Silent Möbius Collection 3: Dark Destiny (2000)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written by Kia Asimiya
Directed by Hideki Tonokatsu

Features:

• Mini-comic
  
• Reversible DVD cover
  
• Karaoke opening and ending
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• Angst
• Violence and pain
• Hard choices
• More angst

Released by: Bandai
Region: 1
Rating: 13+
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Buy it!

The final battle for the Earth is at hand: will Our Heroes and the AMP be able to fend off the Lucifer Hawk demons, or will Earth fall to destruction and chaos? This final two-disc set in the Silent Möbius series brings the battle to another level of tension and complexity as each character must face her own internal demons in order to be fit to face the outer ones.

Keeping in mind that not everything in the greater plot is intended to be resolved in this set, the episodes here are very nicely paced and written. The mixture of mysticism, science and characterization is very appealing. Katsumi, seemingly embracing her Lucifer Hawk side, has been gone for six months, and during this time, there have been no new attacks. This peace causes the Powers That Be to attempt to shut down the AMP, but now Katsumi has returned--is she really ready to be human again? Or does her return simply presage the beginning of new, greater hostilities and attacks from within? Will her friends be able to kill her if she really is evil? And what of Rosa and Rally? Rally is determined to save her sister, even at the cost of her own soul and life, but Rosa is equally determined to maintain her humanity. We learn a great deal more about Rosa’s past here and a lot of her decisions suddenly make more sense. And what of Roy’s relationship with Katsumi? We see him trying to break through her typical melancholy, but with all she’s been through and all the hurdles they have to face, he has an uphill battle to say the least.

The audio and video quality are both on par with the earlier installments in this series. Even the fast-cut battle scenes are animated well, and the digital transfer allows these details to show, without much aliasing, cross-coloration, or other errors.

The extras are similar to what has come before: we have another mini-comic and a nice, attractive reversible cover again. There is also a karaoke feature, allowing you to sing along with the opening and closing songs, in English if you like, and/or with the kanji and romaji scrolling across the bottom for those who can read them or who are trying to learn. This is an excellent feature and one that shouldn’t be too expensive to produce and make a standard on anime DVDs.

In short, if you’ve been enjoying the Silent Möbius series thus far, then you will love this final two-disc set. If you haven’t yet caught this series, then now is the time, but don’t start with this final outing; go back and get them all. If you like science-fiction anime with a twist, like Blue Seed or Blue Gender, or nearly post-apocalyptic ideas, then you should take pleasure in Silent Möbius.