This Pocket Review is for the first 3 episodes of Freedom only.

Click above to buy Freedom Vol. 1 or click here for Vol. 2 from Amazon.

Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely–this anime is from the guy who created Akira.

Technically any good? While filled with cliches, this anime manages to do cliches well. A lot of typical anime and narrative devices are used, like the teens and their hotrods, the lead character who is a grease-monkey but still awkward with the ladies, and a grand conspiracy that makes them wonder if the life they’ve been sold is really just a lie. See, we’ve seen it all before, but Otomo and friends are great story tellers and the animations is superb.

How did it leave me feeling? The first three episodes are all I’ve seen so far, but they do leave me wanting a LOT more–in a good way, too. I don’t understand how Bandai thinks they’ll make money releasing one episode per HD-DVD while charging $30 each for them. Too bad for them HD-DVD has lost the new-format-wars before the entire series could be released. Hopefully that means the rest of the series will be released on standard DVDs, with standard DVD prices.

Final Rating? RTV - Rent The Video - Not as groundbreaking as Akira was, but a sure bet if you’re looking for entertaining Japanese animation that is safe for most kids (just a bit of violence) and still fun for adults, too.