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DNA^2, OAV Series
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Title Info
- seen: 1-3 of 3
- type: OAV
- grade: flawed
- genre: magic_war
- people: Katsura
- made: unknown
- Review created: Recently, but I didn't record the date.
- mod: none
This OAV series successfully answers the question of what would happen if you took the lightweight romantic `hi-jinks' and fan service original and converted it into an action series. Sadly it fails to answer the question of why you would want to. It also makes the error of, well, being fairly damn average anime. This series is meant to follow on from the original, keeping the same episode numbers, voice actors and openings. I have a suspicion that any OAV series that tries to add itself onto the original actually indicates a doubt about the quality of the new material. A theory well supported by this.i
The story itself cleverly links into some of the unexplained aspects from the series, such as the strange behaviours of the DNA modifying bullets from the first series, and builds a tale of a conspiracy from the future. This conspiracy essentially concerns the creation of a race of super-soldiers, which sort of make sense while being corny beyond words. The running time is filled with fighting, generally between Karin, some future villains, and the first generation of these soldiers as they attempt to implement their plan.
Given that this is a three OAV series there is a limit to what can be done with story and character, but this material doesn't even try. The combat action dominates the time, with little character work, no charm, and the plot simply being explained by the villain to the dumbfounded karin. This might be less of a problem if the action was done well, but it isn't. Indeed the animation quality in general seems to have taken a hit, with general quality, design and character animation all looking significantly worse. The action animation is also distinctly average and poorly plotted. This is fairly bad in itself and as a `continuation' of DNA^2 is a travesty. It will irritate fans of the original and bore the unfamiliar, which doesn't really give it much of an audience. Eminently missable.
There is one review for the original series, but none specifically for this sub-section.
Words by Andrew Shelton, Web by Ticti, Last Compile: Wed Aug 5 12:39:17 WST 2009