Steel Angel Kurmi/Kotetsu No Tenshi Kurmi

A lighthearted romp starring the girls from the original series

Abstract: Immediately following the events of the original Kotetsu no Tenshi series in Japan of the 1920’s, the “Encore” DVD is NOT the start of the second series. Encore is simply a collection of 4 episodes with Kurumi, Saki and Karinka in various and sundry adventures that aren’t really tied to anything, but are certainly amusing. Basically it’s the anime equivalent of stopping by just to say “Hi” to your friends.

Nothing’s changed from the original series: Same art, same seiyuu, etc. They’ve even kept the same short format, with each episode weighing in at only 15 minutes. And while that posed problems in the original series, since these are just side stories the time limitations aren’t really a problem. It’s a pleasant enough diversion and since I liked Encore more than I did the original series, it rates a Silver.

Background: You definitely need to have watched the original series to be able to understand what’s going on here, as you see characters and hear plot references you wouldn’t follow otherwise. So, just for ya’ll, a brief Cliff’s Notes version of the original…But don’t read on if you plan to/haven’t watched the first series yet.

A scientist from the future travels back in time to 1920’s Japan and goes to work for the military. And while working for the army he creates robotic guardians/soldiers that look like girls, calling them “steel angels”. A young priest named Nakahito Kagura eventually comes into possession of 3 of them: Kurumi, Saki, and Karinka, and works with them to thwart your typical plan for world domination, with Kurumi and Nakahito confessing their love for each other in the last episode.

Everyone got that? Good, because I want a 2-page report by tomorrow.

Anywhoo, in Encore each girl gets 1 episode where they themselves are the star. Saki becomes a big movie star and gets the chance to work overseas in Hollywood, Karinka sets out to discover the identity of her secret admirer and Kurumi (Out of jealousy of another steel angel) strives to become yamato nadesico. That leaves 1 episode, my personal fave, which basically has every steel angel from the original series wanting to kiss Nakahito. Trust me, it’s the best episode by far on the DVD.

Materials and Methods: The art in this series is as good as it was in the original, with the character designs being crisp and both the characters and backgrounds having vibrant colors that really jump out at you. The same seiyuu from the first series also reprise their roles here, with Atsuko Enomoto (Yukino from KareKano) in the starring role giving the denser-then-lead Kurumi a sort of absentminded gambatte-ness. Rie Tanaka (Chii from Chobits) appropriately soft-pedals Saki so much Saki seemingly melts into the background at times, and conversely when Masayo Kurata (Shinobu from Love Hina) starts speaking as Karinka you can’t help but notice her sassiness and in-your-face attitude. Man, I love the bad girls…

The opening theme, “A Miracle Starts with a Kiss”, complete with its animation, is nothing short of adorable. Even if you hate the series you’ll love the opening. The closing theme “I Love You Kiss Me” is very tongue-in-cheek and will probably get a chuckle out of you too.

Results: Admittedly I picked up this title with a certain degree of trepidation as I didn't much care for the original, but I was very pleasantly surprised by what I saw. What I disliked most about the original series, the 15 minute episode length, is not an issue here. I didn’t like it because in 15 minutes you simply don’t have time to develop the plot and characters at a reasonable rate. It’s 4-to-the-floor right out of the box, and the whole series felt very rushed. But with Encore, plot and character development went out they window because they weren’t even needed. The whole idea was just to have fun with the characters, and with that in mind 15 minutes per episode was sufficient.

There were a surprising number of extras on the disk, with trailers, the career work list of the seiyuu involved, cleaning opening/ending animation and commentary from the American dubbing team. AD Vision did it right here, no doubt about it. The only beef I have with the DVD though is that the load times are a little slow, as there is a lot of background animation running through the main menu.

Conclusions: This is a shorter review, simply because there’s not much to say about this disk, but I’m not saying that in a bad way. Kotetsu no Tenshi Kurumi/Steel Angel Kurmi: Encore is fun and whimsical, and you can’t really dissect that can you? It’s an enjoyable after work/after school viewing and merits a Silver where I would’ve given the original series lower, and that’s saying a lot.