Gestalt

By David Owens     February 16, 2002
Release Date: December 19, 2000



The Review!
Gestalt is sort of a mixed bag of an anime. On one hand, it's got lots of pretty colors. On the other hand, it's got lots of gaudy colors. On a third hand which would be borrowed from someone else, it's kind of short, and rather weird.

That's not to say it's necessarily bad...particularly since it's cheap, but don't go in with very high expectations and you'll be happier with it.

First off, Gestalt features computer-enhanced graphics and coloring. This is where the pretty and gaudy colors come in. Some of them look nice, and others look like a Paas Easter Egg kit gone awry. Overall, it's not bad I guess, it just takes some time to get used to. some of the scene transitions and digital panning can be oddly out-of-place, and to some people it'll be downright annoying, so if you don't like digital effects, steer clear.

The audio isn't too bad. Luckily, digital audio isn't as jarring as digital video can be. :) The dub isn't too bad, but not exactly top-notch since I don't think the crew really put as much effort into it as they could have otherwise. Still, the two main protagonists, Olivier and Ohri, are voiced by Lex Lang and Wendee Lee, respectively, so at least they have talented voice
actors (insofar as English VAs go).

The menus for the disc aren't too bad. They're basically just the cover art, with some catchy music. Nothing spectacular, but they work. That's about all I really care about.

The extras on Gestalt are also somewhat spartan, consisting of basically an art gallery. WHEE! Pull out the party hats and champagne! There's a couple nice art pics in here, but really, art galleries seem to be a common things these days, so no big shakes here.

The story itself isn't too bad. It's humongously incomplete and open-ended, but it's based on a small part of a manga, so I guess that's the way it goes when you just get the opening arc animated. :) The two episodes here are fairly fun, if you can deal with the video though. It centers around a cute, scantily dressed girl named Ohri, who can't speak. She is soon "pawned off" on Father Olivier, a priest who decided to leave his church/monastery/joint to go wandering in search of proof of his god, or some religious epiphany like that.

Basically, Olivier inherits Ohri from this lady, and that's when Pirotess--er, a dark elf shows up to collect Olivier and bring him back to his church. In typical fashion, good trounces evil, and the dark elf goes off on her comic-relief way, and Ohri gets her voice back. Oh, happy days!

The two episodes really don't have TOO much in the way of plot, so I'm not going to really go into much more than I already have (heck, I think in one sentence I already spoiled the first episode). There's fighting, magic, elves, dragons, and swords, so for fantasy fans this might be worth a check.

The two episodes here got me interested in the story. Unfortunately, these two are all that exist. So much for that. All in all, Gestalt's fun while it lasts, but since watching it the initial two times, I don't know how often I'll rewatch it. I enjoyed Phantom Quest Corps. much more, by comparison, as far as short, incomplete series go....but if you already have PQC, or crave donkey-eared elves, check out Gestalt. Just keep your receipt, in case it's not your thing. ^_^

Review Equipment
Pioneer Elite 610 HDTV, Pioneer Elite DV-C36 DVD Changer, Pioneer Elite VSX-35TX Receiver, Pioneer ISO-drive speaker setup, Monster component cables and digital coax cable