With the third volume of Super Robot Wars, the story really starts to get underway.  Why Date was so desperately needed as a pilot is revealed as well as just who and what he'll be fighting.  With more than a little bit of political intrigue and a good dose of action, this series is really starting to pick up the pace and is more interesting than its video game origins would lead one to believe.   It's just too bad that Bandai Visual is pricing these discs so exorbitantly high.  With only three episodes on the disc and no extras what so ever, $50 MSRP is just too much to ask.

Series background:

In the future the earth is a very different place.  After being hit by two giant meteors and going through a series of wars, the Earth Federation Government united all the peoples of Earth under one flag and restored the peace.

Then the third meteor struck, but this one was different.  Inside was a cache of alien technology and proof that invaders were coming to take over.  The technology that was discovered was harnessed by the EOTI (Extra Over Technology Institute) Organization and used to create mecha, called Personal Troopers, in order to defend Earth.

Ryusei Date is a teenager who is crazy about Personal Troopers and is very good at the popular game Burning PT where opponents fight mecha in a virtual reality world.  Little does he suspect but Burning PT is actually a training ground to find likely Trooper pilots.  When aliens attack just after a PT tournament, the government sends out an unmanned Trooper that Date climbs in and uses to defend his girlfriend.  Of course playing in virtual reality and real life are two different things, but with his life on the line, Date doesn't have a lot of time to adjust to the differences.

Quickly pushed through training, Date is made part of a team that includes the experienced pilot Raidiese Branstein and team leader Aya Kobayashi, who is insecure in her ability to lead the small fighting group.  Though they fail in their first full-scale training exercise, the group is put on active duty since the situation on Earth is getting very tense.

This volume:

Things finally start to pick up with this volume.  Starting off at the South Pole where the previous volume left off, Date and his team discover they aren't there to witness the unveiling of a new weapon, but to guard a peace conference between the Earth government and the alien invaders known as the Guests.  The proceeding are behind closed doors, but when a young delegate named Shu leaves in the middle, it's obvious that something has gone wrong.  Climbing into a huge PT, Shu attacks and destroys the Guest ship.  Before it's totally obliterated, the ship releases a swarm of insect-like flying mecha that proceed to attack the Antarctic base.  Shu doesn't stop there however; he turns his plasma cannon's sites onto an Earth vessel, nearly destroying it too.

This is the opening salvo in a civil war.  The EOTI Organization has decided that the Earth Government's peace talks with the aliens is actually the powers that be selling out Earth for the sake of their own skins.  The EOTI has renamed themselves the Divine Crusaders (DC) and with their new, very advanced flying PT are determined to take over control of Earth.  The Earth Space stations and Moon colonies quickly align with the DC, which leaves the Earth Federation Army fighting a war on several fronts.

The DC army attacks several Federation bases and quickly takes them over.  Date and his group are protecting Sasebo Base and have engaged the DC troops when they quickly pull back.  Instead of pursuing the retreating enemy, the Federation forces are ordered to fall back.  The DC has launched a missile that will destroy not only the base, but the city surrounding it.  Date is determined to stay and try to shoot the missile down, even though it is a virtual impossibility.

These three shows introduce some more of the cast.  Date meets his new teammate after some time in the Trooper simulator.  After some goading, Raidiese climbs into the mock mecha and proceeds to best Date's high score without breaking a sweat.  It turns out that this new member used to be one of the Federation's hottest pilots until a mysterious accident caused him to retire.

The team is headed by Aya Kobayashi, who is insecure in her ability to lead the small fighting group, but she's determined to give it her best.  In their first exercise the three PT pilots fight a mock battle against a group of tanks.  Convinced that there's no way a tank can beat a PT, Date rushes into the fray and is quickly defeated, which leaves his teammates vulnerable and they soon fall too.  In their second practice battle, Date is determined to do better.  When an unknown enemy arrives to fight them however, it's evident that the time for practice is over.

Things really picked up in this volume, with the action not taking a back seat to the political wrangling.  The battle scenes are frequent and exciting, with the CGI animation making these action sequences look exceptionally good.

The only real complaint I have is that Date and his team were in the background for much of this volume with the main characters being the leaders of the various political factions.  This wasn't a big deal however, as something had to give with so much going on.  I just hope that Date starts to learn how to be a soldier soon, as it's hard to cheer for someone who constantly gets his butt kicked both in and out of his PT.

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 watching dubbed anime.  As it is the original Japanese audio is only in stereo but it sounds pretty good.  The track had a fairly wide dynamic range and the impacts when two mecha were fighting had a fair amount of bass.  Of course a multi-channel mix with a dedicated subwoofer track would make the fights more exciting, but you take what you can get.  Overall this is a nice sounding disc.

Video:

The video quality of the 1.78:1 anamorphic image was very good, much better than the OVA that was released earlier.  The image was pretty sharp with lines being tight and well defined.  The colors were bright and solid and the blacks were deep.  With only two episodes on the disc compression artifacts weren't a problem.

Extras:

Zip.  Nada.  Ziltch.  Nothing.  Just an 8-page insert.  For the amount that they're charging for this disc, I was expecting something more.

Final Thoughts:

With only three episodes and a running time of 72 minutes, the $50 retail price is outrageously steep.  Add to that the fact that Amazon, DVD Planet, and DVD Empire have declined to carry the title, and you've got a receipt for disaster.  That's too bad because the show is a fun, if typical, mecha show and would probably be getting a lot more buzz if people could actually afford it.  I can't say I'd buy this at or near retail price, but cost aside the show itself is recommended.