Okay, I'm supposed to tell you about Bandia Visual's latest release, Super Robot Wars.  Here's what you need to know:

-It's based on a video game (Strike One!)

-The creators assume you've played the games (most of which aren't available in the US).  Because of this they don't spend any time introducing characters or setting things up.  (Strike Two!)
 
-There are only three episodes, which run less than 90 minutes, included on this two disc set (the other disc is extras) and the retail price is $50.  (Strike Three - you're out!)

As for the plot itself, it's incredibly unwieldy though action filled.  From what I could make out watching these three episodes (and reading the booklet included in the case) the Earth has been attacked by aliens in the past.  As a defensive measure teams of mecha have been organized.  The newest mecha unit to get past the test phase is known as the Bartoll.  This is an unmanned unit and is powerful, agile, and effective.  At the official unveiling of the unit the base where the event is taking place is attacked and several people disappear in the melee.

The ATX Team jumps into their suits and starts to fight.  Several other places on Earth have been attacked too...by Bartolls.  These rouge robots are stealing people because, just like Soilent Green, Bartolls are made out of people.  It's up to an ever widening cast of characters to find out who's behind the Bartoll revolt and put a stop to it.

This is easily one of the most unsatisfying shows I've seen in a long time.  Since I haven't played any of the games, I'm at a loss when it comes to who the characters are and what everything means. As mentioned earlier, they don't take the time to explain anything.  Because of this there's no emotional attachment to what is going on.  The mecha battles look cool, yeah, but when the viewer really doesn't care who wins or looses the beautiful CGI work has pretty much gone to waste.

This show comes as a two DVD set with the second disc reserved for extras.  They come in a single width keepcase with a page for the second DVD.  There is also a 24-page booklet with character sketches and technical specs of the various mecha.

Audio:

Once again Bandai Visual has released a disc without an English dub.  For the amount they are asking, you wouldn't think it would be too much to provide an English soundtrack for those who prefer that.  As it is there are Japanese audio in both DD 5.1 and stereo and they sound pretty good. The 5.1 track really shines in the battle scenes with full use made of the whole sound stage.  Unfortunately for the rest of the show it pretty much collapses into a stereo mix.  Still, the audio wasn't bad and the multichannel mix did a lot to make the fights more exciting.

Video:

The video quality is surprisingly horrible.  Made in 2005, the 1.78:1 anamorphic image should look great, but this is one of the worst looking discs, anime or otherwise, that I've seen in a long time.  The image is very soft, with lines being fuzzy and looking like they are out of focus instead of being sharp and well defined.  Look at the character on the left which is taken from a screen cap.  Notice how his face looks out of focus and that the colors in his uniform aren't as vibrant as they should be.  Both aliasing and mosquito noise are a problem too.  This just isn't a good looking disc.

Extras:

The second disc is reserved for extras, and they did include a good selection though it's a case of quantity over quality.  There is a clean opening and clean versions of all three closing songs along with three music videos, songs set to scenes from the show.  There are also character biographies, sketches and a glossary, which has the same information as the booklet included with the disc.  I'm not sure why they repeated that information.

There are interviews with twelve (!) of the voice actors which run around 50 minutes altogether.  Unfortunately these are typical fluff interviews and I didn't get too much out of them.  All in all, there wasn't a lot on this disc that got me very excited.

Final Thoughts:

I wasn't expecting a lot from this show when I got it in, but it even failed to live up to those meager expectations.  The show feels like you've been plopped down in the middle of a long series with no explanation of what's going on or who is who.  The images are pretty, but that's not enough to make up for the other flaws.  Added to that is the outrageous price and lousy picture quality.  Just skip this one.