Aura Battler Dunbine Vol-2: Heroes of Byston Well
Animation Production: Sotsu Agency/Sunrise
Released by: ADV Films
Episodes: 4
Images Source: Dunbine.it
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

I love older anime programs, everything about them is so much more interesting to me than more contemporary works. The hand drawn animation, the character & mechanical designs, background music; for me it always make older shows stand out in this age of computer powered animation.

Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Aura Battler Dunbine, which featured a concept that by most accounts was an experiment in storytelling and animation design, perfectly encapsulates what it is about older animation that I like so much. Everything about it is so detailed and full of layers that it needs to be seen to be truly appreciated.

The Story (Volume 2: Heroes of Byston Well )

“Casting his lot with a band of courageous rebels, Show Zama quickly learns that Byston Well is a complex world where magic and mayhem have formed an uneasy alliance. As Show’s journey continues, the brutality of Drake Luft’s war stands in stark contrast to the wonders and beauty of fairyland.” -- ADV's Official Heroes of Byston Well Page

Review

In volume two of ADV’s official release, we continue our journey into the world of Byston Well alongside Show Zama as he continues to explore this strange realm. In the episodes featured in this release Show begins to learn more about not only Byston Well, which he has been unwillingly catapulted into, but also the group of people with whom he’s decided to allied himself with.

As each episode progresses more bits and pieces of the story continue to unravel and help us learn more about the complicated web of interests that drive each of the featured protagonists. We also begin to see their relationships being strained and tested more often as they work together to overthrow the forces of Lord Drake.

This exploration of the team's relationships with each other and how those bonds hold when tested is where these episodes of Aura Battler Dunbine shined for me. Everything about the way in which the character development is handled kept me glued to the TV, from Show Zama’s anger at Marvel Fronzen’s romantic inclinations towards the uninterested Nie Given, to the former’s love for Riml Luft, the daughter of the man they are trying to overthrow. I could not wait to see what would happen next in the story.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the more action oriented moments of these episodes, especially the ones that featured our heroes engaged in Aura Battler battles. These scenes were for the most part well orchestrated and heightened by the heroic background music, which accentuated the action perfectly in almost every instance.

As far as the technical aspects go the animation in these episodes remain on equal footing with volume one as far as quality and color usage goes. The music is also on the same level, consisting mostly of low key background pieces and some faster moving ones whenever our heroes are in a dangerous situation or engaged in battle using their Aura Battlers.

Content wise this DVD contains four episodes from the series including:

Episode 6 – Tragedy at the Forest of the Moon
Episode 7 – Night Before the Dawn of War
Episode 8 – Laas Wau Once Again
Episode 9 – Earth and Sky

ADV also saw fit to include a production portfolio, with several pieces of artwork and sketches of the series characters & mecha, clean copies of the opening & closing themes and previews for other products.There is also a well acted English dub included in this DVD for those fans who would rather hear the story narrated in English. The artwork featured in the DVD’s packaging and insert is also worth noting and help round out what is already a nice package of classic Japanese aniamtion.

Conclusion

While Aura Battler Dunbine is more challenging to watch than most anime releases due to its complex narrative and unusual character names (even for anime), this is one of those older programs that should be checked out by most, especially fans of Yoshiyuki Tomino’s other works like Gundam and Five Star Stories. I can't wait to further explore Byston Well and learn more about the secrets it holds!

Many thanks to ADV for releasing this series in our part of the world and hope to see further releases of older programs in the states.

Jeff Couto