An amusing interpretation of the console wars.
What They Say:
World War Blue contains episodes 1-3 of the anime directed by Tetsuya Yanagisawa, and is a fantasy anime series based on a manga created by Anastasia Shestakova and illustrated by Crimson. Some of the world’s favorite fourth-generation 16-bit video games are personified in this animated, medieval fantasy re-imagining of the 90’s console wars when video game companies furiously fought for market share in the retail world.
WORLD WAR BLUE tells the saga of two warring kingdoms, the Segwa Kingdom and Ninteldo Empire battling for dominance over the land of Consume. After years of conflict, things are looking grim for the Segwa Kingdom until Gear, a hyper-skilled young warrior joins the fight! Will Gear be the Segwa’s secret weapon and last hope? The cast of colorful, sexy characters are parodies of popular Nintendo and Sega games such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Tetris, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., and more!
The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release brings us the original Japanese language in stereo along with the English language dub, both of which are done using the uncompressed PCM format. Both tracks and languages are well represented here and they come across quite well in providing for an engaging and fun mix when it comes to both action and dialogue. The action uses the forward soundstage the most and there’s some good bass to be had with the action sequences and other elements of the show. The dialogue itself is pretty smooth and there’s some nice placement to it while also handling the quieter moments in a very good way.
Video:
Originally released in 2012 and 2013, the transfer for this OVA series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. Animated by 5th Avenue, the transfer here is pretty solid all-around when it comes to handling everything as this is a pretty standard-looking piece. It feels like an OVA that’s a few years older than it is with its bright colors and the backgrounds that it has but the encoding works to keep it clean and smooth throughout. The character designs are fairly minimal and they hold up well here and the high-motion sequences are pretty good looking when you get down to it as well with no breakup or noise. I can imagine this being a messier release on DVD but the higher bitrates here keeps it from getting into trouble.
Packaging:
The packaging for this release brings us a standard-sized Blu-ray case that features the two leads on the main cover with just still shots of their character designs with a bland blue background. It’s framed by a black background and the logo along the top so it definitely has the feeling a bargain-basement release and one that didn’t have anything available in the way of artwork to use for the cover. The back cover works a kind of low/soft quality visual in the background from the show but it has a lot of text over it with the summary of the premise, some good-sized shots from the show, and a breakdown of what extras are included while noting it has a new dub. The bottom brings out the technical grid, which is done in a pretty small font considering what it wants to cram in there and makes it even harder to read by going for a dark blue on black. No show-related inserts are included nor is there a reversible cover.
Menu:
The menu design for this release is pretty basic but it works well and delivers the right experience. Set as a static design, we get music playing from the opening sequence to it that gets you revved up nicely. The background is an illustration of the map of the Consume continent so you get to see the various areas and it works nicely in a nostalgic kind of way. THe map is overlaid with an image of Gear, all in blue, with the logo right next to him. The navigation strip along the bottom, which doubles as the pop-up menu during playback, has all the standard selections and has quick responses and no problems with load times, making it very easy to use.
Extras:
The extras for this may make you look a little askew at things but that’s part of the charm. The opening sequence is pretty much as you expect it and that works nicely with its 16-bit elements and old-school feeling. The voice manga piece comes in at fifteen minutes and has anime artwork sidebarring it so that the full-frame piece showing off the manga can play out and get you to see what it’s all based on. The bust size extra had me worried but it’s a three-minute piece that does bust size rankings as requested by the viewers. It’s super light on “animation” and is mostly made up of stills of the various characters in low quality as their measurements are rattled off. Finally, the soundtrack clocks in at 14 minutes and works with stills as the music plays out with credits.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based on the manga by Anastasia Shestakova, World War Blue is a three-episode OVA series that came out in 2012 and 2013. The original manga began in 2007 and is still ongoing in Micro Magazine Comics with ten volumes produced so far – which Seven Seas has been releasing in English through the eighth volume back in 2015. The anime saw streaming back when it came out and I have a vague memory of watching some of it at the time because of the concept but just not connecting with it. The show reminds me of some of the sillier OVA series of the 90s that played to the concepts within and with the fantasy setting so it strikes that nostalgia button just right at times. It almost makes me miss those days to a degree as well.
The general concept is easy enough to work with as we see the war between two nations as the Segua Kingdom and Ninteldo Empire are trying to take over Consume in full. The battle has been going on for some time and Segua is on the defensive as the series open while looking for a hero that can help change the narrative some. With Gear, we see how he has the potential to be Segua’s greatest warrior if he can just approach the fights right. With his design layered in blue and the blue spiky hair, it’s an amusing simple humanization of Sonic the Hedgehog. He’s joined by his childhood friend Nel that has grown up with him and she comes from the same name character in the Phantasy Star II series. Similarly, Gear’s best friend that spawns a lot of things here is Til, which is based on Tails from the Sonic series as well. Poor Til.
The show draws from other properties like Fantasy Zone, Mario, Zelda, and probably a few others I didn’t connect with right away. The big picture stuff is fun as it reminds us that Ninteldo under General Marcus commands 90% of the continent and is just obliterating the opposition. An upstart like Gear that get enlisted alongside a group of others to fight leads to some standard-ish fantasy fights and setups that work well but it’s all colored with the actual console wars narrative that will make those that lived through it laugh. It’s so far removed from me that I barely remember much but you can still enjoy this even without all of that knowledge, which is a plus. And that it’s just three episodes so it’s an easy bit of silly fantasy stuff with some weird naming conventions and nods. And, of course, knowing how the whole thing played out in reality.
In Summary:
While I can definitely enjoy this little romp in a nostalgic way having lived through it, World War Blue is definitely a limited-appeal project based on the summary they’re trying to sell it as. Especially in the modern gaming age. But you can disassociate all of that stuff and it’ll still largely work and be an enjoyable story to check out. It’s got an older look to it than it really is, which at the same time has its own charm I think, and manages to work better than it should. I liked the standard fantasy elements that we get here and what it’s trying to do overall and there are times where it feels like it’s better than what it actually is, both in story and animation. It’s an easy thing to try and sample with a low commitment and getting it in high definition and bilingual like this is a big plus in its favor.
Features:
Japanese 2.0 PCM Language, English 2.0 PCM Language, English Subtitles, Gaiden Opening, Voice Manga, Bust Size, Soundtrack
Content Grade: B
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: C+
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: B
Released By: Media Blasters
Release Date: August 8th, 2017
MSRP: $29.99
Running Time: 70 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
