Star Blazers: The Comet Empire, Vol. 5 (1979)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Leiji Matsumoto
Starring Tom Tweedy, Corinne Orr, and Kenneth Messerole

Features:

• voice actor interviews
  
• spaceship profiles
  
• character profiles
  
• English audio
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• overly dramatic eyelashes
• idiotic villain voices
• kid friendly

Rating: NR

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: Rent it.

The Comet Empire wants to take over the galaxy, and standing in the way of this prize is Earth and the Star Force. The main villain, Prinze Zordar, is the master of a giant space army, and the heroes have thus far encountered only the smallest portion of it, impressive as it has seemed. Now, however, Zordar is about to release the full might of his flagship, the White Comet, on Earth itself, unless the Earth Defense Command can stop him.

The plot is perhaps standard space opera fare with a clear villain and clear heroes, with the future of Earth in the balance. It is, however, well-presented and oddly engaging, like a guilty pleasure. The animation is not particularly artistic, and the costumes are vintage camp anime, so it is difficult to take the action seriously in places. Yet, the story is appealing in its own way, with grand, sweeping implications and heroic opportunities.

The voice acting could have been better, at least in some cases. Some of the villains found it necessary to play their roles in an almost cartoonish, stylized way that made it all the more apparent that viewers were watching a show, not actually being part of the action. In addition, as this is an English dub-only release, there is not a Japanese alternative.

The audio and video quality also leave something to be desired. There are pops and skips in the video, with dirt on the film in several places. The colors are also fairly muted and dulled in most of the scenes, but at least the lighting is consistent. The audio is similarly aged and faded, but you should have no trouble understanding them if you turn the volume up a notch or two. It’s just too bad the quality was so mediocre here.

The features list is relatively impressive for this release. There are interviews with Tom Tweedy, the voice actor for Mark Venture, and Amy Howard Wilson, the voice of Nova. These interviews are quite in-depth and interesting--a great way for we fans of anime to see behind-the-scenes, learn more about how our favorite titles are created, and get to know the people behind some great characters.

In short, if you are a fan of titles like Galaxy Express, then you will almost certainly enjoy Star Blazers; the animation is the same, and the level of science fiction complexity is also comparable. There are a few negative aspects to this release, and but you might still find yourself oddly enjoying it--you just won’t be able to say exactly why, and that’s why it’s at least worth a rental. It might be something of a guilty pleasure, but fans of space opera should like this title. It would be nice if there were a bit less camp in the voice acting, better quality audio and video, and a different animation style. Less forgiving fans, however, will probably be happier with the venerable Gundam Wing.