Conflicted
Antonio D. Paolucci | Beaver Falls, PA | 05/27/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Honestly, I don't know what to think about this anime anymore. I gave the first volume a 4, the second a 5, and now this one a 3. The first volume was fun and not so off the wall to completely push me away; the second was simply hilarious; and this, while it was funny, was a batch of the same old sexual humor that dominated every single episode to this point. No matter how clever the jokes were, it just got boring.
Not only that, but there still really isn't any continuing storyline. The characters are still wandering and accepting missions with no true plot purpose. Punk wants money and sex, we know this, and his apprentice wants... whatever it is she wants. It just doesn't move beyond that. To better explain, the first two episodes has Punk traveling with Junko and a strange old man to a ruins in order to get a bit pay-off. In the third episode, Punk corners Junko for sex. In the fourth Punk takes a job to save a rich man's little girl. See, either money or sex. Repetitive and boring.
What this volume does have that makes it worth watching is the excellent voice acting on the American version. Some of what comes out of these characters mouths are so surprising that you can't help but laugh. And, like Funimation is wont to do, this DVD is packed with special features, though of course some of these features are the anime main-stays (i.e. text-less opening and endings and previews).
Beyond that, there is actually little to this volume to see. Unless Desert Punk turns in a different direction in the next volume (which I doubt), this series will flop in my book. If this were twelve or thirteen episodes, then this type of series may have worked, but it's twenty-four, which requires a little extra plotting than a shorter series or OVA, and Desert Punk just isn't coming through in that department. Unless you're still amused by the constant sex jokes or are dedicated to collecting the entire series no matter what, then I wouldn't recommend this volume to you. Quit now while you're ahead. Yes, it wasn't bad, but this volume doesn't say much for the future of Desert Punk."