Aura Battler Dunbine 5 – Return To Byston Well (TV Animé)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C-     Episodes: C

 

 

In one of the weirdest Animé shows we have seen yet, Aura Battler Dunbine has giant Godzilla-sized robot villains, persons with some powers, and a would-be hero with a Tinkerbell knock-off following him everywhere.  Though we are picking up later in the series, I strongly doubt this would be any less bizarre if we began by looking at the first DVD.

 

Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino has created something so genre-wacky that this must be a special-appeal work for Animé fanatics, and then only the youngest ones.  The Byston Well of the title is a medieval world that further adds to the wacky mix of old and new, all trying to be mythical.  After reading and watching everything, it seems to somehow fit, but it was so derivative and unconvincing that it did not stay with me at all.  Animé is openly taking-off old Disney-styled animation and often anything else it can absorb.  In this case, that goes overboard.  The episodes are:

 

18) Flash Of Garalia

19) Battler Show

20) Bern’s Counter Attack

21) Fugitive Elmelie

 

The pencil drawing is noticeable in the full frame 1.33 X 1 color images, from the previous generation of Animé in style.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has some surprisingly healthy Pro Logic surrounds considering the look of the show.  The few extras include previews for other ADV DVDs, opening and closing credits without text and a production portfolio.

 

Besides all the derivativeness, it never quite gels.  I wondered as I watched if the creators (in addition to Tomino) knew or even liked all they were taking from.  I actually gained a further admiration for filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino after seeing this.  Some people can make this kind of thing work, some cannot.  Aura Battler Dunbine 5 is one of the most inane train wrecks in Animé to date, so only see it if you are interested in a show on that level.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo