Straight Forward Action at it's best
R. Rivera | USA! | 11/23/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yes it's violent. Yes it's gory. No, Strait Jacket is not groundbreaking anime, but if you require having your mind blown every time and being revolutionary is the standard by which you measure things, then you will find most anime (and things in general) very disappointing.
I may be the lone voice of praise in an ocean of aspersion, but I really liked Strait Jacket. Maybe there wasn't enough comedy relief or cliche sweatdrops for some people's satisfaction. It's not the most original thing you'll ever see, but the things Strait Jacket does, it does well.
There's action, violence (graphic), a blend of magic and science, fighting and explosions. It's not Hollywood level action, so the explosions/fighting are more limited and there are no car chase scenes, but still fairly entertaining. The voice acting was flawless, with an all-star cast, Freeman and many more, how could one complain. Like others, I went into it with very low expectations. To my surprise, I found the setting intriguing and the premise fascinating, so much so that I went from "kind of paying attention" to giving it my full attention. It was very action driven and the pacing was perfect. It still spared enough time to flesh out or develop the characters just enough to make them interesting. I suspect that perhaps it's not as character driven as some people would like, but I liked Strait Jacket for what it was. No different than someone who enjoys a good action flick. The plot was "incomplete," but unless you are too busy looking down your nose from your high horse, you should get the sense that it was meant to be that way. Like an appetizer before a full course meal, it gives you an idea of how rich the story could be if they could make it into a series."
Enjoyable
Shawn Brown | Japan, aomori | 10/14/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Strait jacket is a good anime about a man wrestling with the sins of his past. Magic has become a way of life for everyone, and by doing so we have unleashed demons into the world. It's the job of the "tactical sorcerers" to destroy one every time it takes over someones body. Good story, decent battles, real cool battle suits, but the back story on the main charcater is real vauge. I really didn't get why he was so depressed. He was alittle too EMO I felt like "the cure" should of been a part of the soundtrack. The animation isvery good. Nice and smooth with a sort of"final fantasy" look about the characters. The english voice acting is very nice and the visuals/aduio looked and sounded great on suround sound with a HDtv. If you like anime and horror genres with alittle sci-fi on the side then you should really pick it up."