Xenosaga: Box Set S.A.V.E.

Space Cruisers and Battleships. . .Versus ethereal alien beings. A team of odd assortment to save a world and to unlock the past. This is to save the future as those in the team must relive the past. Space battles, mecha, androids, cyborgs, and clones are out and about 4000 years after leaving Earth. A more realistic approach to government as gigantic battleships are owned by corporations. The team attempts to protect a clone bio-android allowed free will to discover what it means to be human. Self sacrifice and living for a purpose.It opens the door to a 2nd season.I liked it. Some political maneuvering, some underlying plots, and the characters were developed with enough information throughout the series concerning their past. Not all the heroes survive, but it gives that much more to the great story. I minus a star due to development of the main bio android that is a weapon since the story revolves mainly around her.

Xenosaga is difficult to review because it has two disparate interest groups: those who want to know how the movie compares to the video game and those who want to know if it is worth buying as a movie on its own merits. Reviewers from the first group have already written excellent reviews. I'll address my review to the second group.In many ways, Xenosaga is a traditional anime science fiction movie. The humans are threatened and need new weapons to counter the threat. Their best hope is a female combat robot constructed by a woman named Shion. Shion is pretty cute and her robot is also pretty cute. Xenosaga has something for the boys to look at.Except for Kirsch, the characters are traditional anime science fiction characters. The animation is very good. There is plenty of mecha combat and subplots to hold your interest. It has 12 episodes, which seemed right for the story content. It's not rushed, nor is it drawn out.What makes Xenosaga exceptional is the subplot that centers on a 100-series Realian girl named Kirsch. The issue is whether or not Kirsch possesses free will. To find out, you'll have to wait until the end of the story. Be prepared for a Japanese river of tears.Xenosaga is not about the female combat robot. It's about whether or not Kirsch possesses free will. That is what makes Xenosaga a meaningful story. After finishing it, you won't remember the mecha combat, you'll remember how Kirsch showed whether or not she possessed free will.I recommend Xenosaga. It was more than I expected.

If you've played the game think cut scenes and just a little more! I wish it went through the game series' complete story but like every good anime, it leaves you wanting more! Over all if you liked/loved the game you'll like/love this!

If you have played the games then you know the basic story of this anime.Compared to the Video Games of the same titles the story seems trimmed down and quit a few things changed.However as a anime this story is done rather well, the animation seems choppy in some places but it is done rather well as well.The story moves quickly due to it only being 12 30 min. episodes but you will enjoy it over and over again.This is a great Sci-fi anime with alot of action.If you like sci-fi action then this one is for you....

Firstly I will state that I am a VERY big Xenosaga fan and that is probably why I hated this show. It is riddled with a myriad of problems that stem from it not following the game very well.Firstly lets talk about the animation. Toei animation is the LAST studio i would have wanted to do a Xenosaga anime. The games have a great look(despite them all looking different) and they made this look more like Astro Boy or Dragon Ball then they made it look like Xenosaga.In terms of storyline it's a total mess. Characters appear when they shouldn't certain characters die later in the story which completely removes the significance of their death(Virgil for example) Many characters act NOTHING like they do in the original game and take actions which are going against what they are trying to accomplish. All the deep Philosophical, Religious and science aspects of the show have been all but removed(which considering Toei makes stuff for kids that's probably why despite the show not being a kids show at all).The action scenes fail to live up to the game in any way shape or form which should have been pretty easy considering animation is alot more free form then making a game engine.The beautiful soundtrack from the games is gone and replaced for a crappy mediocre one that adds nothing to the show(which is a shame as music was a VERY big part of the games).And if you happen to be a fan of the original voice cast from the English version of the game(which were top notch) you will be disappointed yet again as every single character is recast and in most cases are HORRIFYINGLY miscast.If you are a fan of the game don't bother with this show. It will do nothing but sadden or anger you. Hunt down the special Edition of Xenosaga 2 that comes with a DVD of all the cut scenes from the original game and watch that instead. You will have a infinitely more enjoyable time.

Seeing the series sold separately into different DVD boxes, and even the complete series was pretty expensive for my tastes. Especially when considering the shipping, I wanted to pay less. I am glad that I got my chance. I am a big fan of the games, and and I did not want to spend too much on something that I had already played through many times. At least the story is slightly skewed to make things interesting. I am more satisfied that I waited to get this instead of impatiently purchasing the series more much more earlier.

Interesting anima

Worth the wait.

The voice acting in English isn't that great. It's not as good as the original cast in the game, but around the same level of quality as the second game. [MOMO however, is far better than that game] The voices in Japanese, are great however.The main gripe I have with this series so far, is that they've drastically changed some aspects. Ziggy and MOMO are just kind of there on the Elsa. Like stow-aways, which makes no sense. In the game they are picked up after/during a fight in hyperspace while fleeing the base where Ziggy rescued MOMO.Shion and KOS-MOS, never have the fight to get on the Elsa. KOS-MOS, just detects them after hearing a distress signal. Then they're just there on the ship. It really doesn't setup how KOS-MOS is at that point in the game.The biggest change being that instead of Virgil being killed by KOS-MOS on the Woglinde, he lives and basically replaces Cherenkov. Cherenkov is killed by the Gnosis on the Woglinde. Thus, removing his entire subplot. Which just sucks. And since KOS-MOS never killed Virgil, you never see how her programming is drastically flawed. And you never see Shion react to it. Which was always one of the greatest parts in the game.There is one good change though. It focuses on one Kirschwasser, who befriended Shion on the Woglinde.It's still great, but it really bothers me to see things changed and out of order. I'd still recommend it to any anime fan or any fan of the game series.