Search - Speed Grapher, Vol. 2 on DVD

SCENT OF A GODDESS

Sesho | Pasadena, TX USA | 09/17/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Kagura and Saiga are on the run from the Club whose prime objective is to get their "Goddess" back before its customers find somewhere else to get their rocks off. It wouldn't be Speed Grapher if their hiding place was normal, so it's no surprise that they try to find shelter in a drag queen club with Saiga taking up bartending and Kagura even doing a little cabaret singing. But Tsujido, the Club agent with an extraordinary olfactory sense is able to track them down, and he's not alone. With him is a Euphoria powered psychotic woman whose appetite for diamonds lets her turn herself into a LIVING diamond! Hibari Ginza, the sexy female rogue cop who likes to shoot people indiscriminately and then claim self-defense is also on the hunt for Saiga, but for more personal reasons. Not knowing that the Club is closing in, Saiga plans to visit a doctor friend of his to find out what has happened to his and Kagura's bodies that gives them such weird powers.



I liked this second volume of Speed Grapher a lot better than Volume 1, which just reeked of a plot rip-off of Eyes Wide Shut. Volume 2 found its own space to work in, even though the anime is still trying way too hard to be sexy. To me, the show isn't very erotic. Instead, it's creepy or just downright silly, what with all the "bring out the gimp" outfits which can get pretty campy at times. The animation also works against Speed Grapher, because the blocky movement and lack of flowing movement shoots down any sensuousness or sleekiness you could possibly have. The story is getting more interesting though, especially getting some background on Saiga, even though it still leads up to a battle with a Euphoria super-villain in the end. This is a show worth watching but fails to qualify as one worth owning."