3/5 As one reviewer said, promising...
  by Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA)
Ryoko is one of the best fighters in school. But that's OK because this is a school in which martial arts are standard curriculum and problems are solved with the fist and the sword. But when you add a alien landscape just beyond the veils of reality, special powers and demon creatures even Ryoko starts to freak out. Four episodes, tons of extras, great voice work, but a feeling that I have seen all this before.
Promising but so was steam powered cars in the early 20th Century. Does that mean I should continue to buy up the anime and watch? Not sure, can't tell you. I may watch the next DVD but I'm just not hooked.

4/5 old biker needs a laff
  by J. Cooper (Perth , Western Australia)
onley seen first part , bloody good sofar , recon the rest will be a screem . and box set is dam good value

5/5 This is a good series
  by Ronnie Clay (Winnsboro, Louisiana)
It's a really good yet short anime series. It kept me entertained with the humor Daisaku provided. Joshua Seth was good as Daisaku's part and David Lucas kept Shizuma's character, like in the japanese version. It may be 13 episodes long but I still like it.

4/5 A mixed bag, but more positives than negatives
  by N. Henke
Visually, the series is beautiful; furthermore, the show features excellent vocal performances (The ever-versatile Satsuki Yukino reinvents herself again to play the main character's romantic rival, Azumi...Sempai)and is strong in the department of character development. I was already a fan of the manga (And I feel the manga features stronger storytelling than the anime.), but I feel I learned additional information about the characters by watching the program. The series is also entertaining on a more subtle level, as it relentlessly mocks (Or homages) conventions such as the "Magical Girl" genre of anime and manga, fighting games, samurai cinema, and other fighting series; Nagumo and Gates, the two rival characters new to the series, are extremely reminiscent of characters from such series as "Fist of the North Star"; the trio of villains our heroes encounter in the midpoint of the series, alternately, remind me of "Yu Yu Hakusho" characters. There's even a girl dressed like certain characters from Tenchi Muyo, as well as villains at the end which seem somewhere between Raxzehphon and Evangelion entities. These references are pretty entertaining, since the show isn't built around them, but rather character development and striking visuals.

At first, I didn't "get" the fact many of the character designs created for the anime were supposed to resemble designs from other anime series, and wrote them off as unoriginal. But my attributions of unoriginality nagged at me, because the rest of the visuals in the series were so well-crafted. So the "uninspired" designs are really very funny once one realizes they're *supposed* to be that way. ^_^

The slight redesigns of the manga characers appeal to me, though I will warn they've been slightly cutified. The Demon Beasts Ryoko has to fight unfortunately lack interesting designs, one of the series' visual shortfallings; Studio Gonzo does remarkable work in many departments, but I sometimes find that, as a trend, their creature designs are a bit run-of-the-mill.

Furthermore, although developing the characters well, in terms of plot development, however, the series inadequately explains background on the conflict between the characters Nagumo and Gates, as well as the connections amongst Nagumo, Hitomi and Reiha which would help viewers enjoy the program better.

However, I felt Nagumo's "true conflict" which is revealed in the final episode, while somewhat anticlimatic (In not involving a slugfest) was very interesting because it added a philosophical bent to the series; it reminds me of the (Oft-maligned) resolution of another show from the fighting girl genre, Ikki Tousen, in that it centers on defeating fate.

In terms of DVD content, the extras are neat. There are the art galleries almost standard to anime DVDs, but in addition, a number of segments which introduce you to the Japanese voice actresses who portray Ryoko and Miyuki. I enjoyed these segments because they added a human touch to my viewing of the series.

All-in-all, I'd recommend reading the manga first, not because it's necessary to understand the series, but because it's a better story. But if you read and enjoyed the manga, the series is well-worth watching, given you can get a good deal on it.

3/5 Not the geatest nor the worst. It could have been better.
  by S. C. Anderson
Ok, so I bought the box set because I loved the manga, and I guess because of how great the original manga was, I set my expectations too high. The series really started with a bang, and the animation for the fight scenes were way too cool; however, as the series continued some of the episodes had really slack animation. I mean it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the greatest. Naturally I watched the whole thing and the animation almost returned to its previous glory toward the end. I tried to keep in mind how old the series was, and maybe I watch too much Anime.

There is however another interesting point I must bring up, and that's the time setting that the show takes. It seems to be after, and yet at the same time, that the manga took place, which may be kind of confusing for anyone who read the manga. I really can't give any examples without spoiling either the manga or the anime so I won't. Just take my word for it. And then there's the awkward and abrupt ending. I was kind of disappointed.

Finally I'll say this; all in all, the show is good enough not to be bad, but not great enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. Three stars are what I'll give it. I've seen much worse shows, and at the same time I've seen much better. If you ask me you should spent your forty dollars on the first four issues of the manga being published by TokyoPop. I promise the manga won't disappoint you, as for this box set, I give no guarantees.