Soul Hunter Volume 5: City of Fireby Barb Lien-CooperReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 7 The Soul Hunter series is slowly winding down, but there’s a lot of action to go before good finally wins over evil. In this edition of the series, the Northern and Western emperors have decided to team with the now rebel Yin army to defeat the demoness that holds the Yin Dynasty’s emperor in her thrall. The Emperor’s youngest son has also joined the fight. He’s now a bit of a superbeing with amazing magical powers, which he’ll need against demoness Dakki, one of the more intelligent and nasty anime villainesses out there. Add the Soul Hunter and company, whose stated purpose is to capture Dakki, and you have a lot of firepower. But, will it be enough? And, where’d that three-eyed dragon-like beast come from, anyway?Yes, it’s getting to be time for the big Good Vs. Evil Battle and we’re all invited to watch the destruction. However, before you think that the series is over, the box tells us that “The End of the Road ... is the beginning of the journey,” which I guess means that the Fat Lady hasn’t sung yet. Building something out of the ruins of the Yin Dynasty may be as challenging to our heroes as battling demons. This volume of the series was the most exciting yet. I actually found myself sad at the prospect that the series might be over, but I think there’s another volume coming up. What’s neat about something like Soul Hunter is that when you make the commitment to the series, you really start getting involved in the world’s mythos and the characters and their motivations. I’ve really enjoyed this series. It started out as kind of a jokey kids series type DVD series, but soon became something that children and adults can equally enjoy. It’s a nice combo of humor and drama. As with most volumes of Soul Hunter, ADV provides some nifty DVD extras. These include Voice Actor Profiles (I’m a sucker for these), Character descriptions (very helpful if you haven’t watched previous episodes), a Relationship Tree (a very handy item - there are a lot of characters to keep track of here), a thorough Glossary of Terms, and some spiffy Translator Notes. I used to hate DVD players, but they’re just about essential for watching anime, especially when it comes to the choice of English dubbed vs. subtitled features. With Soul Hunter, I watched it all in Japanese. The voice acting in the original language was just better than the American version. But, I do like the choice. Written: May 21, 2002
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