Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Freedom 5 continues right where the last one left off with Takeru and Biz in Florida and in the company of the girl they flew from the moon to find. I wasn't that impressed with the last episode of this series since it was a bit boring in comparison to the first few episodes, but this episode picks up the pace a bit. While still not as engaging as the first few episodes you get a better look at the new characters from Earth and a direction for the series to take now that we've move to Earth. I still that this is a narrative that would have played out better in a single release but I'm eager to see how it all plays out.

Picture quality has been pretty consistent across the board for this series and again Bandai Visual has done a great job bringing this series to HD. The mix of cell and CG animation is seamless and the sense of depth and dimension this transfer brings is impressive. I do see some occasional line twitter but this is probably a limitation of the animation design. Banding is still evident from time to time but it is never too intrusive. While there is some room for improvement, this is still a strong presentation overall.

The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix is good on this release but like Freedom 4 this part of the story doesn't have the dynamic nature of the first few episodes. Things pick up a bit in the latter part of this episode during the storm, but overall this is a calm mix of ambiance and dialogue. The dub can be a bit exaggerated at times, but I find this to be the case with most Japanese anime series. The voice work is just a bit over the top at times.

Extras include a trailer for the next episode and a full HDi picture-in-picture look at the film with just the CGI footage over the main feature. This gives an interesting look at how the animation is fused together. There is also a storyboard-to-film comparison.

Bandai Visual continues to deliver a satisfying A/V presentation for this series and I’m anxious to see where it all goes. While these last two episodes have been a bit slow compared to the first three I would still recommend the series overall. Let's just hope the next episodes pick it up a bit!