? Well, technically nobody but the dynamic of the two teams competing for the glory was interesting and the silliness factor was well above average for an anime I tend to review. The fact that the set was almost the same price as a single volume of the other two series released alone was surprising, making me call again for season sets of the anime I so like to watch. As a general rule, I try to rate shows according to their intended audience so if you're into the youthful antics of gals that coyly use their feminine charms to save the day as much as anything else, consider this one worthy of at least a rating of Recommended or better. It was dumb fun for a grown up but as a kid at heart, I could appreciate the work by the original as well as dub cast to make this one funny as well as fun.

Picture: Galaxy Angel A: Complete Collection was presented in the usual 1.33:1 ratio full frame color as shot by director Masato Takayanagi in Japan for Broccoli (what a name for a production company!) to be released domestically by Bandai. I didn't see a lot of problems with the picture, the occasional shimmer, some anime frames missing, or the limited form of animation that has the cels moved rather than animated came up from time to time but all of these were minor concerns for a kids show. The DVD transfer was pretty solid too with only a few compression artifacts noticed in the rare dark night scenes but again, it's a recent show with a lot of care put into it so that wasn't an issue either.

Sound: The audio was presented in a 2.0 Dolby Digital encoded stereo with the original Japanese as well as a newly made English dub track. I listened to episodes in each of them and found each to be similar to the other (using dub-titles or sticking to the same translation for both). There was virtually no separation between the channels and the dynamic range was negligible outside of the special sound effects or music but there didn't have to be to convey the type of show this was meant to be. Neither the dub nor the original track sounded out of place, though both may irritate you no end if you aren't prepared for the high pitched voices they used.

Extras: With so many episodes packed onto three single sided discs, you'd think the trend for few, if any, extras would be the case here as well but such was not the case. The best extra for many of you will be the bonus episode on disc three Very Fried Chicken, It was as silly as anything else on the set and a lot of fun to watch. The best extra other than that was a series of songs sung in live action called Secret GA Concert, where the Japanese vocal cast were on stage in front of a large screen playing clips of the show behind them. The ladies were dressed as though they were the age of the cast (i.e.: young girls) although most of them seemed to be old enough to pushing their late twenties (at a minimum) and seemed to be lip synching their respective songs. Still, it was a unique extra that I appreciated a lot. There were also the usual clean opening and closings, with some trailers to boot, making it a fine package for fans of the show.

Final Thoughts: Galaxy Angel A: Complete Collection was silly, fun, and suggested for children of all ages, proving to be the type of show you can watch with your young girls and not continually wince at the lameness of it all. It was not sophisticated in the slightest, nor was that the intent, but there was some social commentary tossed in on the sly, proving to make the show something you might not want to replay a lot (kids will certainly feel differently in my opinion) but a great value given the cost and amount of bang for your buck.

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.