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Figure 17: The Complete Collection

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Figure 17: The Complete Collection 1Title: Figure 17 Complete Collection
Alternative Title: Figure 17 Tsubasa & Hikaru
Published by: Madman Entertainment (Australia / New Zealand)
Based on: This is an original anime series.
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen (16:9)
Runtime: 600 Minutes
Cost: $AUD 59.95
Classification: This title has been rated PG for Mild Animated Violence
Previous Reviews: N/A
Blurb: “An older anime series from 2001, following a young girl called Tsubasa who gets pulled into a world of alien battles and a doppelganger twin. The series is a mix of fighting and normal life for the twins, with the development of Tsubasa a key element of the storyline, however only has an average level of character development. The Design and Music are older-styled however are not of detriment to the series”
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to the Madman Entertainment PR Team for providing me with a review sample of this title.

You might be wondering why I am reviewing a series that was released in 2001, even though it was officially released as a FatPack in 2007? Well, thanks to Madman Entertainment, they have kindly provided me with a box of older anime series that over the course of the next few weeks, I will be reviewing in order to fill any gaps between reviews. Figure 17 was a series that originally caught my eye even before I began this site, on another AnimeBlogger affiliated website known as Matthew’s Anime Blog HERE, and finally I have the chance to review it. Does it stand up proud amongst the newer anime series or is it a forgettable watch? Read on to find out in my review of Figure 17: Tsubasa & Hikaru. 

Figure 17: The Complete Collection 2

The fate of the world rests in the hands of Hikaru and Tsubasa

Tsubasa is an elementary school girl who has just moved to Hokkaido. Without any friends in her new school,. she becomes more and more reclusive. One night, she follows a shooting star to an alient spaceship, and ends up with a clone named Hikaru.

As Tsubasa teachers her doppleganger about the world, she rediscovers it herself. THe two become like sisters and experience life growing up together. When a strange race of alien monsters begin invading, Tsubasa and Hikaru unite to form the Figure 17, a bio-humanoid combat system.

This series from the start, makes it clear that there is not one standard genre for it. Whilst the series proclaims itself as an alien fighting series, for the most part you will be watching on as Hikaru attempts to improve Tsubasa’s self-esteem and you will find at least some of the episodes are purely based upon this instead of fighting. If you like the sort of mixed genre series, then it does it quite well, however for those after the fighting genre, be prepared to listen to elementary school events such as camp outs and spending the holidays on a farm, for example.

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To start off with, I would like to discuss the non-fighting elements of the series. For whatever reason, Tsubasa’s father has the daring aspiration of becoming an (Iron) Baker in Hokkaido, therefore with his already shy and depressive daughter, he takes her from the comfort of her hometown and with that, what seems to be her only friend, and go away. At her new school, she knows nobody and finds it hard to make friends. When Hikaru comes along, with some nifty brain altercations, she fits right in as Tsubasa’s outgoing twin sister and with that, strives to make Tsubasa more outgoing and happy.

The storylines are generally what you would expect from an elementary school storyline: Gym Classes, School Camp-outs, School Festivals and so-forth. The storylines, whilst not being relative directly to the overall battle oriented storyline, does impact the actions of Tsubasa and Hikaru during fights, and also has some interesting, if not generic storylines such as Tsubasa developing a crush on a boy in her class or the normal classroom rivalries. The pacing is slow and some of the plot-twists, primarily aimed at testing Tsubasa are too frequently used. Hikaru on the other hand doesn’t have that much purpose to this storyline other then being a supporting character to Tsubasa.

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Of course, the Alien Invasion remains the primary focus of this series. When Hikaru and Tsubasa combine as one, they become a super powered figure known as Figure 17, in which both of them act to control her, although we only see Tsubasa in the battle mode controlling some of the more minor movements. Observing the battle without regarding the rest of the storyline surrounding it, the battles in the first half of the series primarily consist of enemies of the same power level, therefore I wouldn’t go saying they are spectacular battles. In the second half however, the Magure are considerably stronger therefore requires more intervention on the girls part. Here is the problem, whilst I am all for the battles being tough for the characters, but usually this involves more focus on Tsubasa screaming in pain calling for help from Hikaru, as everything the Figure feels, the girls feel, although to a lesser degree.

The actual alien invasion storyline is actually consistent and does focus on the spread of the invasion from the initial group that the character DD was transporting, to a more serious outcome which results in certain humans become aware of the events. Considering this series was produced almost ten years ago, it works well with the design capabilities they evidently had at the time and surprisingly, kept me hooked over all the episodes.

Overall, whilst there is a rewarding storyline if you are willing to watch through the entire series, for the most part, it progresses slowly to a rewarding ending.

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In comparison to most recent anime series, there are many noticeable design differences between them and this series. The environmental designs have the hand-drawn appearance to them which for a series taking place in a rural town in Hokkaido, goes really well with the setting, and honestly, I would like to see more current series implement this design, as it really is a beauty to look at most of the time. To put it in a single word…. I would use “Vibrant”. In terms of the character designs, if I were to compare to the series I watched around that time…. which weren’t many considering I myself, was the age of the main characters at the time of first release, the designs are actually decent. Without any constraints in terms of uniforms or the like, the characters mostly changed outfits during the series which allowed some diversification, and it didn’t try to overdo the designs by having the characters with unusual hair colours or similar (Actually, the one character that does, has his hair dyed).

In terms of the Figure designs, they do go for the blank expressioned facial expression, which does take some getting used to when characters scream through their outfits, however they have the alien appeal one would expect and nothing magical-girl. The battle animation is also with few faults. In terms of video quality on the DVD, there were moments where the quality did drop slightly, however for the most part, it is excellent.

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Opening Theme
BOY by THE ALFEE
I am going to completely avoid questioning why a series about two girls has an opening theme entitled Boy, however in terms of overall enjoyability from the song, it is actually pretty high. The song has an appropriately timed song with both fast and slow elements, some good voice work by ALFEE and the lyrics are suitable as well. The animation is simplistic however works surprisingly well with the song and is what I would expect from a suitable theme.

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Ending Theme
Fairy Dance by THE ALFEE
After the very enjoyable Opening Sequence, the only thing I can really say about the ending is…. BO~RING~.

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In terms of the music, it is a bit unique to me. There is a sizable collection of songs, according to the official OST, a total of 40-ish songs, however you will find most of them are used in the more lighthearted segments of the series, as the battle themes consist of approximately two to three instrumental songs and a lyrical song titled Battle of Fire. Whilst the instrumental songs are average at best, the lyrical song is composed of a number of different parts, and when used in the battle, go together quite well. The other tracks in the series are usually softer tracks, however are used quite well in the series.

In terms of voice acting, to give the twins some diversification, they have appropriately issued different voice actors for the two girls, with Kari Wahlgren voicing Tsubasa (Other roles include: Celty from Durarara!! and Kagami from Lucky Star) and Willow Armstrong voicing Hikaru (Other roles include: Kari from Digimon Adventures 1/2 and Misao from Lucky Star). These two do a good job at portraying the personalities of the two girls. Lex Lang who voices D.D and Karen Strassman voicing Oldina also do more then suitable jobs for their more serious roles in the series.

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For a fat pack, which consists of four discs and the entire series, you would expect lots and lots of bonus goodies included in the disc. The good thing is they have included a large compilation of extras over the discs, which includes:

  • Textless Opening
  • Promo Video
  • Behind The Scenes 1-3
  • Recap Trailer
  • Japanese Voice Acting Session
  • Trailers
  • Interview with Musical Director
  • Production Press Conference
  • ATX Anime Event Report
  • Asami Katsura’s Voice Over Report

If you like these sorts of extras, it will keep you going for a fair while. Not related to the extras, but there was one small personal annoyance, and that was the build quality of the fat pack box. Whilst it holds all the discs safely when storing, I found it damn near impossible to get the discs out of it, giving me the impression that I would first break the disc before getting it out.

Finally, in my personal opinion, fans of a slower paced anime will most probably find something in this series to enjoy, and to me, I actually found this a rewarding watch. However, for those who are after a sci-fi action filled series, take the hint of there being two young girls on the cover and do not expect anything other then an average battle series with lots and lots of personal character development.

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.
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