[US DVD] Darkside Blues (2009 Edition)

[Chris Beveridge]

Review by Chris Beveridge

Mania Grade: C-
* Audio Rating: B+
* Video Rating: B
* Packaging Rating: B
* Menus Rating: B
* Extras Rating: N/A
* Age Rating: 14 and Up
* Region: 1 - North America
* Released By: Sentai Filmworks
* MSRP: 14.98
* Running time: 83
* Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
* Disc Resolution: 480i/p
* Disc Encoding: MPEG-2
* Series: Darkside Blues

In Summary:
In the end, Darkside Blues continues to feel like the same kind of show ten years later. Some of the little nods are maybe a bit more apparent now that I’m more familiar with Kikuchi’s works, but it feels like an incomplete snapshot of something more interesting. It reminds me of the differences between the Wicked City novel and the anime adaptation in that the film is just a piece of it and was unable to capture the nuances well to connect you to it. Darkside Blues actually fairs worse because the story itself feel incomplete and without a proper ending or explanation of some of the most basic of questions. I’m certainly glad to see it again after ten years, but I could easily go double that without seeing it again since it’s essentially a little piece of style without much substance.

[sir_integra]

The Darkside Blues manga was never completed. In fact, there is a pitch from the author, reproduced in the English version, that asks for reader support.

So many OVAs of the period were produced for manga advertisements. I wonder if this was one of them.