DearS - 2nd Contact (Vol 2 of 4) Anime DVD Review

Anime DVD Review: DearS - 2nd Contact (Vol 2 of 4)

Reviewed by: Krista

Stumble It!

Title: DearS - 2nd Contact (Vol 2 of 4)
Publisher: Geneon Entertainment
Running Time: 100 min
MSRP: $24.98
Ratio: 1.33:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 10/18/2005

Overall Rating:

Content:

My Rating:

The DearS is about a group of babilicious aliens who crash land on earth and take up residence. On the first disc, we learned that one of these DearS, Ren, was somehow excluded from the Earth training sessions and is making up things as she goes with a human named Takeya, who is just as clueless. On disc 2, not much has changed and very little happens to advance the storyline.

Miu plays a much bigger role in these episodes than in the last disc. Still living with her foster family, she's become frustrated that grandma and gramps don't let her do anything. Doing chores is part of her DearS nature, yet they're the ones taking care of her. So, to find purpose in life, she decides to teach Ren the proper way to care for her master.

Takeya still isn't too keen on having an alien as his housemate and still remains clueless about his supposed master/slave relationship with Ren. He tries to take everything in stride, ignoring the weirdness and living a normal high school life as much as he can. That's become much harder since Miu has been spending all her free time with Ren. He also must face the fact that deep down, he does find Ren attractive.

In one of the racier scenes in the anime, Ren senses his sexual frustrations and offers herself to him as his sex buddy. He refuses on moral grounds that sex should be between two people that like each other, but must face that had she not been an alien, he probably would have given in to temptation.

If Miu's eagerness to teach Ren the ropes and Ren's willingness to do anything for her master weren't enough to drive Takeya nuts, his younger sister, Natsuki, showing up unexpectedly tips him over the edge. Natsuki comes off as an outspoken terror who is seething with jealousy that her big brother is living with a girl. She's been fantasizing that he'll rejoin her and mom (I believe, Takeya's stepmom) and they'll live happily ever after, so when she sees Ren in the picture, she throws a major tantrum.

Throughout these episodes, Takeya still is grappling with that whole master/slave dynamic, which Miu and Ren keep reminding him of at inopportune times. Like Takeya, most humans he hangs with don't understand either and assume it must be perverted, much to the delight of their overly sexual teacher, Mitsuke. We also don't learn much about the nature of the DearS, though Lady Rubi and her minion, Xaki, are still looming in the background.

Overall, I don't believe this disc was as strong as the first one. Very little is explained, there isn't much character development, and the plot goes nowhere, so to me, these are just filler episodes. Perhaps things will pick up with disc 3, but right now, I don't find this show all that engaging. I'd recommend it only if you adore ecchi, harem anime and are looking for something you haven't seen.

Audio/Visual:

My Rating:

I watched this DVD in English, though I have to admit that about halfway through, the high pitched screaming of the characters started grating my nerves. The Japanese is a bit toned down, but not by much. The opening song is cutesy J-pop sung in English with very young sounding voices.

The animation is nice though not spectacular. The first episode is set in fog, so many of the colors are hazy and dulled. That color scheme eventually evens out and soon we get much more vivid springtime/Easter colors. Aside from the DearS, the characters are plain looking with normal hair and eye colors. The DearS stand out because of their pastel colored hair and more detailed and colorful eyes.

Packaging:

My Rating:

The front has a back profile of Miu looking over her shoulder at us. Her long pink hair frames Takeya's little sister, Natsuki, who is hugging her. Both look very happy. They stand in front of a pink background with lots of hearts.

The back has a screenshot from each of the episodes, 5 - Partners, 6 - I'm Frustrated, and 7 - Pervert, and a summary of the contents. A water color illustration of believe Takeya's step-mom and sister sits in the middle. The insert duplicates the front cover artwork and unfolds into a mini-poster of Takeya's step-mom and sister.

The menu uses the same illustration of Miu and Natsuki as featured on the cover. They stand in front of a dark blue background with lots of bubbles. The logo is prominently displayed to the left and the menu options are just below it.

Extras:

My Rating:

Extras include a clean ending and a few art stills.