Blue Dragon Volume 5

Blue Dragon: Volumes 5 & 6

Re-awaken your inner ten-year-old!

(Beware; there may be a couple of spoilers…)

Shu and his fellow Shadow Wielders are on the trail of the thief who stole the Extra Seven, the pages that were cut from the Book of the Beginning just before their enemy, the power-seeking Nene began his assault on all the neighbouring kingdoms. And it seems that the thief is a woman; their only clue as to her identity is that she leaves a scent of flowers in her wake. They want to find the missing pages to learn the truth about their shadow powers – but it’s obvious now that someone else is willing to commit murder to gain that knowledge too. They are up against a ruthless opponent.

To help them in their quest, the Shadow Wielders set out to employ the world-famous informer Homeron the Great, a master of many disguises. Nene and his evil master plan recede into the background in these episodes as the story concentrates on the quest to get back the Extra Seven. In the meantime, Zola leads an expedition to the Phoenix ruins in the ancient city of Luminous so that Kluke, the least experienced of the Shadow Wielders, can learn more about her elusive Shadow, Phoenix.

Unfortunately, there’s also a couple of irritating side story episodes that don’t really add a great deal to the onward thrust of the narrative. In #18 ‘The Innkeeper’s Secret’  Marumaru and his shadow, Sabre Tiger, get separated from the others. Seeking shelter for the night in a lonely inn in the middle of the forest, they become suspicious when they hear the innkeeper – who has claimed to be alone – talking with someone. And in #22 ‘Fading Beauty’  the Independent Flying Squad General Cynthia (she of the pink hair) and ditsy Bouquet clash violently over who is the most beautiful of the two of them (as if we really cared!)

We’ve seen tantalizing glimpses of blue-haired Delphinium before but as Homeron risks a confrontation with the deadly secret agent, he confirms that she is none other than the thief who stole the Extra Seven. But who is she working for? A tense game of cat-and-mouse ensues as Homeron uses all his skills to infiltrate a secret facility and hack into the computer files stored there. Barely escaping with his life, he tells Shu and the others that the clues may lie in a Grankingdom battleship called the ‘Norg.’ And the ‘Norg’ is just about to go into battle!

Sometimes as a reviewer, a series can ambush you when you’re least expecting it. In a good way. ‘Blue Dragon’ just did that to me – or maybe it re-awakened my inner ten-year-old? But whether you’re ten or several times ten, a well-told, well-animated story is always welcome. And episodes 17-24 of ‘Blue Dragon’ – not counting those two clunky exceptions – demonstrate that this series has become a compelling fantasy adventure, with moments of genuine tension and heartbreak. After all, every long-running series has its weaker filler episodes, even ‘Bleach.’ However, there’s an incident that occurs towards the end of Volume 6 when I was forcefully reminded of the main reason that I prefer Japanese anime over most American cartoons. Someone dies. There’s no miraculous rescue or revival and Shu is inconsolable.

The US voice actors (none of whom are credited at the end, shame, shame!) are from the same vocal stable as the team who dub ‘Bleach’ and ‘Naruto’ and they turn in some convincing performances. And how good it is to hear the redoubtable Jamieson Price (Chad in ‘Bleach’) in a smaller role as the captain of the ‘Norg’!

On the music front, here’s a new ending song. Oh, if only they’d replaced the irritating opening song which has shot to the top of my ‘most hated anime songs ever’ list. What’s worst of all is that you can’t merely skip it now, you have to fast-forward or you miss the first half of the episode.

In Summary
‘Blue Dragon’ really gets into its stride in these episodes and delivers a compelling adventure story that should appeal to all ages.