Peacemaker (DVD)

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Throughout my life with anime, I have seen many samurai/ninja features. Many of these, such as "Ruroni Kenshin" and "Ninja Scroll" are always revered as great successes. Of course, there are many failures for each success. Upon looking at "Peacemaker," I wondered which category it would fall into.

I was pleasantly surprised with "Peacemaker". It contained a fair amount of story and character, with the occasional bloody fight. While the preference between these extremes seems to be the difference between the above mentioned "Ruroni Kenshin" and "Ninja Scroll", "Peacemaker" contains enough of both to satisfy a fan of either anime.

"Peacemaker" is a story set in 19th century Japan. The main character, Tetsunosuke, is determined to join the Shinsengumi. Tetsunosuke believes that by doing so, he will be able to obtain the training and strength to avenge his father's murder. Of course, the Shinsengumi do not think that he has what it takes to be a member of their ranks. Tetsunosuke is undisciplined, and without skill. The only thing that Tetsunosuke does seem to have is determination. His drive to succeed is what kept my interest.

On this disc, Tetsunosuke's defeat in battle is an inevitable fact. We see him tossed around like a rag doll more often than not. This leaves all the real action sequences to the members of the Shinsengumi. The disparity between experience and skill becomes painfully apparent as soon as anyone of the Shinsengumi warriors pick up a weapon. I somehow feel that Tetsunosuke will never attain that level within the series, unless there is a break in the series of at least a year. Likewise, he is no match for his father's killer, and he may never be.

"Peacemaker: Volume 1" has definitely piqued my interest. I look forward to seeing how the characters progress and change over time. I am also looking forward to Tetsunosuke's martial development. In a sense, I can not wait for him to meet his father's killer. At the same time, I also realize that he can do nothing about it for some time. For the moment, the series is exactly were it should be, at a beginning. From this moment on, things should begin changing. Tetsunosuke will have to take some action, unless he remains a page for the whole series. That would be a bit anti-climactic.

Video:
The video aspect ratio is 1.33:1 (full-screen on 4:3 monitors). The visual aspect of "Peacemaker" is one of its better points. The animation is very clean and crisp. Its colors are vibrant and allow a large amount of detail. The most impressive animation in the series is fire. Fire, in the series, looks extremely real. However, it seems a bit too real for the surrounding animation, and stands out as such. Regardless of this fact, I thought it was an impressive bit of animation. The animation is also devoid of any errors.