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Review

by Carl Kimlinger,

The Law of Ueki

DVD 4 - Neo: The New Celestial

Synopsis:
The Law of Ueki DVD 4
Ueki, now aware of his birthright, begins to grow into his role as a Celestial (or more accurately, grows into his Celestial powers). The Robert's 10 quickly become aware of his true intentions, and a ferocious war erupts between one defender of righteousness and nine of the meanest, most ruthless warriors that the Celestial Tournament has to offer. Ueki's justice seems destined to send him straight to his mentor (in Hell), but with a gigantic ten-eyed "chicken" as an ally, and a little help from an unusual source, he just may be one step closer to getting Mr. K out of Hell, and onto the throne in Heaven.
Review:

Law of Ueki continues blithely on the path it has been following, unconcerned that said path has been trod to the very verge of death by the feet of countless other shounen action stories. That it does so at a pace and with a visual flair all its own is to its credit, but its derivativeness still threatens to overwhelm it at every turn.

Ueki's pacing has always been both its greatest strength and its Achilles' heel. It means that no particular narrative phase, event, or cliché ever lasts long enough to overstay its welcome, and that the story never bogs down or feels as if it is wasting time waiting for inspiration to strike. But it also means truncated stories, dramatic moments lost in the manic shuffle of events, and limited emotional investment in any of the characters. There is also very little, if any, time is allotted to character growth. Ueki, likable deadpan crusader that he is, still leans more towards finely-tuned stereotype than fully inhabited character, and the Robert's 10 have no personalities beyond those suggested by their appearances (given that they are all supposed to be middle-schoolers, some of them seem awfully... old. Perhaps the Robert's 10 is in the business of recruiting multiple flunkees?). Mori-lovers will be dismayed (and Mori-haters overjoyed) to hear that, outside of narration and save for a single scene, this volume is Mori-free.

These four episodes comprise the middle section of Ueki's attempted destruction of the Robert's 10. The confrontation promises non-stop mayhem, and there's plenty of fighting to be had, but the show finds time to keep throwing aged bits plundered from the vault o' shounen clichés into the mix. This volume's cliché alert: a training (half) episode (the show's pacing comes to the rescue), a series of power-ups (with associated powers and numbered ranking system), a device (okay, animal) that can quantify fighting potential, and a tank of liquid that can heal all of a character's accumulated damage (Frieza would be proud).

If nothing else, Ueki's design is unmistakable. Its character designs are rough-edged, with a slight, purposeful sloppiness that gives them a shaggy charm. Not that they are attractive or original (they aren't), but they are well-suited to their roles and fun to look at (for a while at least, and luckily most of them aren't around long enough to become tiresome—with the exception of that pygmy cowboy). Backgrounds are still unremarkable, but trees and soil are given a distinctive, computer generated texture that sets them apart from the norm. Animation is likewise unimpressive, but is handled with such expertise that it is never that noticeable. Sharp editing, implied movements, and lots of quickly panned stills attempt to fill in the gaps in the animation (almost, but not quite, succeeding), and skillfully deployed (although occasionally intrusive) 3D CGI effects add spice to the action scenes.

The score is probably best when it is delving into thechno and electronic-flavored sounds. Subtlety isn't among its virtues, however. Its attempted emotional manipulations are so obvious that they occasionally border on the offensive (the action scene choreographed to the opening theme comes to mind), but is good enough of its own accord to excuse its misuse; despite its obviousness, its hard to stop your pulse from rising a bit during the thunderous battle music. The excellent, propulsive opener remains in place and the first three episodes feature the same forgettable closer as episodes past. Episode sixteen sports a new closing song which, while faster, is no more memorable than the first.

The dub is as weak as ever. The performances are so dull that it is hard to believe that any of the cast actually cares about the show. The leads are the most ineffectual of all. Mori is listless (especially in comparison to the insane energy of her Japanese counterpart), and Ueki, intended as a defender of justice with a thin veneer of apathy over his boiling blood, instead sounds like a bored teenager. Supporting roles shine in comparison. Though far from flawless (Robert is almost as bad as Ueki), most of the secondary cast sound, at the very least, professional, and some actors actually appear to be enjoying their roles. In spite of their efforts, the dub still dampens the show's crucial energy, knocking it down a rung or two on the entertainment ladder. Even dub fans may want to switch to Japanese for this release.

Extras: Clean closing for the new ending and Geneon previews (translation: zilcho).

As shopworn as it is, Ueki, flaws included, is still solid, brainless fun. If you're willing to disconnect your neural network and surrender to its insistent energy, Ueki just might satisfy your shounen jones, at least until the next volume of Bleach or Naruto hits the streets.

Grade:
Overall (dub) : C
Overall (sub) : C+
Story : C-
Animation : C+
Art : C+
Music : B

+ Quick pace keeps things from stagnating; plenty of brainless fun to be had.
Not an original bone in its cliché-infested body.

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Production Info:
Director: Hiroshi Watanabe
Series Composition: Toshifumi Kawase
Script:
Kenichi Araki
Toshifumi Kawase
Yuu Kou
Masashi Kubota
Satoru Nishizono
Masashi Suzuki
Storyboard:
Hiroshi Fukutomi
Yuji Hiraki
Yasuyuki Honda
Masakatsu Iijima
Chiaki Ima
Kunio Katsuki
Chiaki Kon
Yoshitaka Koyama
Naoyuki Kuzuya
Yoshihisa Matsumoto
Hibari Nakayama
Hibori Nakayama
Hidetoshi Namura
Toshiya Niidome
Akira Nishimori
Sōma Ōgami
Shinobu Tagashira
Isao Takayama
Megumi Yamamoto
Episode Director:
Matsuo Asami
Ryōji Fujiwara
Toshikazu Hashimoto
Yoshito Hata
Yuji Hiraki
Hideki Hiroshima
Masayuki Iimura
Chiaki Ima
Hisakazu Ishikawa
Shigeru Kimiya
Chiaki Kon
Tsuyoshi Matsumoto
Shogo Mitsui
Aisu Mugino
Hidetoshi Namura
Yoshikata Nitta
Masahito Otani
Osamu Sekita
Seung Hui Son
Isao Takayama
Shigeru Ueda
Hiroshi Watanabe
Shunji Yoshida
Unit Director: Hiroshi Watanabe
Music: Akifumi Tada
Original Manga: Tsubasa Fukuchi
Character Design: Shinobu Tagashira
Art Director: Eiji Iwase
Chief Animation Director: Kumiko Horikoshi
Animation Director:
Mariko Aoki
Jun Arai
Makoto Furuta
Takayuki Gorai
Minefumi Harada
Kumiko Horikoshi
Kazuyuki Ikai
Yoko Kojo
Shin Komatsu
Shinichiro Minami
Hideyuki Motohashi
Akiyoshi Munezaki
Chūji Nakajima
Nobuyoshi Souzaki
Shinobu Tado
Shinobu Tagashira
Shinpei Tomooka
Miyako Tsuji
Takayuki Ushiki
Sound Director: Fumiko Harada
Director of Photography:
Teruo Abe
Seiichi Morishita
Producer:
Yuba Sakata
Yuichiro Takabata
Licensed by: Geneon Entertainment Inc.

Full encyclopedia details about
Law of Ueki (TV)

Release information about
The Law of Ueki - Neo: The New Celestial (DVD 4)

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