4/5 Ful of action and overall fun!
  by Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California)
In 1998, the television series SHADOW SKILL (produced by Studio Deen) was released in Japan based on the manga by Megumu Okada.

With 26-episodes in all, it's finally coming to North America through ADV Films in November.

The series focuses on Elle Ragu, the 59th Sevalle a.k.a. Shadow Skill. The Seveall are feared because they are an elite breed of men and women who have mastered the martial arts. Alongside with her is her brother Gau and Faurink Maya who try to keep her out of trouble and to not cause so much damage (because she is in so much debt and has a tendency to get drunk a lot).

Trying to find odd jobs to pay off her debt and make a living, with each day of travel, the heroes meet new companions and also face deadly opponents in the kingdom of Karuda.

SHADOW SKILL is a fun, adventurous anime which combines addicting battles combined with an enjoyable storyline.

I found the characters for the series enjoyable and the action is balanced with the comedy and humor.

But the television series is not all about Elle, there appears to be some reason why the mysterious Scarface has taken an interest in Elle's brother Gau. Why is that?

As for the DVD, SHADOW SKILL shares the same quality as many anime that were shown during the late 90's.

Although, some sequences do show the usual television style type of video quality, on episodes such as episode Four, "What My Father Left Me", there is a sequence where the color and animation style changes for some unknown reason.

As for audio, I was surprised that the English dub track was not in 5.1 and that both English and Japanese tracks are in 2.0. Also, there are no special features at all.

Now for those of you who are interested in the SHADOW SKILL series, I highly recommend watching the television series first and afterwards the OAV series.

The OAV version of SHADOW SKILLwas released by Manga Entertainment several years ago and compiled into a movie.

The OAV series (the movie version released in the US) takes place after the television series but focuses on a major change in the relationship between Elle and Gau. I'll leave it at that.

But the English dub was not to my liking on Manga Entertainment's release but fortunately you had the option to choose the Japanese track and you can't go wrong with with Megumi Hayashibara (Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Blue Seed, Video Girl Ai, etc.) doing the voice acting for Elle.

Fortunately, the television series released by ADV Films has great voice acting for both Japanese and English dub tracks.

Young Gau actually sounds like a teenage boy instead of a older man this time around and I was very pleased with the voice acting with the English dub track.

All in all, SHADOW SKILL is an enjoyable anime series. The characters are very interesting and each episode is enjoyable.

The anime gets high marks but with no special features and the lack of the usual ADV 5.1 English dub track, I was a bit surprised by that.

If you are a fan of anime such as Slayers, Inuyasha and Fushigi Yuugi, I definitely recommend checking out SHADOW SKILL.

5/5 Shadow Skill is a great action series that you'll certainly enjoy!
  by A. Cozad
Shadow Skill is a great series that I am glad I invested in! To clarify what I have seen on reviews for the Shadow Skill movie DVD, the T.V. series is available in the United States. I managed to find 3 of the six volumes in local stores. I am unsure if they are getting harder to find because of lack of sales, but it was certainly impossible to find the others and thus brought me to Amazon. Was this series worth it? Oh heck yeah!

The story centers around a young female fighter having gained the title of champion status among her people. She and her younger brother, Gau, are warriors in constant training and honing of their abilities in the fighting style of Shadow Skill, a deadly martial art that can kill with one blow. The problem is Elle has a knack for running up tabs at bars while being hilariously funny at it in great drunken fashion. Many of the adventures they soon get involved in are a result of them looking for jobs to pay their debts and keep a place to live. I haven't gotten through the whole story yet but I can tell it's doing like all other Animes in a slow steady start to a fast paced action filled storyline!

The Anime style was a bit offsetting at first. It isn't the beautiful clarity and visuals of Full Metal Alchemist or Ghost in the Shell, but it is very good nonetheless. The action sequences are well drawn out in which you can clearly see each move the fighter throws out. Although one little annoying thing is the cutscenes into Japanese symbols with the English translation. Imagine Goku from DBZ doing a Spirit Bomb attack and it cuts to a black screen with wording telling you the attack he's doing. Yeah. Not needed. But it doesn't show up that often and can easily be tolerated.

The English voices take some getting used to at first. All the other characters have voices you would imagine suitable with what you're seeing. But with Elle and Gau, they seem a bit young in tone compared to what you see and would expect. But considering Elle and Gau are both in their teens it truly is fitting. That and when they get angry, their voicing really shines and you can feel their rage. For those curious about the Japanese voices, they are perfect and I plan to watch the whol series in Japanese as well.

Shadow Skill is certainly worth a series to invest in whether by making it an addition to your Anime collection or you love an action/comedy filled series. I certainly have no regrets and give it two thumbs WAY up!