Speed Grapher: Vol. 4 (Review)
Wednesday, 4th November 2009, 19:19

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Introduction
Tatsumi Saiga was an acclaimed war photographer back in the Economic Bubble War. It was a war that further deepened the divide between the haves and have nots, the rich got richer, and the poor became doormats. Tokyo is the city where the rich walk over the poor with impunity, and it’s Tokyo where Saiga now practices his trade, no longer able to leave the country. But he’s suited to this decadent capital, a man who can only be aroused when he has his camera in hand. He works as a freelance photographer, when he isn’t being the plaything of Detective Ginza, a woman who needs a gun in her hand to get sexual pleasure. You’d think that they would be perfectly suited to each other, but Saiga wants more, and his pursuit of a killer story leads him into the depraved underworld, a secret club under Roppongi. It’s here where he encounters a teenaged goddess named Kagura; it’s here where he obtains an amazing new power. Now when he looks through the lens of his camera and clicks the shutter, whatever he snaps explodes.

Four more hedonistic episodes are here on this MVM disc.

13. Ginza the Lawless
Suitengu’s a fast worker. If he can’t have the mother, he’ll marry the daughter and inherit Tennozu that way. It doesn’t matter that Kagura’s underage, all it takes is rewriting the paperwork. Elsewhere, it turns out that Ginza was expecting a backstab, which is why she had stashed Saiga in a safe place. She has no intention of letting him go, only she hasn’t counted on his latest trick with a camera. He’s determined to get out and finally find out what has happened to him. As expected, he’s been the victim of genetic engineering. But what he wasn’t expecting was the negative prognosis. It also turns out that Ginza wasn’t as smart as she though she was, as the last Euphorian to attack her, left a little tracer on her body, and she and Saiga have been followed.

14. The Wedding Photographer
The marriage of Kagura and Suitengu has been announced, invitations posted, and the most prestigious cathedral in the city booked. Everyone is going to see Suitengu’s ascendancy live on TV. But not if Saiga has anything to do with it. He’s going to gatecrash the wedding, and he’s bringing plenty of rolls of film. Chaos is bound to erupt, especially when the priest conducting the ceremony can also conduct millions of volts of electricity. Meanwhile, in a quiet civil office, a marriage certificate is notarised.

15. Hell is a Wet Woman
Kagura and Saiga are on the run again, and once again Suitengu has sent Tsujido to track them down. Once again, Tsujido turns to a Euphorian to help them, and this time it is a movie actress named Miharu Tsukumari, a woman with a tragic past. Her mother tried to kill herself and her daughter several times when Miharu was a child, finally succeeding in drowning herself, leaving her daughter alive. The trauma struck her mute, and her particular Euphorian ability literally makes her one with water. Saiga and Kagura are running pretty aimlessly, Kagura is getting sick, and Saiga is feeling pessimistic about both their chances. His thoughts heading in increasingly morbid directions, and suddenly the fog rolls in.

16. Audit the Wicked
Suitengu entertains some high-ranking ministers aboard his ship, introducing them to the latest product, Goddess Drops. It’s the distilled essence of Kagura, offering all the addiction without conveying the Blessing. Tennozu group looks all set to rake in the cash. But deep in the bowels of the organisation, a franticly ecstatic accountant is tallying all the money gained and lost since Saiga walked into that exclusive Roppongi Club.

Picture
Speed Grapher gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, and it’s par for the course for anime on DVD. You have your NTSC-PAL conversion issues, although not too many of them, the image is clear and sharp throughout, and the animation is smooth and detailed. It’s a Gonzo product, so expect smart looking characters, a blending of traditional 2D and 3D CGI, and plenty of bang for your buck. In fact the characters in Speed Grapher are a little more edgy than usual for Gonzo, certainly suiting the decadent nature of the story, and it seems the animators went to dominatrix school for some of the get ups.

Sound
Audio-wise, you have the option of DD 5.1 English, and DD 2.0 Japanese, along with translated subtitles and a signs only track. I sampled the English, and it’s pretty much like every other Funimation dub, and yes, Monica Rial is in it. You can expect a little added profanity if you want to partake of that surround sound option, but as usual I opted for the Japanese audio, and had no complaints, apart from a couple of dubious English accents, and the clichéd effeminate guy. The biggest annoyance is the absence of the original Duran Duran theme tune.

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