Saturday, October 12, 2013

DVD Box Series #4: Batman the Animated Series



Well it has been a while since my last post and this is something I am hoping to remedy. During the last month and a half I have been working from 60-70 hours a week and well time gets away from you when you spend your time sleeping :)

I am reviewing the box set for Batman the animated series. This is probably one of my more cherished memories from my teenage years. This would come on and I'd be in front of the TV watching it along with Pinkie and the Brain, Freekazoid and Animaniacs on a Saturday morning. This series didn't run terribly long only having two seasons and each having a strange episode count (over 50 in the first season). This of course had a few spinoffs of its own including the superman animated series and the batman/superman animated series. I feel this series was instrumental in getting the superhero back into the entertainment business.
  



The Packaging is fairly solid being a rather large rectangular box dividing the set up into the 4 basic box sets that were released separately early on. The actual packaging included a nice full colored book but unfortunately the cases with the DVDs are a little flimsy making me worry a tad about the condition and preservation. Overall it is a pretty nice case but with the flaws involved I have to give it a 7/10. 



The content of the series itself is pretty high. The first season is excellently done and I must tell you I loved this series and unlike some series it has managed to withstand time and still be pretty darn good. The stories are gripping and the animation is well done...until season two. Season Two I feel lost something, the stories were a bit campier and the animation and figure design lost a lot of quality with little itty bittie bodies and large heads. As this is the case I would recommend if you do not get this set I would just get the first three box sets that contain season one and leave the last box set alone. Due to this balance I give the series a 7/10. 


Last but not least is the content. The booklet is very nice with early sketches and in full color and it includes 8 featurettes including a new one released on a special bonus disc with the series. There are are also some nice commentaries included with this set that do give insight into the series. I would say that this does help to make the set a better buy giving it 8/10 

In the end here is the summary:
Case:                                        7/10
Content:                                   7/10
Quality of the Show:                 8/10
            Total Rating:              7/10

Now I am sure you are asking yourself “where can I get this and what will it cost me?” I love dealoz.com as it helps me check many many stores at one time for the best deal. Rightstuff.com is also a good place for anime and asian sets when they start to go out of print. I will give you the best used and new price as per that site*.

*Please note that these deals change day to day so the prices could get better or worse. The prices are for these specific editions so you may find the show for a better deal.  

Average set:     New     $75.99 ebay
                        Used    $103.68 half.com 

I managed to find this particular set on ebay for about $50 when I originally bought it. I am glad I did. I'll leave you all with a nice pic I have of the whole kit and kaboodle.


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