Packed with a lot of slick action and a unique sense of style Gun Sword has proven itself to be an interesting series. Produced by AIC (Bubblegum Crisis and Tenchi Muyo!) the show came out last year in Japan and ran for 26 episodes. The series features a blend of action, comedy and drama to weave its tale and craft the bizarre world known as Endless Illusion. It's one of those planets that could only really exist in anime. Towns are scattered across its surface and each is unique in its own right, though the overbearing tone is that of a Western. If you think about the atmosphere as a Trigun meets Kino's Journey thing you're on the right track.

Another part that reminds me about both of those series is the fact that the main character Van is roaming the countryside. Just like Vash the Stampede (with some design resembling Spike Spiegel), his name precedes him though there are several variations on it. Sometimes he's called Van of the Dawn, Van the Guy Who Sleeps All Day, or Pretty Van from the Garbage Dump. He tends to change it depending on the situation and what mood strikes him that day though every once in a while someone turns up looking for him and uses a new moniker. Van's mysterious nature is compounded even more so by the fact that he owns a mecha suit of armor named Dann and has the ability to heal himself it would seem.

As Van travels the world he's accompanied by a young girl named Wendy who is out searching for her missing brother. The two personalities are polar opposites but through fate, and some determination on Wendy's part, they seem to get along well. Two heads are better than one, since both of them are out on a quest, though Van is looking for a mysterious man known only as The Claw. In the last volume Van and Wendy also picked up a young boy named Joshua who is the younger brother of Ray; another of the Claw's enemies.

Now, as a reviewer of anime there are few things as difficult or frustrating as missing volumes throughout the course of a show. Here we are though with the final volume of Gun Sword while the last one we were able to watch was volume three way back in October of last year. Because of that I cannot effectively provide coverage regarding what has happened up to this point and my experience with this last installment was somewhat jaded due to the lack of knowledge. With that being said let's check it out, shall we?

Presumably this final volume of Gun Sword begins right where the sixth one ended. There is a huge Armor battle going on between the good forces and that lead by the man with the Golden Claw. Given the fact that I haven't watched this show since the third volume there were many characters floating around that I was not familiar with. The action was pretty intense though the absence of Van left me wondering what befell him in the previous installment.

The tide of battle shifts constantly though the ultimate goal seems to be buying the man with the claw time to activate the Destruction Armor. It appears that the plot thickens with the clawed-one's ambition to destroy and resurrect the world. The Armor in question is giant and requires a lot of energy to activate. Fortunately for the people living on Endless Illusion, Van returns with his Armor to do battle with his nemesis.

In the meantime each of the main characters has some kind of personal conflict or another. Joshua's brother has been killed and he finds himself locked up in enemy custody. Naturally he's going to work from the inside to do whatever possible to hinder his captor's plans. Carmen 99 squares off against an old friend with the backdrop of those deadly flowers we saw featured a while back. Wendy also confronts her brother. There's a definite climax all around and the action never really skips a beat.

Once the dust settles the final moments of the last episode give a brief glimpse at events after the fact. While I missed most of the series I felt it was a nice send-off for fans of the show. From what I have seen of it Gun Sword has been a rocking good time. The characters are interesting, the story has a fair amount of mystery, and the action is simply gorgeous to behold. If you haven't had the opportunity to see this series yet you're missing out.

The transfer for this DVD is beautiful with a 16:9 widescreen presentation and very few flaws overall. There were some bits of aliasing to be noticed and a few splotches of grain here and there, though they were minor at best. This is a sharp looking show with a great sense of style and some very fluid animation. The characters absolutely pop from the screen thanks to their movements and wild color palettes.

With three distinctive tracks available on the disc, each offers phenomenal quality. Granted the 2.0 Japanese track isn't the most impressive, but the 5.1 DTS Japanese and 5.1 Dolby Digital English selections really rock. The rear speakers kick in at all the right moments and the soundstage is properly balanced between action, music and dialogue. If you're an otaku with a nice home theater you'll want to turn this sucker up. Some of the episodes here are more subdued thanks to their slower natures but even then the audio quality is impressive.

The final episode of "Gun X Sword-San" is available on this disc and it's just as weird as ever. Slapstick comedy and random quirks have always made up this little show but the ending is by far one of the strangest that I have seen. Another interesting inclusion on this disc is a clip from the show where David Vincent (Van) actually uses animation to create a proposal trailer for his wife-to-be. He apparently showed this to her as part of his proposal. Other than those all you'll find on this disc are to usual suspects such as trailers, galleries, and the like.

I may have missed roughly half of the show but the final installment of Gun Sword impressed me just the same. In many ways the show reminded me of Godannar and Trigun. They were both series that told an interesting story with outlandish characters, a bizarre world, and a whole lot of action. Gun Sword certainly follows that tradition and is a real treat in its final moments. Recommended

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