Once again MAC has shown it's knack (I'm hilarious) for executing absolutely gorgeous rips of R1 video. No breakup or pixelation at all, which is good because there's a lot of exploding and shooting in this OVA. The original source is damn nice too.

I'm a little reticent to do this, but I'm going to have to dock some points from MAC on the audio front. I don't know if it was a problem that carried over from the R1s, but the music on the first disc of this set is overpoweringly loud. Don't get me wrong, Stardust Memories has a nice musical score, but often times (especially with the "dramatic" music) the music would be deafeningly loud in comparison to the character's voices. Not too much of a problem if you're watching it subtitled, as you can still read what's being said, but you might have to strain your ears if you're watching it dubbed. Another oddity which I have to admit that I don't know if it's intentional or not is the intro and outro music on disc one; it sounds for all intents and purposes like someone took the music and ran it through a "buzzsaw" soundfont in a sound mixer. It's really tinny and buzzy sounding, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is no fault of any DVD authoring but rather just the way the music was done, as in the final episode on disc 1 the ending music starts playing during the episode and it has that same canned sound. The intros and outros change on disc two and are much more pleasing to the ears. Speaking of dubs, there's both Japanese and English audio here, and with the exception of the loud music on disc one, they're both well done.

I'm a little reticent to do this, but I'm going to have to dock some points from MAC on the audio front. I don't know if it was a problem that carried over from the R1s, but the music on the first disc of this set is overpoweringly loud. Don't get me wrong, Stardust Memories has a nice musical score, but often times (especially with the "dramatic" music) the music would be deafeningly loud in comparison to the character's voices. Not too much of a problem if you're watching it subtitled, as you can still read what's being said, but you might have to strain your ears if you're watching it dubbed. Another oddity which I have to admit that I don't know if it's intentional or not is the intro and outro music on disc one; it sounds for all intents and purposes like someone took the music and ran it through a "buzzsaw" soundfont in a sound mixer. It's really tinny and buzzy sounding, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is no fault of any DVD authoring but rather just the way the music was done, as in the final episode on disc 1 the ending music starts playing during the episode and it has that same canned sound. The intros and outros change on disc two and are much more pleasing to the ears. Speaking of dubs, there's both Japanese and English audio here, and with the exception of the loud music on disc one, they're both well done.

Packaging: Similar to MAC's Vandread stage 2 packaging, the packaging for this series is a "book" style gatefold which has cover pictures on both front and back. The front of the gatefold is a nice picture of the GP01FB and the GP02A with beam sabers locked with the series title at the bottom of the picture. The back of the case is the image you see on IAs site, with the GP03s damaged head playing background to overlayed images of Kou facing forward, and Gato turned away facing the Nieu Zeal. Once again, the title is in place along the bottom. Both sides are quite good looking and it makes it a nice display piece from either side. Like Vandread stage 2, the actual disc statistics are found on the inside of the case. This set up is interesting, and certainly pretty as this way the outer case isn't cluttered with text. Both inner covers feature images of the GOP02 and GP01/FB fighting overlayed with character images, with Kou dominating the first disc and Gato dominating the second. The discs match the backgrounds. Something to note is that the slipcase this set comes in is "frosted", just like newer FX releases. Menus: The menus are simple and to the point, load quickly and are not animated. On the left side of the screen are "play" and "option" buttons. The options menu automatically selects english subtitles if you click on Japanese audio, but you can also go into the menu and select from English, Chinese, and Italian subtitles. Episode selection is on the right side of the main menu; 1-7 on disc one and 8-13 on disc two. Disc one's menu features a profile of the GP01s face while disc two features a flying shot of the GP02a. Chapter Breaks: Like MACs Gundam 0080, there is only one chapter break per episode. If you want to skip the intro (which I have to admit, I REALLY wanted to do on disc one) you'll have to hit the fast forward button. Content: This series was a bit on-again, off-again for me. Granted, it's a gorgeous series, probably one of the prettiest gundam series' filled with epic space battles, giant machines, and more pink explosions than you can shake a heat hawk at. It also has a great start and middle with all sorts of deceptions and betrayals and conflicts popping up left and right. Cima is also one of the more despicable (yet stylish!) characters I've seen in a Gundam series, and my desire to see what she'd do really helped drive me through this series. But... the endgame scenario of the series really just left me cold. I know love triangles are a staple of giant robot series'... but the one that was introduced in the final chapter of this show was just rediculous and came from way out in left field. Furthermore, the main character, Kou, becomes a maniacal gun-toting "kill-em-all!" character which, while fitting with his being pushed over the edge by his obsession with Gato, made him pretty unlikeable in my mind. Several characters and conflicts are simply "forgotten" as more emphasis is placed on last-second political maneuvering and deception. By the end of the show, everyone seems to be killing each other left and right and I was left simply wondering "Who thought that this was a good plan? I mean, seriously?" Still, I'd have to say it's an enjoyable watch, despite it's faltering at the finish line. It's not as good, in my mind, as War in the Pocket or 08th MS team, but it's still a worthy addition to any Gundam (or explosion ;-) fan's collection, as the suit designs (aside from the plain jane red white and blue gundams) are top notch (it's such a pity that we get to see so litle of the Gerbera Tetra before it gets mashed...), the action is over the top and exciting, and there are plenty of characters to hate if that's your bag. P.S. There are no extras. /me gives the series one and a half thumbs up, and the set two

This is a r1 rip, and everything looks fine, detailed and crisp ...didn't noticed no pixealation. This is NOT a rip of the FX version . This is MAC's own work.

Contains both Japanese and English Audio tracks in Dolby 5.1 No problems here also

Contains both Japanese and English Audio tracks in Dolby 5.1 No problems here also

Contains no extras . Menus are in English The Only problem that i noticed with this set, is that annoyingly there is just one chapter break per episode ...