This could be the last NTUSA DVD, not that you'd know that from the contents,
the advert inviting you to subscribe is still there and come to think of it the
subscription card is still in the magazine.  Perhaps that's down to production
issues and lead-times, or perhaps it's because the publisher regards the new
magazine as a continuation of NTUSA under a different name.
But whatever the reason, here's my thoughts on the contents of the disk.

First up...

"Emma: A Victorian Romance".
What we have here is something rather different, a love story set in Victorian
England.
William Jones is the son of a wealthy upper-class family and on a visit to his
old governess he meets, and falls in love with, Emma.  The problem is that Emma
is a maid and has worked 'below stairs' all her life and she is very conscious
of the huge gap of both class and wealth that separate her and William.
Going by the first episode this is a series where the story is going to proceed
at a speed only slightly greater than the average glacier, but it will probably
be all the better for that.
Overall the backgrounds gave a good impression of 19th century London and there
were some nice touches in the background characters like the flower girl.
If you're looking for a slice-of-life style series that's a bit different to
the usual high school dramas this could be the series for you.

Then we have...

"Shuffle".
Rin has the neighbours from hell, literally.  The king of the demons and his
family have moved in next door, but it's not all bad news, his neighbours on
the other side are the king of the gods and his family.  Both families have one
daughter and both have decided that Rin is the guy to be her husband, this
doesn't go down too well with Kaede, his childhood friend who is only happy
when she's looking after him.  So what we have here is a typical harem show,
complete with a modern-day equivalent of 'Lum's Stormtroopers'.  A predictably
boring episode that left me with no interest in seeing any more of the series.

Finally there's...

"Zegapain".
Episode 11 is perhaps not the best choice of sampler episode if you want to
introduce new people to a series.  We're thrown literally into the middle of
the story not knowing who the characters are or what they are doing or why.
The mecha battle was dramatic, but it would have been nice to know who was
fighting who and why.  The personalities of the characters seems to be well
developed, which is good, unfortunately much of their dialogue is somewhat
cryptic unless you've watched the previous 10 episodes.
This looks like it might be a good series, but dropping people in halfway
through isn't doing it any favours.



== Peter ==
-----------------------------------------------------
"I think she no longer has to pretend
to be what she isn't any more."
(Kana: Haibane Renmei)