EL 1 & 2 (NuTech Box Set) Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  6/14/2005

The Little Details

Running Time: 53 min.

Production Date: 2000

Director: None given

Cast: Animated with voices by Shelbee Myne and Lola

The Short Story

Initial Expectations: I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this one, but had some hopes for it.

Initial Reaction: There’s some good ideas here, but it feels unfocused while also trying to cram the ideas into a fraction of the time that they need.

Who Should Watch It : Anybody wanting a little sex and a lot of confusion

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody wanting people who look like they enjoy sex or a well done across the boards adult cartoon.

The Technical Stuff

Audio /Video Quality: The audio and video both appear very good for what the source is like. The animation isn’t that developed, think Pokemon, but there isn’t any noticeable pixelation or remnants to hold it back further.

Music: The music is nicely balanced with the rest of the audio and changes to fit each scene in the movie, whether it’s sexual or non-sexual.

Disc Problems: According to the movie side of the first DVD there’s supposed to be trailers on the B-side of the DVD, but nothing’s there.

Menus: The main menu is extremely long, but not bad. The chapter menu lets you choose a scene based on a small clip of each scene and a title for the scene.

The Feature

The El Box Set contains EL 1 and EL 2. As I’ve already reviewed each of these DVDs separately I’ll cover some of the general points, thoughts, and trends here and leave the smaller details to those reviews.

The story of El takes place in a city of the future after nuclear war breaks out over an argument about the environmental pollution issue in 2038. El is a sniper cop in the city trying to bring down Mr. Gimmick and his Black Widows while pop star Parsley tries to seduce her. I found the plot extremely confusing, especially through the first episode, and done in a way that I just couldn’t get into. There were some great ideas there, but very few of them came out well. Half of the time they felt disheveled and the other half they felt like they were crammed in so tight that they couldn’t breath. It’s not a good combination, and although most of the questions are answered by the end of the feature, I can’t say that I was satisfied with it.

Sadly, the sex is typical of the hentai way that turns so many people off. Very little of the sex in El is consensual, and much of it is also brought in around torture. There’s a little sex in the feature where the people look like they’re enjoying it, but it’s not a common occurrence. Even when there was consensual, caring sex, I found myself unable to really enjoy it just because of the overall mood of everything else around it. Sexually, El is anything but hot.

The animation of El is pretty well done. It flows smoothly and actually allows you to see the “naughty body parts” rather than glossing over them, which I’ve seen way too many times. It flows smoothly and although El is animated, it never seems childlike or like it’s just there to amuse you.

El leaves me a bit perplexed. The more I think about it the more I want to like it, but I just can’t do it. I really like some of the explanation for everything when it gets that far, but at the same time I hate it because it could have been done so much better. Of course, that so much better would have meant that El would have needed one or two more episodes, but I think that would have really helped out the entire series. Of course, it would have also helped if the sex wasn’t so concentrated on torture, rape, and other warm and fuzzy acts which did absolutely nothing for me. The ideas in El might help it appeal to some people, but I think the sex is going to turn off many more. Rent this one before you even think of buying it.

The Extra Stuff

A photo gallery is included for Shelbee, Lola, and the feature itself. Each gallery for the girls lasts about two minutes and a quarter with six seconds per nice looking full screen photo, while the feature gallery lasts about a minute and a half. There’s also weblinks and trailers for NuTech’s other anime offerings on the B-side of the second DVD. .

The Down -n- Dirty Sex Stuff

Themes: Anime, peeing, torture, rape, group, lesbian, toys, masturbation, DP, anal, and B&D

Raincoat Factor: Low

Condom Usage: None Needed

The Bottom Line:

Currently most of the NuTech anime 2 DVD Box Sets can be found online for between $20 and $41 with most stores offering it around $30. Rent this one before you even think about buying it. There’s an okay idea here, but it never comes through too well. The technical aspects aren’t too bad, but the extras suck.

Note to NuTech: I can see no reason why this shouldn’t have been a one DVD release other than greed.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me .

Other reviews by Astroknight