Ticker

[Click to enlarge]

Wild ARMS Vol. 1 (5 of 22 episodes)

Genre: Action

Time: 110 mins

Distributor: ADV Films

The TV series Wild ARMS, is loosely based upon a series of Playstation games of the same name. Set in the world of Filgaia, a post-apocalyptic version of the Old West, Wild ARMS starts off with the capture of Kiel Arronax, a big muscular adventurer who also happens to be a scientist. He is being tortured by the prison warden of the floating, sky-prison of Alcatraz, who wants Kiel to cooperate on a project. They are interrupted by news of some intruders trying to break into the supposedly unescapeable prison. During the confusion, Kiel manages to slip away into the tunnels where he bumps into the two intruders, Loretta a dark haired vixen who uses magic cards and her short haired sidekick named Mirabelle who happens to be a vampire. The two thieves are breaking into Alcatraz because they heard that the prison is guarding a very expensive treasure which they plan to steal. The three of them decide to work together; Kiel will help them find the treasure and in return they will help him escape from prison.

After breaking into the treasure chamber, they discover that the “treasure” is not quite what they expected. The treasure is a five year old boy who is trapped in stasis. As the boy awakens, the warden and his guards find the group and a gunfight erupts. During the ensuing melee, we learn that the boy claims to be Sheyenne Rainstorm, an infamous gunslinger in his mid 20s who many considered a reincarnation of the Evil Race, which brought about Filgaia destruction, and someone who was thought to be dead. Apparently when Sheyenne was shot and killed many years ago, someone stole his body and placed his brain inside the body of a five year old boy. Sheyenne is also the only human cabable of firing the ancient ARMS weapon. Now Sheyenne and Kiel team up to find Sheyenne’s original body and find who is responsible, while constantly bumping into the two thieves whose sole aim seems to be to find ancient treasures and sell them to the highest bidder.

Although Wild ARMS most closely resembles a western, the series also contains elements of science fiction and fantasy. There are the presence of dragons and monsters and mysterious technology belonging to a more advanced race. Although this might change in later DVDs, the episodes are non-linear and besides the main goal of Sheyenne looking for his body, the episodes do not seem to link at all. The tone of the series is also very comedic in nature with occasional solemn moments. One of the more comedic moments of the series was when Sheyenne first woke up and was swaggering around like the infamous gunslinger he thought he was, meanwhile no one took him seriously because he did not know that he was trapped in the body of a five year old.

The animation to the series is very well done. The colors are bright and everything looks sharp. Certainly better than many other series that I have seen. The characters themselves aren’t as spectacular. They seem sort of one-dimensional and there just doesn’t seem to be many elements to their personality. The dubbing of the series was first-rate and the musical score of the series is pretty good. The opening theme song has a western flare to it and is enjoyable to listen to. However I did not like the ending sequence.

The DVD also has some decent extras. The opening and closing sequences are provided in textless form and there is also a video gallery. Surprisingly, there was also an outtakes section, which might bring a chuckle, but no full blown laughter here.

Although individually, I wish the characters were more developed, as a group the characters do interact well with one another. I do wish that the plot was more cohesive and that more stuff was explained but this would probably happen in later DVDs. Overall it is a fun show with great animation, soundtrack and comedy and the series should certainly please fans of the Playstation game, and anyone who enjoys anime with a western flair.

Anime Grade:

Story: B+

Artwork: B

Audio: B

Extras: B-

Article Tools