Whilst the plot may be slim, the laughs are plenty, and when you’ve got a colony of penguin alien doods (damn it’s catching) trying to take over the world, what’s not to love?
What They Say
After the King of the Netherworld dies, demons start trying to take over in his place. But with the son of the King on his way to stake his claim, the demons will have some competition. Will the Netherworld's rightful ruler stand a chance with the help of Etna, her Prinny Sqaud, and Flonne, an assassin-turned-hero?
The Review!
Audio:
For this review I went for the English 2.0 Stereo. Unfortunately there is no 5.1 on the UK Release – no problems found during the checks of both English and Japanese, in reference to timing with subtitles or transition. The audio is good as it is quite clear, and I consider it more cleaned up than in the first disc – this is proven in the final episode with the amount of Prinnies talking which works much better listening to English as the subtitles don’t have a chance of keeping in touch with them. Overall, standard, clear-cut and very good.
Video:
The video transition for the release of Disgaea was overall very good. The effects between conversion (especially with the CGI Effects) along with the subtitling were spot on, with no elements of choppiness and full screen converted beautifully. With a lot of action and mixed animation incorporated with a lot of the battles, explosions and multiple Prinny Power, the fluidity of the animation has to be spot on especially considering it’s a colourful show, which combines elements of darkness and hellish colours with bright angelic palettes, the transition to video is overall excellent, aside from some instances in episode 6 where there was some noticeable blurriness in the backgrounds.
Packaging:
No packaging was supplied with this test disc.
Menu:
The menu is fairly straight forward, with simple selection for Play All, Extra and Episode Selection, illustrated nicely with small pictures of scenes from the episode. The menu screen consisted of our three ‘heroes’ in Laharl, Etna and Flonne, though again, Laharl seems to be in the background compared to the colourful shots of the two girls, in front of a hellish background of a castle on a sky of red. Simple, straightforward and nice to at.
Extras:
Sadly, unlike the excellent interview we had last disc we have very little in terms of extras except for a couple of trailers for Slayers and Samurai Deeper Kyo.
Content:
Dood.
How many reviews can you say start with that? Disgaea Volume 2 continues to aim it’s way with not-so harmless fun with Laharl, Etna and Flonne, and entertain me a lot more than I fully expected to.
The Tome plot from the end of last disc seems to have been temporarily put under the rug in this disc as the tone for it is simply the group of three on their travels, though Laharl and Etna ditch Flonne rather quickly without caring much but it’s obvious that the plot that Etna looks ready to betray him is coming shortly as she fails to hide a bounty poster on the wall. However, Laharl’s stomach comes before any high priorities such as people trying to kill him to take his position of overlord, which leads to a seemingly friendly girl named Saldia (who immediately wins you over with her catchphrase ‘Maybe…maybe not…’) – she is not as innocent as she appears and after a cameo beating of the always comic Earth Squad, she traps Etna and Laharl in an cavern which drains their magic powers which leads to her nearly drowning them or crush them with a shark so she can claim the title of Overlord, however Laharl manages to escape, where they and Saldia get flooded out…only for Saldia to bump into Flonne – problems escalate, and the mini-plot of Laharl actually being nicer than he appears shows as he spares Saldia’s life in exchange for information and an interesting way round the bounty problem.
Oh, and Mid Boss shows up. And blasted away. He’s fun.
Next episode, Etna’s true intentions are revealed as Saldia leads them to the person who apparently created the bounty, a vampire style demon (complete with accent) named Maderas. It’s soon found out that Etna is the one that set up the bounty in exchange for some rather embarrassing memories that Maderas managed to lock away. They lock up Laharl and Flonne is quite possibly one of the funniest scenes in anime ever where they play a demonic version of Game of Life. Trust me, it has to be seen to be believed. Maderas doesn’t go by his word, leaving Etna to fret about her loyalties and her own embarrassment. Another comic intrusion by Mid-Boss actually helps out though, as after a mix up between him, some Prinnies, and the trapped gamesters, Laharl and Flonne are free, but Maderas uses an evil plan to weaken Laharl (gets some dolls to say positive cheery things, needless to say Flonne enjoys it and even joins in) and even reveals his role in Laharl’s father’s death. Etna however comes round, and after a few interesting revelations and Laharl impressed with her sneakiness, the three are back on their travels.
And Mid-Boss cries pitifully. It’s fun to watch.
A meal in a restaurant (and a disturbing shot of Gordon crossdressing) leads to a news revelation that Laharl may not be an only child. On cue, the supposed little sister of Laharl, Maharl appears in the restaurant, begging Laharl to protect her from a set of female gangsters, the Netherworlds Emperors. Etna is way too suspicious, Flonne is way too trusting and Laharl…seems to be going along for the ride, especially when she somehow knows some unusual secrets about him. Of course, she also enjoys taking Laharl for a ride as Etna puts it…however it’s surprisingly touching as Laharl seems to enjoy fussing over her, as Flonne wonders if he really is showing kindness. However, Laharl has always been suspicious of her and they become confirmed when she tricks Flonne to meet her outside and are ambushed by the gang. Another comically timed moment by Mid-Boss and the truth is revealed, as we still don’t know if Laharl was genuinely being kind or just incredibly intelligent…
Normally strong comedies don’t give me this much fun because Disgaea seems to have forgotten about the plot at the moment. However, it gets an extra plus in its grade thanks to the final episode…an episode all about the true stars of Disgaea…the Prinnies. Yes, everyone’s favourite slave penguin/zombie hybrids return in full force as Laharl wonders where they have gone – not to strike but all of them asks Etna for time off…which she refused. They still run off, so Laharl manages to coerce one to lead him where they are…and then escapes. So Plan B…the three dress up as Prinnies. Yes, it’s hilarious just for that one fleeting moment watching Laharl say ‘dood’. And the pay off? The Prinnies, sick to death of their treatment plan a Prinny utopia known as Prinnyworld, an independent state made by Prinnies, for Prinnies, and to overthrow their demon masters.
I was rolling on the floor laughing for about 10 minutes straight. There was a NATIONAL ANTHEM for Prinnies. It even has a mecha parody which sadly for all Prinny lovers is disposed of by Laharl and everything eventually returns to normal. Little points for that one solitary Prinny who rescued the gang when their disguises weren’t so helpful, and how the Prinnies plan fails. It was just too funny.
The characters overall are great – all with their quirks, with Etna being my favourite of the non-penguin variety. Her role in the first two episodes were in particular fun, and her good cop/bad cop role with Flonne ruled (the way they unintentionally team up with the Prinny costumes is hilarious) – Flonne is a lovable ditz, and her (un)intentional way of hurting Laharl in episode 6 makes you wonder if there is more to her than she appears. She and Laharl have a great dynamic as well, best demonstrated during the Game of Life sequence. And Laharl himself seems a bit full of himself, but he’s somehow hard to hate. He’s all powerful, but he’s fun. Add to that the few moments Mid-Boss and the Prinnies get to shine as well as the Earth Trio, and you have a winning team.
The only weak point about this disc was the lack of follow up. The plot about Etna and the bounty is resolved quickly and neatly, but a bit too nicely for Laharl and simply. Disgaea is quite predictable with its resolutions that would be a problem if I weren’t laughing so hard about how the resolutions occur. The third episode and dare I say it even the Prinny episode were simply one offs that weren’t important to the role of the story. However, you know the saying…
Everything is better with penguins.
Summary:
I totally forgot about the Tome plot and even the game watching this as even non-gamers will get a kick out of Disgaea. It’s comic timing and characters are fantastic and varied, the loudmouth Laharl, the tricky Etna and the ditzy Flonne, add to the moments any time Mid-Boss and the Prinnies get on screen and you have a top tier comedy. It’s best not to think too much and just let your lips do the thinking – Disgaea is a romp where your brain can shut off after a bad day and let your blues float away. Definitely one of the better shows out there if you’re looking to waggle your funny bone. Recommended.
Features
Japanese 2.0 Language, English 2.0 Language,English Subtitles
Review Equipment
Toshiba 37C3030 - 37" Widescreen HD Ready LCD TV – Tangent Ht-50 Home Theatre System Multi-Regional DVD Players/Speakers – Tangent Subwoofer 50-150 Hz, Impedenced 8 OHM.
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