Ever wonder what Sunrise was thinking by describing Angel Links as the extraordinary story of Meifon? Wondering whether Valeria Vertone really merits the title "Strategist"? Itching to figure out what kind of twisted mind inspired a certain gravestone? Volume Three finally brings us answers to these pressing questions while introducing us to the real premise for the series.

Genre fans will be pleased to find a plethora of fan service coupled with a new launch sequence spicing up the episodes, though others of us will sigh in resignation. Additionally, there is an enjoyable action sequence showing Meifon kicking ass - unfortunately, while the framerate and pacing for this scene are great, the actual cel animation takes a hit in the detail department for its duration. Unfortunately, what is most notable visually about this volume is the prevalence of encryption artifacts - rainbowing, shaking cels, and pixellation mar more of the video track that even in the first volume. Some of the cool morphing effects for the Tao magic thankfully make it through artifact-free, but this hardly makes up for the rest of the volume's video vicissitudes.

Finally, another Tao user, a la Outlaw Star. While he may not be as cool as his OS counterparts, Meifon and Co do use a unique way to defeat him....	Meet Valeria Vertone, Einhorn Imperial Strategist. How much has she really changed since her departure from the army?

The background music brings us more of the same, for the most part. The opening and closing songs are definitely growing on me, but still don't qualify as stellar. My major primary audio gripe for this volume was with the music accompanying the battle with the Tao user. For some reason, the theme for the Tao user was much louder than the triumphant battle music accompanying Meifon's baddy-bashing. One would have expected the exact opposite choice of balance...

The packaging for this volume follows the pattern for the second, with Meifon showing more square centimeters of shaded flesh than clothing, enhanced by the strategic placement of Kosei's hands. Opening up the case, you'll come face to face with a standard insert about Valeria...and a yellow DVD!! Yes, that's right - Bandai chose to make an abrupt spectrum shift from the blue of the previous discs to...yellow...ick! The on-disc extra was a concatenation of the day and night launch sequences - another disappointment, in my book. Ah well...you can't win them all...

In conclusion, this volume is definitely a reward for those who've been willing to follow the series this far. The follow up to the cliffhanger from volume 2 is handled quite nicely, simmering in the background during some quality episodes and then heating up to a quite surprising finale to end the disc. My early skepticism has been boiled away in the face of what this volume's cooked up - I'm really looking forward to seeing where Sunrise is going with this series next.

Distributor: Bandai
Creator: Sunrise
Released: 1999

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