The show draws from the wealth of material surrounding the Final Fantasy games that have been popular for years and years but also invents a number of new characters and scenarios so as to keep from forcing the audience from having to know what went on in those long, and often difficult, games. In short, the series is almost more of an homage to the games than an actual spin off. The show is set in the near future where a cataclysmic battle took place between two large monsters that came from a beacon of light. The area was devastated and the beings disappeared but a ghost train appears at regular intervals to transport people to another world, Wonderland, which is a series of interconnected cities floating in an ethereal place. Each city has its own properties regarding the laws of physics and its own set of characters, some of which are friendly while others are quite hostile. The show centered on a trio of young adventurers who were trying to search for people they cared about, as detailed below in my episode breakdowns:

Episode Five: Cid: The Adventure Of The Underground Waterway:
This episode showed the team trying to catch a ride on the train, something very tough to do considering the always-changing nature of Wonderland. Cid is the genius inventor employed by the rebellion and he attempts to help them although Kaze's powers come in as handy as ever when they are attacked. He uses the summon, Bismarck, a large whale with a tidal wave for a power.

Episode Six: Kigen Arts: The Savior Of Souls:
Arriving at a completely new location, but still lost, the kids decide to cross a desert wasteland in order to continue their quest. The king's minions continue to look for the team as well and employ a new strategy in the race between the two factions. Lisa uses her powers to good effect but she is hopelessly outnumbered and ends up captured. The kids try to save her but where is Kaze when he's needed?

Episode Seven: Subway: Enemy Of The Dimensional Tunnel:
Omega, the world destroyer, threatens to destroy the train, as well as other worlds if left unchecked. Sadly, all looks bleak for the team with even Kaze unable to stop it as the Magun is disabled. Will Kaze be able to deflect the monster by summoning Scorch (Ifrit)?

Episode Eight: Soil: The Heart Of The Magun:
Pist, one of the Four Lords of the Gaudium, attacks Kaze by stealing the Magun from him. Without his weapon, what can he do to stop the threat this time? And why is he so nonchalant about this turn of events?

Having heard some really negative things about the show, I decided it was best to investigate myself and I admit that the results were a bit mixed. The show looks interesting in almost all cases. The mixture of CGI and traditional style anime is sometimes a bit off putting but after you watch a few episodes it tends to grow on you. The characters themselves are drawn in the simplistic fashion of some of Ralph Bakshi's old work from the 70's and the backgrounds tend to be computer generated. This is not a hard rule but a tendency. The audio contributes a lot to the feel of the various cities the trio venture into and that also contributed to the fun.

So, for an anime buff looking for something way off the beaten path, I can safely give this one a rating of Rent It at this time although it could go higher or lower in the future depending on how the characters grow and what happens with the scenario presented. The cartoonish nature of the characters wasn't my favorite style and only time will tell if this aspect colored my perceptions too heavily in the negative.

Picture: The picture was presented in the usual 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The look of the show was quite unique in how it mixed more traditional styles of anime with modernistic CGI effects. I wasn't too keen on the limited drawn anime style of the characters (they often looked like low budget quickies) but after a few episodes, it grew on me a bit more than I thought it would. In any case, the picture always looked good and no problems were evident.

Sound: The audio was presented with a choice of 5.1 Dolby Digital surround English or 2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese with optional English subtitles. The English track was superior in terms of the ambiance, special effects and music while the voice acting was somewhat better on the Japanese track. Both were clear and crisp within the limitations of their source material.

Extras: The best extra was the audio commentary track on episode eight with director Charlie Campbell with voice actors Edwin Neal (Pist) and Larissa Wolcott (Lou). I think the commentary was pretty decent with each of the performers telling a bit about themselves and the show. There were a number of sketches and illustrations presented on the DVD as well as the usual trailers, a double sided DVD cover, and part one of a "style guide that illustrates the various critters from the show. Lastly, there was a paper insert that a lot of character information as well as a chart detailing some of the relationships. Taken as a whole, the extras were pretty solid.

Final Thoughts: The series is not without merit but I find more traditional forms of anime to appeal to me on other levels than this one did. The low-budget look of the animation itself, the weak story lines, and the content issues were more troublesome than the technical aspects though so if you're looking for something different, check it out.