1/5 Hardly value for money
  by fang (England)
Avoid. Great show, sadly let down by the extreme price point (for one episode? come on!) If you want some great anime on HD, grab yourself APPLESEED: EX MACHINA instead.

4/5 The price is high, but it's worth it if you have an HD DVD player.
  by Ruined (NJ, USA)
The price on this episode is high, but it is worth it - at least at Amazon's $27.99 shipped. If I paid the full $39.99 msrp for this I'd probably be unhappy, but at 27.99 this offers some great entertainment value. While the episode is only a bit over 20 minutes long, the production values are top notch, the characters are likable and the video quality is superb. The HD DVD HDi extras including the resizable & movable PiP windows and internet downloads are very cool, but you do need an HD DVD player to access these extras.

If you do have an HD DVD player, give this one a shot - you'll be happy you did if you enjoy anime. And if you don't have HD DVD, this is probably too pricey for you, but think of it as a disc you won't have to rebuy in hidef in the future :)

So, a five star product for sure which I dropped a star due to its price.

2/5 Frustrating, wait for the compilation
  by Dwayne A. Day (Vienna, VA United States)
This is part one of a six-part Japanese anime series that was released direct to video in Japan starting in October 2006, with the last episode released in July. That's about one episode every six weeks. The studio, Bandai, for some reason is releasing the series in the U.S. at an even slower pace, with part one released in June 2007 and part two scheduled for September. It is a bizarre choice. Who is willing to wait over a year for a series that clocks in at about two hours long? And who is willing to pay nearly $180 for that series, even if it is in high definition?

Various reviewers have already complained about the price. Some have said that you get both DVD and HDDVD formats on a single-sided disk. But I don't see why it is worth extra money just so you don't have to flip the disk over for the HDDVD format--if you have an HD player, you are only going to play one side, if you don't you will just play the other side, right? Why does it matter that both formats are on the same side?

What the reviews have not made clear is that the "special features" are not on the disk itself, and cannot be accessed on a regular DVD player. They are apparently all online and can only be accessed if your player is hooked up to the net. If you don't have HD, or if your machine is not hooked up to the net, then all you get is a single 22-minute episode for a lot of money, and then a long wait until the next release. Why Bandai thought that this was a successful marketing strategy is beyond me. My guess is that at some point they will realize that this a) is not the way titles should be released in the US, and b) is stupid, and will do the smart thing and release the entire series as a single collection.

Nobody has yet reviewed the story, so allow me. The story follows the exploits of a bunch of teenagers who live in a moon colony. They get into some minor trouble and are sentenced to community service. There's also a motorcycle race in a tunnel. That's about it for the story for episode one--with one important twist at the end (which I'll get to in a moment).

Katsuhiro Otomo designed the characters and the technical look. Otomo was responsible for the highly-regarded 1980s animated movie (also manga) Akira, and the look for Freedom is similar. The first episode is beautifully illustrated and nicely-paced, but it features a number of typical anime cliches such as the teenage bikers (taken from Akira), the crazy older man, and the girl in the short skirt who is the object of affection for the socially awkward boy.

It was only the colorful animation and the tantalizing glimpses of this high-tech colony on the moon that kept my attention and by the end of the first episode I wondered if this was enough to make me watch more. However, right at the very end there was an intriguing hook--a hint that Earth, which humanity abandoned centuries ago, may not be empty after all. This also hints that maybe the government is hiding something from its citizens. This mini-cliffhanger ending did indeed leave me wanting more. But it also means that I'll have to wait a long time for the next installment, and the next after that. I'd rather be able to buy the entire series at once--and at a reasonable price. Right now, I'm waiting for it to show up at Netflix.

Your best bet is to wait and hope that Bandai comes to their senses and releases this properly, as a complete series, with extras, and at a decent price.

1/5 Horrible Value
  by D. Scott (Houston)
It was an okay story, and good animation, but by no means was any part of the show extraordinary, except for the price. Had I bothered to check the running time I would never have purchased it, and I desperately wish to have my money back. I simply assumed I was buying a full movie for 30$, but even a show, who is cold hearted enough to sell a SINGLE EPISODE, one and no more than one!!! I was enraged that I had passed up quality movies for this, this 25 minute episode with an incomplete story.

It would not be harsh to say that because of the duration of it, and the incompleteness of the narrative, I would not pay a full 5 dollars for it, and I have been robbed of 30. There are not even any bonus features to speak of.

4/5 What HD DVD Collection Wouldn Be Complete w/o Anime?
  by Duane E. Layton (New Jersey, USA)
I bought this title for several reasons. 1) Its the first Anime HD DVD title in North America. 2)The wealth of features. 3) Online connectivity, you can download multiple trailers (such as preview to the next episode) and additinal features. 4) Its the first HD DVD/DVD Hybird (yes both versions are on the same side of the disc and will play in any DVD player; non-flipper). 5) Its HD DVD at its best and makes perfect use of HD-15.

Freedom Vol 1 looks flawless in picture quality whether you are watching it on HD DVD or DVD. It works perfect with the Xbox 360 HD DVD player and maintains its breathtaking quality on standard DVD. The lines have ZERO aliasing issues, and are smoothly depicted; its truly 100% perfect in Video and Audio.

The only reason why I cannot give the title 5 stars is because of the overall length being only 25-30 minutes long. The features more than make up for the anime's shortcomings. But if you are looking for some 1080p anime, and an HD DVD demo which features online connectivity and the ability to manipulate the Picture-in-Picture function on HD DVD (you can rotate, scroll the pip to any part of the screen you want) then this title is defintely for you. My nephew is 8 years old and he enjoyed it and so did I. If you meet all of the afformentioned conditions, then this title is must own. Otherwise its fanatastic demo material and an enjoyable overall experience. Hopefully the next edition will contain volumes 2-4 at least.