Reign: The Conqueror vol. 1: Ascensionby Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 9 Alexander the Great is prophesized to conquer and destroy the known world. He must thread his way around conspiracies, assassination attempts, war, sorcery, and all manners of trickery to gain the throne and everything else him ambition desires. Fueled and aided by his mother Alympias, worshipper of a pagan god, he promotes himself without appearing to do so. His cleverness is unrivaled. There are mysterious things in the works as rival philosophies aid and oppose Alexander's very being as well as his rule. He could very well be the key to unlocking the Platohedron, and that fact could determine the fate of the world.Reign: The Conqueror is amazing and unrivaled on so many levels. The character designs by Peter Chung (Aeon Flux) have characteristics of both American and Japanese animation styles while being something wholey unique. Many of the characters, and all of the places are based on history, but they have been embellished so that while set in Macedonia it has the look and feel of another (perhaps parallel) world. Everything is over-embellished, exaggeratingly enormous, and complexely interwoven. The weaponry and technology are impressive (if unrealistic). No civilization has ever possessed such things, but it does homage to the massive things ancient civilizations did build that we, today, have no idea how they did it. Never before has such a rich, complex story been presented in such an understandable way — you can see the beginnings of all the goings-on in the background while the story itself unfolds. The characters and their relationships to each other are deep, real, and interconnected without being confusing. The use of the different philosophies, combined with worship of Greek and pagan gods is very interesting and well-done. The followers of Pythagoras want to kill Alexander to protect the world from the Platohedron. Aristotle, student of Plato (who was by the way the student of Socrates), is pulling some strings for Alexander for some unknown purpose (though it can be supposed it has to do with the Platohedron). The Platohedron is a geometric figure that represents the ultimate understanding and knowledge of how the universe works — which is a creation purely for the anime and has no historical counterpart. Some of the oddities are based in the actual legend of Alexander the Great such as his mother "sleeping" with snakes and the family relationships and strains therein. Alexander really did do battle with the Persian king, Darius III, and he was taught by Aristotle Bucephalus was Alexander's horse in real life as well as in this story, and though all the stories are a bit different, they all concur that no other man could ride the man-eating horse, Bucephalus. I, for one, love how Bucephalus is portrayed and drawn and the spirit he is given. All of the character designs are excellent and really give this anime a different look and feel that anything else. The closest thing to compare it to is Peter Chung's other characters from Aeon Flux, but they are different even from that — especially with the settings and backgrounds. The armor too is unique. The dress for the different cultures (Greek, Persian, etc) are all different, and while they have a flavor from their historical counterparts they also have an odd, almost sci-fi/fantasy look and function. Lots of skin is shown ... but in unusual places and ways. Eyes are prominant on the armor — sometimes even looking like whole faces. The soundtrack is on as grand a scale as the animation. The opening is very long and appears like a music video. This is followed by an another opening which talks about the philosophies and how they relate to Alexander within this story. I would recommend watching the first opening once as it's a beautiful song, but it really is like a music video and is several minutes long. You need to watch each of the "second openings" though as they prelude what happens in that episode. If you watched this series when it aired on Cartoon Network you saw a slightly edited version, and this DVD is unedited. However, I must say the dub is excellent! I was impressed with it after it first aired on Cartoon Network. The sub is also quite excellent, and I enjoyed getting to watch it with the original Japanese voice actors. Either way is enjoyable with no voices to complain about. This DVD has four episodes (which is just enough to really get into the series). It is also loaded up with tons of extras! The extras include "normal" things like commercials and trailers (for both the US and Japan) and an art gallery. However, it also contains interviews with the supervising director, Yoshinori Kanemori, and producer, Rintaro, as well as a press conferance with producer, Haroki Kadokawa, and character designer, Peter Chung. These were fascinating to watch and full of insights and interesting facts about how Reign came to be. Reign: The Conqueror blends history with fantasy for a dramatic adventure you wont soon forget. If you loved it on Cartoon Network you'll love the DVD from TOKYOPOP with the extras and the sub! And if you're unfamiliar, what better time to see it? Watch and be amazed. Written: January 30, 2004
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