8) The Distant Rain: This one focused mostly on Juna's relationship with Tokio and provided a really interesting look at the dynamics of it. Bandai's take: "Will down pouring rain fill a person's heart with sorrow? The stress of the ongoing crisis is wearing down the bond between Juna and Tokio. Although she may wield the holy Gandiva weapon, Juna is still a teenage girl at heart. Since Juna became the chosen one, she and Tokio have been acting more awkward around each other. Despite their mutual feelings, the couple seems to only disagree. Sayuri, Juna's rival, seizes the opportunity to make her move. Only the rain embraces a distraught heart..."

9) Before Birth: Juna's powers continue to expand and she gets glimpses into the thoughts of those around her. In an attempt to mend some fences, Cindy even helps show her a few tricks. Bandai's take: "Juna's heart is in turmoil when she sees Tokio and Sayuri together. However, Cindy can see through Tokio's confused emotions with her telepathic gifts, and tells Juna that she and Tokio are not through yet. First, Cindy tries to help Juna understands her own feelings. Cindy guides Juna back in time to her own mother's womb, where her thoughts first formed..."

10) The Flickering Genes: Juna finds that knowing the future doesn't mean she can change it. While she mediates between Tokio and his father to help bring them together, tragedy strikes. Bandai's take: "Juna travels alone to a laboratory endangered by a biohazard disaster. However, the man in charge is none other than Tokio's father. He dismisses Juna's concerns, seeing them only as the vague visions of one little girl. Tokio arrives, but the friction between him and his father only heats the debate even more. Meanwhile, a monstrous Raaja approaches the lab, a prelude to the disaster"

11) The Day of No Return: Here, Juna learns that all her power isn't going to be able to change the course of events if the population isn't ready to make drastic changes in their lifestyles. Bandai's take: "S.E.E.D. rushes Juna to New York because her powerful TI counterpart there has fallen. There, she witnesses one path that a society can take. This society is built upon the ever-increasing garbage heap caused by mass consumption. Because of this, many people do not truly enjoy their lives. Can humanity break this cycle? Meanwhile, Tokio continues to doubt his feelings for the absent Juna, and Sayuri invites him to her home..."

Picture: The picture is presented in anamorphic widescreen of either 1.78:1 or 1.85:1 and looked great. The anime styles employed here incorporate a few methods which enhance the overall experience.

Sound: There was 5.1 and 2.0 tracks with both English and Japanese as well as an isolated score. I noticed no problems with any of the tracks although I favored the 5.1 Japanese track slightly. Very well done.

Extras: There was another part to the interview with the creator of the show, Shoji Kawamori, that filled in a lot of background which continued from the second dvd. There were some trailers and previews along with the isolated score. There was a paper insert with the dvd that explained each episode pretty well as well as provide full credits to the cast and crew. Lastly, there was a dictionary of some of the words and concepts used in the episodes.

Final Thoughts: If you can get past all the environmentalist oriented messages here, most of which appear to be poorly supported fringe psycho-babble, you'll find an excellent dvd with some great animation. That the animation is a combination of both traditional Japanese anime and CGI added a new-tech feel to it that really looked interesting. You get almost 2 full hours of anime here which is not the norm at this time and the technical values are very high. The story itself, aside from the previously discussed leftist leanings, is also consistently thought out to which I must tip my reviewer hat off to the crew making this one.

I'd suggest this as at least recommended and highly so for those who can easily look past (or, shudder, agree with) the political messages here. I think the creator would have done well to go for a softer sell on his message but otherwise-good job!