By the third volume of Arc the Lad, you can pretty much tell where the series is going. The character development is clichéd to a C, and the conspiracy elements are following overused patterns. My roommate was able to look up randomly from reading a book and immediately call subsequent events on numerous occasions. There are a few moments of interest, but by and large, there’s nothing new to be seen here plot-wise or thematically. At least they didn’t exacerbate the situation by introducing additional plot holes.

Arc meets up with an old friend from the past...	Here we have a look at Arc the Lad's version of the Red Cross, called the Nameless Crusade.

The video quality is actually fairly standard. There wasn’t any rainbowing or shaking in the cel animation, with only a modicum of pixellated lines and backgrounds. The CG effects are cleanly captured, if not breathtaking. Lieza is still cute as ever ^_~ The music to vocal balance is fine, and the background music follows much the same pattern as for the earlier volumes. In terms of presentation, you get another DVD with no on-disc extras. Thankfully, this time there are five, not three, episodes, so it’s a little easier to take.

All in all, the only reason you should consider taking a look at this volume is if you really enjoyed watching the characters and don’t mind seeing cardboard characters act out their parts on a stage with see-through curtains. If you’re especially forgiving, you might actually be able to get excited at learning Arc’s real background, or how the deeply seeded the elements of the conspiracy involving Clive and Galuano really are. But, your time really could be better spent in other venues….

Distributor: ADV
Creator: Bee Train
Released: 1999

Video Quality: B
Audio Quality: B+
Presentation: C
Content: C+
Overall: C+