You May Get Ready!

(WARNING! Spoilers Ahead! Go to the Conclusion to avoid them.)

Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure: Visions is the first disc of Pioneer's 4-volume release, and as such it kicks off a very fun and engaging series with a good deal of action, humor, and suspense. The four episodes on this disc include "Life Sympathy," "My Home," "Illegal Guy," and "No Disguise."

The main character is a somewhat introverted high school student named Kazuki. His problem is that he is plagued by the ability to see spectral images of giant robots fighting each other God-zilla style in his city. These images often cause Kazuki to seize up in fright, and since no one else can see these images he is regarded as some sort of freak by his classmates.  Kazuki finds an outlet by writing about what he sees on his website as a fan fiction of sorts, and these stories bring him to the attention of one Mitsuki Sanada. Mitsuki is the most popular girl at Kazuki's school, and her father is convinced that he is the key to the discovery of a parallel universe. Mitsuki's attentions towards Kazuki quickly results in the wrath of a band of jealous school athletes chasing him. However, Mitsuki helps him escape and takes him to see her father, Dr. Ken Sanada. Dr. Sanada turns out to be a regular mad scientist, and in short order Dr. Sanada straps him to a contraption in his basement. Sanada's plan is to send Kazuki to the parallel universe where the robots he sees fighting actually exist. While Kazuki and Mitsuki succeed in convincing Sanada this isn't such a good idea, Mitsuki accidentally throws a lever and Kazuki disappears in a flash of light. When Kazuki comes too, he is in Sanada's basement. However, all is not how it seems. Kazuki soon discovers that he has indeed been brought to a parallel universe were the robots of his visions actually exist. The white robot, whom he named "Hartzenen," soon appears, engaged in combat with another robot. Hartzenen takes a hit and collapses near by, so of course Kazuki goes to investigate. The cockpit of the robot opens, revealing an injured female pilot. When Kazuki tries to render aid, the cockpit hatch closes and he is trapped inside Hartzenen. With no other choice, Kazuki fights the enemy attacker and succeeds in destroying it.

To his horror, Kazuki discovers he does not exist in this parallel universe. When he tries to return home his own parents think he is a burglar! However, when he goes to visit his school Kazuki is arrested by a group of armed men led by Mitsuki. They take him to the headquarters of the Earth Defense Force, where it is revealed that he is special because he can not only pilot the Core Robots (the proper name for Hartzenen two similar units) with a high degree of skill, but he is the only male who can do so. In short order, Kazuki discovers that this world is torn by conflict between the evil army of RaRa and the Earth Defense Forces are commanded by none other than the parallel Dr. Sanada. It also turns out that the Mitsuki who captured Kazuki is actually the Mitsuki from his own world. For some reason, she arrived a month earlier than Kazuki did, and was made a Core Robot pilot. Kazuki also agrees to become a pilot, in order to end the war and give Commander Sanada the time to complete his research and find a way to send him and Mitsuki home.

Thus, Kazuki embarks on an adventure that places him in the line of fire for not only enemy attacks but a number of humorous  situations as well. Commander Sanada decides to have Kazuki and the third pilot, a mysterious "bioroid" named D, move in with him and Mitsuki. Kazuki and D soon cause a lot of trouble for poor Mitsuki, but she resolves to try and keep the two in line!

These four episodes do a good job of setting up the main characters, but the events in the series fly by so quickly that it can be hard to keep track of everything. The interactions between Kazuki and Mitsuki are especially entertaining, especially as it becomes more and more obvious there are feelings developing between the two of them.

Dual! has a very clean and smooth look. The only weak link in the show's animation  are the CG elements incorporated into some scenes. The transitions from hand-drawn animation to CG are fairly noticeable and jarring. The CG isn't bad, being roughly on par with that seen in Beast Wars. However, the quality isn't sufficiently high enough to allow for the seamless transitions seen in shows such as Cowboy BeBop. On the plus side, Dual! does make use of a number of peculiar viewpoints and includes a lot of movement in the animation. Furthermore, the show is very colorful and makes use of very distinct character designs. As a result, this show is very interesting visually. The mecha designs are very Evangelion-esque, with just a touch of aesthetic sense derived from the Knight Saber's hardsuits thrown in for good measure. I actually think this look works quite well, although it is far from original.

The sound of this disc is pretty good. The voice actors chosen for the dub work quite well,  although I can't help think of the Digimon anime when I watch it because the actor chosen for Kazuki also had one of the lead parts in that series. The music is a bit of a mixed bag. The opening and closing themes are sufficently catchy, but the BGM is mostly forgettable.

Extras-wise, this disc is pretty well loaded. There are some very entertaining character profiles written from Kazuki's perspective, a collection of line art from the show's production, and a textless version of the opening. There are also some highly amusing omake buried in there.

Conclusion (Spoiler Free!)

With this disc, Dual! begins with a bang. These four episodes are simply packed with events and character animation, making it almost a necessity to watch them more than once to get everything. Fortunately, a great dub and very good animation (minus a few decent but under-whelming CG elements) make watching this show a treat. The characters and plotline also help too, since I felt very drawn to the main character. I heartily recommend this one, the only qualification being that some of the humor may be a little risqué for younger viewers. 

By Andy Rucker