Infinite Ryvius had a strong start, a strong buildup, and is well on its way to a strong finish. It's a huge annoyance as a reviewer to have my significance reduced to essentially that of the corporate yes-man that hovers around the boss waiting for him (or her) to drop change on the floor. I'm supposed to be the lone voice of reason in a chaos of hackneyed garbage! But I can't help it. Ryvius is doing everything right, and has from the start. The characters were developed deliberately and appropriately. The plot moved at the right pace and gave each event meaning, applying the right amount of jitter as the fates of friend and foe consistently spiral toward a resolution. It's annoyingly perfect, and the fifth volume gave me nothing new to complain about. Almost.

That's not to say it gave nothing new. The series up to this point has done a round robin on screen time with the characters, throwing in tidbits of dialogue whenever it was convenient to do so. After all, the kids were fighting for their lives, and there was no time to settle down and reflect. The exchanges between them were meaningful but short - the idea being that if these one-shots collectively simmered in the proverbial pot long enough, they would add up to a mountain of potential. Volume 5 then sets that potential loose all at once, using a convenient plot event at the end of the previous volume as the trigger. The stage has been set, and the first act is now on.

This change in direction has two important consequences. First, the melodrama is exhibiting a quality and intensity similar to that of a Shakespearian tragedy. This is brought about by the fact that a lot of these kids are nearing their breaking points, after having endured crisis after crisis for so long. Rational thought has little appeal to most of the main characters as their survival instincts start to kick in.

It's not a space opera unless you can converse with the ship.	Ikumi forgets that he's not a Gundam pilot in this volume.

The second important consequence is the narrowing of focus to a subset of the main cast, effectively relegating several main characters to a support role. It probably was necessary given the fact that the series was nearing its close and the writers had to focus on wrapping it up cleanly. I would have liked to see more of the main characters make meaningful contributions to the story's outcome, but as they say, that's the way the story goes sometimes.

The fifth volume of Ryvius contains the usual mountain of extras that have graced each installment of the series thus far. This installment has the latest version of the opening sequence without text, a couple commercials, more of the audio dramas that try to get us to buy several copies of the latest Ryvius DVD (these have been pretty fun), and another "Ryvius Illusion" feature in all its chibi goodness.

This is the part where I tell you to buy the DVD because it's "good stuff, man," while I drool on your expensive shoes like some kind of toked-up street pusher. It's shameful, and pathetic, but I don't have a choice. After all, there's no need for a whistleblower like me when there's so little a threat of disappointment.

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