The Noo captures Tadashi and Maji, the chief mechanic for the Arcadia, then forces them to fight a huge monster in the hopes of luring Herlock out to rescue them. While that part of Noo’s evil plan is successful, the spiritual battle leads to Herlock’s victory and the defeat of Noo! Unfortunately, the victory is short lived for the Noo has possessed Kei’s body and begins using her to sabotage the Arcadia. Tadashi, feeling guilty for putting Kei in her condition, temps Noo with his own body and engages the Noo in a spiritual battle to save kei and the Arcadia. Will he have the will power to defeat the Noo or will Tadashi being consumed by fear?

 

With the third DVD in the Captain Herlock – Outside legend released the opportunity to dive into more of the Herlock outside legend story. To refresh the readers’ memory, Herlock is based on the work of famed anime director Leiji Matsumoto (Star Blazers, Original Comic Space Pirate Captain Herlock). Script work by Sadayuki Muarai (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress).

 

The third installment of the Herlock – The endless odyssey outside legend, begins at the scene in which Miss Kei is attacked by the hand of Noo, due to Tadashi’s foolish act of attempting revenge against those who murdered his father, without thinking of the consequence of what would happen. Herlock must battle against the Evil of Noo, to free the earth from its evil clutches. Finally, small victories are achieved against Noo in this epic battle against good and evil, but will Herlock and the crew of the Arcadia be able to stop the Noo from destroying the universe, or will the be defeated and succumb to their fears.

The third disc in the Herlock installment contains 3 episodes:

Somewhere within the Decimated Planet Lies Castle Ruins – Miss Kei has been severely wounded and is rushed back to the Arcadia so the doctor can tend to her wounds. Tadashi and the Chief mechanic are taken custody by the followers of Noo, who are attempting to led Herlock into a trap. Will he be able to save Tadashi and the Chief Mechanic before it’s too late?

In the Depths of the Shadows of the Soul – With Noo defeated, Tadashi and the chief mechanic are brought back aboard the Arcadia. While still in her coma Miss Kei struggles for her life, but while in the unconscious world, she has an encounter with the spirits for those who perished aboard the Fata Morgana, finally revealing the truth of what happened five years ago.

Kei – Illusion – With Miss Kei still unconscious, Noo has taken control of her body, in an attempt to sabotage the Arcadia. With Miss Kei causing havoc aboard the Arcadia, Tadsahis still bothered by his decision to seek revenge, attempts to pull Noo from Miss Kei, will he be strong enough to resist fear, or will he to succumb to Noo.

The quality of the audio with this series seems to get better with each episode that passes by; the dialogue is smooth, crisp, and clean with no signs of bad encoding. The Audio features included with the DVD are Bilingual 5.1 Audio (English and Japanese). Also, two streams of English Subtitles: Dialog and signs or signs only. The video quality for the third Herlock disc, is just like the audio, smooth, crisp, clean, at no point where there any indications of bad encoding.

One the biggest disappointments of this DVD and it seems to be carrying over from the previous disks, would have to be the lack of any bonus features. The only available features were, previews for upcoming Geneon releases and the original Japanese opening. If any additional feature such as original or conceptual art work definitely would have added to the disc. Maybe even with a time line that explains Captain Herlock universe. Character biography’s giving additional information to the characters that make up this universe. The only bonus material that was added to the disc would have to be a poster puzzle card, one piece was included with this DVD and others will be included in following disks.

Even with the lack of any form of special features with the third disc, which is starting to get disappointing, however, I would have to say based on the anime itself it’s a must for those who are fans of Matsumoto’s work. For those who aren’t really fans of the earlier style of animation then this one might be a good one to rent or at least borrow a copy from someone you know. Hopefully in final disc release we’ll see an increase of additional features and find out what will come of the final battle between the brave ship Arcadia and the Noo.

Animation: 8 / 10
Story: 8 / 10
Audio: 8 / 10
Video: 9 / 10
Extras: 5 / 10
Impact Rating: 7 / 10

Total: 75%

By Matt Capranos