It's hardly unusual to find anime series that are derivations from a manga or video game, but relatively few rely on the viewer's knowledge of the source to fill in the blanks. It's simply good directing practice to wipe the slate clean and assume your viewers are new to the work - unless you're not terribly concerned about the TV network reserving their clams for a series with more promise in the ratings department. Studio MADHOUSE generally produces high-quality animated series that get a lot of attention. Gungrave is one of their more recent offerings, and it holds up the studio's reputation in terms of visual quality; however, in the first volume it suffers a one-two punch of "too much, too soon," followed by "too little, too late." Anyone new to the Gungrave property will likely find themselves wondering if the rest of the series is worth their money.

The first episode of the series is a blitz of information - revenge, resurrection, undead monsters unleashed by a crime syndicate, a girl in hiding with a professor and a beast of a man wielding guns against the monsters, and the town where the rivalry between this man and the syndicate began. It's a lot to take in, and that's without mentioning how the girl's mother fits in. But it works. The episode does well to spark an interest in the circumstances behind all the conflict, and the large man (the late Brandon Heat, receiving the name "Beyond the Grave" as a gift on his resurrection) is just darn cool.

Harry is the smooth one, and the others look up to him.	Brandon is the quiet one, but also the best fighter of the group.

The problem is what happens next. The plot for revenge is set aside for an extended history lesson about Brandon and the syndicate's leader, Harry MacDowell - beginning with their small-time crook days in that same little town, as best buddies. It is not as though such a move has not been pulled off effectively - Berserk did the same thing and the story went off without a hitch. The difference is that Berserk's historical events are as interesting as the action-packed first episode; not so with Gungrave, sadly. The first volume of the series follows Brandon and Harry as they experience a tragic series of events that lead to Harry joining the crime syndicate, Millennion. This doesn't play out too smoothly, and comes across like so: "Please let me join your crime syndicate, Mister! I wanna! I wanna! It'll be fun and my bestest friend and me will finally have our freedom, love, and peace!" (The creator of this series did create Trigun as well....) Before I move on, there is not a complete lack of interesting developments in the first volume. Brandon's relationship with a girl named Maria, who is under protection by the syndicate, shows promise. Nevertheless, the series has a rocky start.

The first DVD of the series contains a decent spread of extras, including an art gallery and textless opening and closing sequences. The packaging is stylish, with a shot of "Beyond the Grave" holding his twin guns (named "Ceruberus"). The video transfer is clean, and the disc sports 5.1 channel DTS and stereo tracks in Japanese, and an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track. It is a bit strange that the Japanese 5.1 track is DTS and the English is Dolby Digital, but the audio options are impressive anyway (especially considering that this is a TV series, most of which are offered in stereo only).

In assuming that Gungrave could take the same road as Berserk, MADHOUSE has faltered a bit. Grave has too little in common with the Brandon of subsequent episodes for that approach to be taken. This is not to say that I think the series will flop after this point. It may have gained enough momentum in the extended flashback for the story to develop into a decent drama. I have my doubts about how well it will shape up, but the show has enough merits in the beginning to risk continuing on.

Distributor: Geneon
Creator: Red Entertainment / Studio MADHOUSE
Released: 2004

Video Quality: A+
Audio Quality: A+
Presentation: A-
Content: B-
Overall: B