Solty Rei takes place after an event called Blast Fall where an accident occurred with the Aurora Shell and created a massive explosion. Thousands died and in one man's case, so did his daughter. Even since that day Roy Revant has drifted through life bemoaning the loss of his child but with wild determination and a difficulty accepting "reality" he continues to search for her in hopes that she's still alive somewhere. These efforts prove to be futile but one fateful night while he's out hunting a criminal he has a new, artificial daughter land in his lap.

Solty has become a part of his life and Roy slowly begins to accept her for what/who she is. Other characters come in to fill the gaps as well such as Roy's "boss", a woman who hires him out to do some bounty hunter work, her daughter, and a group of underground siblings lead by a blonde named Rose Anderson. In the previous volume Ashley, the head of the RUC, brought Rose back from the dead and started molding her into something called a Proceed. With Rose under his menacing wing he hatches a plan to dispatch the current team of Hunters and set a course of events that lead us to the fifth installment.

This time around the first episode picks up right where the last one left off with Roy and Solty seeing Rose for the first time. While this should have been a heartfelt reunion the fact that she just killed Celica and is noticeably working for the RUC obviously leaves the two bewildered. Roy slips temporarily back into his "pity me" funk but snaps out of it quickly enough to keep the show moving forward. Pissed off and full of questions he heads to RUC to confront Rose only to be threatened by Ashley in the process.

Back at home Integra and Accela have essentially moved in and the apartment is under surveillance. Naturally the pressure is starting to build but some interesting events occur that catapult the series in a direction that I did not see coming. This was a good thing.

Up until now Solty Rei seemed quite content to drift along and not answer any questions. Well, when the old man from the desert shows up at Roy's door looking to speak with him the show does a complete 180. It turns out that humanity is not actually from the planet they live on right now. They moved in 200 years ago, constructed an atmosphere with nanotechnology, and kept these truths from the general populous.

As the head of RUC, Ashley knows everything and has set plans in motion to take control of the city's source of energy and water. Needless to say if he's able to do this everyone is pretty much screwed. He takes Solty out temporarily and kind of restarts her program with an electric shock. As the conflict begins to heat up it's safe to say that the proverbial crap is really starting to hit the fan. The level of intrigue jumped exponentially with this volume and the description of the origin surrounding the city is quite fascinating. For the first time in many volumes Solty Rei stands up and makes you pay attention by doing all of the right things. Let's hope this trend continues through to the final episode.

With the recent production date Solty Rei receives an anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The show's production looks stunning when you get right down to it. Vibrant colors and crisp animation absolutely pops from every frame. Unfortunately there are some problems with the transfer available for this volume. This installment just doesn't look "quite" as good as the prior ones thanks to an abundance of compression artifacts and grain. Both accounts appear strongly here and though they don't completely ruin the experience it's hard to ignore them.

Three audio tracks make their way to this release of Solty Rei. The original Japanese track is presented with a 2.0 stereo output that is about as limited as you'd expect though there is some slight directionality with sound effects and music. English gets a similarly styled stereo presentation but it also receives a 5.1 track that is much more dynamic. Sound effects, voices, and music is spread across all channels and has a very good presence when you get right down to it. The sense of immersion could have been better but it was still decent enough.

Once again, this time around the only bonus features you're going to find are some trailers and textless animation.

My time with Solty Rei has been frustrating. On the surface there are so many things to like about the series but the execution of the episodes and subplots has been less than satisfactory. Poor pacing, weak character development, and some generic moments have kept the series finely rooted in average territory. This volume changes that.

The introduction of the origin of the city, the development of Rose's character, and the plight of the original Hunters really adds the necessary weight. The battle is heating up and with everything on the line Solty Rei really seems to be headed down the right path. This volume was probably one of the best that this series has seen and we can only hope that that trend continues through to the next installment.

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