Tylor OVA 3 |
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Captain Tylor makes his final
appearance in this, the last set of OVAs in the
Irresponsible Captain Tylor OVA collection, entitled
"From Here to Eternity." While additions to
great TV series are always welcome, they have a tendency
to wear out their welcome after a while, and Tylor is no
exception. While the first OVA collection was an
incredible addition to the series, the second set was a
mix of boring and slightly above average side stories.
The new production team is mainly at fault, as they seem
to really not have a grasp of what the series is about.
But have they saved their best efforts for last? The answer, sadly, is no. While the characters remain strong and faithful to their already established personalities, the story is far too "un-Tylor" to mesh well with the cast. The original series had a strong emphasis on the growth and establishment of a ship of fools, while the latter OVAs seem to be more plot-oriented. I always like it when anime studios try different things, but when they fall, they fall hard. The third volume of the Tylor OVAs is an excellent example of this. The story is basically new, with some carry-over from the last two OVA episodes. A new threat, presumably associated with the Ralgon, has been attacking ships with a new, highly destructive weapon. Lieutenant Yamamoto, now a Captain of his own ship, is attacked and nearly destroyed by this new foe on his maiden voyage. The entire crew tries to get to the bottom of this mystery, eventually ending up in a great space battle. Great sacrifices are made, and the ending pretty much bring to series to a close. That's the plot, in a nutshell. I usually devote a little more space when describing the plot, but most of it is so boring that I didn't want the kindly folks who like to read my reviews falling asleep at their keyboards. Truthfully, though, after a viewing of the two episodes, this is all I can remember. I'm usually as sharp as a tack(well, at least when it comes to anime), but the incredibly bland story line kept my eyes on my DVD player's timer for most of the disc. I hope I don't have to spell it out, but that's not a good sign. I hate to call the story bland, because I think it work very well in a number of different shows. But as my tendency to be redundant constantly states, the Tylor series has always been characters first, and plot second. In this set of OVAs, the characters are merely dominoes, falling over at the whim of the plot. The whole X-Files conspiracy story just rubbed me the wrong way. Like I mentioned on my review of the last disk, it just doesn't fit with Tylor. Also, you have to wait until the end to see one of those magical Tylor moments. If that's not a tragedy in anime, I don't know what is. Despite all of my complaining, there are a few good parts of this disc. Lieutenant Yamamoto takes center stage for the most part, in a group of episodes that features the most growth this character has ever seen. It's such a great thing to see his attitude in the past, and his slow evolution into Tylor's mind set as the OVAs come to a close. Yamamoto is one of my favorite characters from the TV series, because even though he's the underdog and he constantly messes up, he always means well and inside he's a big softie. So, should we look forward to a Responsible Captain Yamamoto TV series in the future? Nah. The Right Stuf produces another great looking and sounding DVD with their release with this volume of Tylor, which is really making me look forward to some of their future releases. Neil Nadelman once again provides extensive liner notes for each and every episode, and points out things that even the most seasoned Tylor fan would miss. A plethora of information is given about the fates of the characters after the OVA series ends, taken right out of the official novels. I'll just say that if this man provided liner notes for every release, I would have nothing to complain about. Video and audio quality on this volume is the same as the last volume, and as these are a newer batch of OVAs, the colors and the music are crisp and clear. It's a shame that these episode have to tarnish the great series that is The Irresponsible Captain Tylor. I absolutely love the TV series, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone that's a fan of anime, or even Sci-Fi shows like Star Trek. Unfortunately, the new production team behind these OVAs didn't really know how to handle Tylor and we're left with stiff animation and boring story lines(though the awesome music is some compensation). My advice? Stick with the TV series and the first OVA disc, and you won't be disappointed. - Bob Mackey |
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