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Audience Rating: Suitable for 15 years and overBinding: DVD EAN: 5022366501347 Format: PAL Label: Starz Home Entertainment Languages: Manufacturer: Starz Home Entertainment Number Of Items: 7 Publisher: Starz Home Entertainment Region Code: 2 Release Date: March 26, 2007 Running Time: 395 minutes Studio: Starz Home Entertainment Related Items:
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - She: The Ultimate Cry-BabyThis series ended up being very disappointing. Echoing the thoughts of others who have the same views about Saikano, it tried hard to be a tragic romance story and turned out to be more boring than depressing - it didn't make me watery eyed. There are series that depress viewers without making it obvious the plan is to pull on the viewers heart strings and there are series that make it so obvious that you expect people to die just to get a reaction, and Saikano is the latter. Before watching I thought it was going to turn out to be a winner in my eyes - Great looking box/DVD art, a depressing sounding story, short length and only a £10 fee required to own the series. I couldn't see how, for such a small amount of money, a fairly highly rated show could fail to meet my expectations. But, sadly for me, Saikano got all the basics wrong. It's a shame because the story had a lot of potential: In the Saikano world Japan is losing a war against a nameless country. The Japanese government decide to make an ultimate weapon to change their fortunes, and they pick Chise, a 17 year old girl with poor grades and physical abilities, to be that weapon. She has to deal with the fact her body has become a weapon of mass destruction and, at the same time, come to terms with being in love for the first time. The first problem the series has is terrible pacing. The first half of the series left me feeling like nothing had happened; like events simply kept repeating themselves in slightly different ways each episode. Chise cried, she had a talk with Shuji (her boyfriend), Chise cried some more, Chise then went off to fight (without the fighting getting shown since that would require money) and the episode ended. The script for each of the early episodes had very little variation, and the characters started saying fake sounding rubbish (such as talking about kids and marriage after being together for 1 week...), which made the show a difficult one to stick with. Even though the relationship between the main two failed miserably for the most part, the series still could've saved itself if the sci-fi elements had been explained in convincing fashion. However, almost as you'd expect after seeing how badly the pacing and love side was handled, the sci-fi parts of the story weren't explained at all. Chise, seemingly not caring a great deal, reveals to Shuji that she, a useless girl who can't get anything right, was turned into some kind of humanoid weapon that can grow rockets out of her back...and that she forgot to ask any important details after having her body irreversibly transformed. From start to finish, that's all you learn about why a pathetic school girl was turned into a living weapon. And, worst of all, it's never even revealed who Japan is supposed to be involved in a war with, as if such a minor detail doesn't matter. If a story is going to work it needs to be explained. Simply expecting viewers to believe that an annoying high school girl (who happens to look eight) would be forcefully turned into a weapon instead of a consenting adult is stupidity of the highest order. How was I supposed to care about the events that occurred if the story seemed far too daft to take seriously? I suppose the damage the snail pacing, fake/generic dialogue and completely unbelievable story did could've been lessened if the characters made me care about them. After all, the key to making a viewer feel something when characters die is to build up their attachment beforehand. But Saikano failed to make me care enough about any of the cast to make me feel anything. Chise acted pathetically, crying at every available opportunity and being a doormat for Shuji whenever possible. Shuji was a plain guy with glasses who managed to get three of the opposite gender, including an older woman, after him...and he played around. Akemi, who was probably the best of a bad bunch, was only there to support Chise and be another female who longed for the glasses wearing male lead. None of them did anything for me; I was almost willing the main two to be killed at times! Aside from the pacing, story and characters (not much really!), the other thing that bugged me about Saikano was the art. For reasons known only to more intelligent people than myself, the characters have a blushing effect going on 24/7 in Saikano...well, either that or Earthlings in the Saikano world have red lines on their faces by default. And the face weirdness didn't stop there; the faces all look silly from the sides due to the way the noses are drawn so small. If you mix those two issues with a lack of animation then you have a problem, and Saikano shouldn't have had problems (at least not with the animation) visually when it's only 13 episodes long. The only plus on the looks side was the excellent use of eye-catching colours. As for the music, the less said the better. The only theme that has managed to stick in my memory is the guitar theme that plays on the DVD menus. I don't even remember the opening and ending themes. The soundtrack failed to draw any emotion out of me, which is quite a serious flaw for an anime that wants to play with my feelings. Overall, Saikano disappointed more than it pleased. I almost dropped it after the first 6 episodes, only ending up continuing to see if the end made up for the first half. Although there was a considerable amount of improvement once the same episode stopped seeming to keep repeating itself and the plot actually started to give me the feeling it was going somewhere, the content wasn't good enough to save what had been an awful series up until that point. And the series wasn't even able to end in style, with the ending being rushed (the world was ending all of a sudden, for no reason) and the conclusion to the events making little to no sense. 6.5/10 Rating:  - PerfectShe, the ultimate weapon or Saikano is a really fun to watch anime. it has it good sides and bad. the good is that the story line is like no other. It's heart warming and it makes you want to watch it over and over again. bad side is that the animation was not as good. If they drew the faces etc more better. this anime would of made a hit. although it has. it could of done better. Also the box it came in. the box art was amazing. but the dvd cases in side the box was terrible. i got mine the first day and i could see they were cheap. also you can buy stronger dvd cases and just put the pictur into a new one. 4 stars for the boxing/animation. 5 stars for the act/storyline She, the ultimate weapon/Saikano will not be a let down. you will enjoy it better than other shows. Rating: - Fairly entertainingThis series was quite enjoyable but there were a few things that took some of the fun out of watching it. The main problem was actually Chise (the Ultimate Weapon). She was just such a bumbling nuisance. I can understand that the story is sad and emotional, but she cries at least ten times an episode, as well as most other characters crying alot too. Another thing is, when she talks to Jushi, her boyfriend, she says (or cries mostly) his name about five times before starting the sentence alot of the time. These things really got on my nerves if I watched more than two episodes in a row, but I found when I split the series into a couple of episodes a day, I could put up with the problems. Another thing I wasn't keen on is that I found the animation to be a bit too cutesy for my liking. A decent series but there are far better anime out there (just get Cowboy Bebop and Full Metal Alchemist). Rating: - Reasonable, but not an anime classic*** slight spoilers *** I bought this attractively boxed anime set at the now heavily discounted price, expecting the usual action, pathos, imaginative storylines and great soundtrack. Well I guess I got some of those. The story is basically a teenage love story - set against an apocalyptic end-of-the-world scenario. The first few episodes are painfully slow and quite irritating in parts - the teenage angst thing is layered on with a sledgehammer unsubtle touch and, believe me, you will get sick of counting the times a weepy "I'm s-sorry" is uttered!. A few surprises and striking images along the way do just about hold the viewer's interest though and hint at more profound things to come. As the series progresses, the pace does quicken, with some interesting twists and even major characters getting killed off. A spectacular, if somewhat enigmatic conclusion is worth staying the course for (but feelgood material it ain't!). The bonus disk OVA does add some interesting insights into Chise's military experiences and stands up pretty well as a movie in its own right. In fact, without the often irritating Shuji, I probably enjoyed the OVA more than the main series! As mentioned by another reviewer, I too found the way the faces were drawn rather annoying and this does detract a bit from ones enjoyment. On the plus side, the anime features a splendid rocking soundtrack - gotta love that lonely soaring guitar sound! Perhaps comparisons are a little unfair but, it has to be said, if you're into arcane weapons research and its effect on normal folk, then Elfen Leid did it FAR more stylishly than this; if you want poignancy coupled with mystery, then Haibane Renmei is the anime for you; if you want an entertaining love story, then Kanon (or even Nodame Cantabile) demonstrate anime as a great art form. I'll probably revisit 'She' in a few months time, maybe skipping some of the early-middle episodes. At this price, you certainly won't feel ripped off. Just don't expect a classic. Rating: - Interesting but not essentialThe first thing that attracted me to this series was a picture in a magazine, of Shuji clutching his girlfriend Chise, who had a lot of metal spikes coming out of her back. It's a really striking image, and there are lots of scenes in this that will stay with you for a long time. She, The Ultimate Weapon (which can also translate as My Girlfriend, The Ultimate Weapon) is the story of Shuji and his girlfriend Chise, who becomes a military experiment as their "ultimate weapon". But, despite some action scenes, the story mainly focuses on their relationship. Although it starts fairly dull, the story soon becomes really interesting, and I found myself caring a lot for what happened to the characters. Speaking of the characters, they are all fairly interesting but also believable. Apart from Chise's modifications all the characters are just like real life individuals, and although all sorts of extreme things happen (they are in the middle of a war, after all) they always react in a believable way. Some of the later scenes are really moving, and quite shocking as well. The art style in this show has me divided. On the one hand it has beautiful backgrounds and a great use of colour, but the character design annoys me quite a bit. Although not very different to stereotypical large-eyed, small-nosed characters, I just don't like the way that their faces are drawn. Perhaps this seems a little trivial but it did affect my enjoyment of the series. However, I think that the music might just make up for this; this series has some fantastic pieces. Sometimes I even rewound the episode to listen to certain pieces again. Overall the music is probably my favourite part of this series. Whilst I have been mostly positive so far- and indeed, this is a good series- I have to say that it's not for everyone. There are lots (and I mean LOTS) of scenes with Chise crying or feeling useless. Whilst it is understandable that she would feel this way, there is a point where it just gets a little too annoying. Teen angst is all well and good but this series does overdo it quite a bit. Also included in this boxset is the Another Love Song OVA. If you've seen the series this is definitely worth a look, as it shows us something of what Chise experienced when she was with the military (the series focuses on her and Shuji). Overall, a great series that is well worth your time, but if you're wanting an anime about a reluctant teenager saving the world whilst dealing with personal issues, Neon Genesis Evangelion ought to be your first port of call before this.  Try searching the Internet for "She- The Ultimate Weapon - Complete" or Ebay for "She- The Ultimate Weapon - Complete". You might also be interested in the following great products:
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