All Rise...

Judge Joel Pearce thinks that one of the new judges should be forced to handle the next volume of BASToF Syndrome.

The Charge

"What's going on? I can't take it anymore!" -Mint

The Case

As you can well imagine from my previous reviews, I wasn't especially looking forward to another hour and a half of BASToF Syndrome pain. It picks up roughly where the last volume left off, with each group of characters investigating the secrets of the Lemon Game. Since none of them work together, we have to sit through each revelation several times—not that anything is really surprising in this show anymore.

By this point, it's clear that the production team is running on empty. The animation is noticeably weaker this time around, as if even the animators couldn't wait for it to be over. The script is terribly bloated, but interspersed between painful character inner monologues and repetitive discussions are terrible slapstick moments, clearly meant to disguise that they're running out of twists and turns. The only true development is when Moderato finally realizes that his fighters could be more successful if more than one of them fought at the same time. Doesn't make the battles any more exciting, but it's a step in the right direction.

One of the real failings of BASToF Syndrome is that it's impossible to respect any of the characters. They all mistreat each other, they don't trust each other, and they're painfully inept. Any character from any other series would have figured out the connections as quickly as the audience does, but these heroes are still fumbling around in the dark. The good news is that they'll only stumble around for one more volume. One of them is going to smarten up soon, or maybe the whole city will just get destroyed once and for all.

The transfer from ADV is on par with the rest of the series. The English voice actors seem a little tired of it all by this point, but I'm pretty impressed that they have stuck it out this long. The animation doesn't deserve a video transfer this good, and there's no escaping the obnoxious dialogue.

No extras on this one, either, and that's just fine with me.

If for some reason you've made it through the series this far and actually enjoyed it, you may as well get this volume too. Hell, you can have mine.

Everyone involved with BASToF Syndrome is sentenced to life without parole, with eight hours of their own show each day to keep them company.

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