Burst Angel (2004) Collector's Edition Review

3 star girls, guns and giant mechs.

Burst Angel is a Japanese anime series originally released in 2004 from a screen play by Fumihiko Shimo (Golden Time, Full Metal Panic) and directed by Koichi Ohata ( You’re Under Arrest: Full Throttle). Produced by Studio Gonzo (Strike Witches, Ozuma), it is presented here in a Collector’s Edition featuring all 24 Episodes as well the O.V.A. courtesy of MVM Films.

“Listen, Meg was taken hostage because she tried to save your sorry ass. A real man would return the favour.”

Against this backdrop we meet Kyohei (Greg Ayres – Macross, Fullmetal Alchemist) a young aspiring pastry chef studying at catering college. To fund his courses, he takes on a job working as a personal chef. When he arrives for his firsy day, he is astonished to find that he will be working aboard a giant armoured motor home.

This is home to a group of mercenaries, led by Sei (Clarine Harp – Jormungand, Gangsta), who are taking to the fight to R.A.P.T. in an attempt to make the streets safer. Jo (Monica Rial – Deadman Wonderland) is the rather rude muscle of the group, a formidable foe and forever rescuing her hapless but likeable sidekick Meg (Jamie Marchi – Initial D, Attack on Titan). Amy (Alison Reztloff – Space Dandy) is the computer whiz, in charge of surveillance and also looking after Django, the group’s huge mech, piloted by Jo. These mercenaries work for the mysterious corporation Bailan.

Together this group take on the many and varied threats the streets of Tokyo have to throw at them.

“She’s what you call an Angel of Death…She’s got the wings of the Devil himself on her back. Anyone who sees ’em gets a one way ticket straight to hell.”

Burst Angel is an entertaining enough anime series and is beautifully animated. The story falls foul of too much fan service, almost all the shots of the girls are from compromising angles and the boobs are so big you can sometimes barely see the characters sporting them. This would work well in a harem setting, but the male character Kyohei is all but forgotten fairly quickly.

It’s a shame that the time wasn’t better spent getting to know the characters rather than throwing scenario after scenario at them. Jo especially is an intersting character who is super cool and maybe deserved a litttle more than constantly saving Meg (who is like a Doctor Who companion, always off somewhere being captured).

There are also too many filler episodes, the story gets a bit lost and could have been told in far less instalments, although the excellent finale is certainly worth waiting for.

All in all, good fun, an excellent package and worth adding to your collection.

“There was like this giant algae problem. It was like a monster and it attacked us in the pool and then the other students went all Night of the Living Schoolgirl on us.”