AoD Review: Pretear Vol. #1

[Chris Beveridge]

Review

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ADV doesn't have a large number of shoujo titles in its catalog, and even fewer magical girl titles, so I was quite interested in this title when it first premiered. ADV has done a fine job with it, and the English dub is excellent. Luci Christian is perfectly cast as Himeno, being spunky and cheerful, but with a darker edge to her that shows when Himeno struggles with her new situation, both at home and as the Pretear. Illich Guardiola's Hayate is cold and brooding. He has a smooth delivery that isn't too suave, and there is enough pain to hint there is more going on than he's letting on. Chris Patton plays the calm, friendly and very kind Sasame with a great deal of maturity, something we don't get to hear enough from him. The real highlight of the show is Mandy Clark as Mawata. It is clear she is still mourning the passing of her late father, and she hides her depression with an almost impenetrable wall of icy coldness. Even so, the screen fairly crackles with her barely supressed anger and pain when she's on camera. That depression is the core of this show, as several characters struggle to deal with it in different ways. The fact that much of the plot is fairly predictable doesn't detract too much from how well made the show is. Yes, Hayate and Himeno constantly fight, which is why they're the main romantic couple in the show. Yes, the three Knights who are still just children are going to cause trouble. But coming from Junichi Sato, you know there is more under the surface which will surface soon.

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[Jimmie M]

At last, a review of Pretear! I finished this series a couple of months ago & found it to be quite good. A B+ & a positive vote from me. Good job on the review, Mike! [img]/images/graemlins/happy.gif[/img]

[MalrocK]

It's been about a year since I watched vol. 1 but I remember loving it [img]/images/graemlins/sweat000.gif[/img]. Actually, I think I'll rewatch it tonight

[Nosredna]

A and postive from me, I liked this show a lot and I'm glad it's finally getting the full review treatment (at least I hope it is). Although it looks like Mike didn't enjoy it as much as Andrew did.

[populuxe]

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Nosredna said:
A and postive from me, I liked this show a lot and I'm glad it's finally getting the full review treatment (at least I hope it is). Although it looks like Mike didn't enjoy it as much as Andrew did.

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I will be reviewing all four volumes. This volume was quite good, and I enjoyed it, but I remembered being slightly underwhelmed by the rather predictable nature of the story when it came out. I was very impressed by the direction volumes 3 and 4 went, so I can assure you my reviews of those two volumes will reflect that.

[DanielJr]

Pretear is actually the only magical girl anime I like.

[Nylock]

I had to vote based on memory from way back, but I thought Pretear was a great series that got better as it went on. I was hoping this would encourage ADV to pick up other magical girl shows, like Full Moon wo Sagashite, but they seem to be having difficulty with shoujo titles.

[ic14]

heh, so the UK release (from last year) got reviewed beofre the US release.

Anyway i really enjoyed the series as a whole, although i cant really remember what i thought of the first disc now [img]/images/graemlins/sweat000.gif[/img]

[gnikdrazil]

C- I've only been exposed to the dubbed version of Pretear from Anime on Demand, and I just couldn't get into the show. The plot line is pretty basic for a magical girl show, but the English acting just got on my nerves. I would have probably considered it to B ranking if I hadn't watched it on TV.

[Fluffy]

Thought the show was fair overall. I like the character designs and the main premise (as I understood it).

I really wish Pretear was longer...I felt the ending was rushed and lacked the emotional push it could have had if it had only been flushed out a bit more (story wise). I never fell into the grips of any one character’s plight long enough to wish the best (or worse) for them.

I think a show of this length needs to hit the extremes quickly...or face a life of uncertainty in the Used bins.