Sol Bianca - The Legacy #1: Lost Treasures

Starring:Sol Bianca-Legacy
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
The adventures of the rambunctious space pirates of the spacecraft Sol Bianca continue with the first two episodes in the new story line, The Legacy. In "Emblem," Captain April and her unruly crew set out to recover a rare Frontier Age flintlock stolen from her years before. They find it at an auction on a distant planet, and snatch it from the grasp of the sinister Gyunter of the Terra Force. In "Memories," Gyunter and brash Lieutenant Ranny pursue the Sol Bianca to the ruined planet Consegra. Jun and Mayo find themselves in a deadly maze, more or less inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, but navigate it with the aid of Sancho, a genie/graphic interface that Jun keeps in a ring. The writing is spotty, with adventures ending before they really get started. The viewer never sees crew members Jun and Mayo escape from the maze; they just turn up at the end of the episode. Fans of these outrageous female pirates probably won't care about these shortcomings, though, because director Hiroyuki Ochi and writer Hideki Mitsui give them plenty of fast-paced battles, wisecracks, sky chases, and explosions. (Ages 11 and older due to violence and occasional profanity) --Charles Solomon
Description
The all-girl crew of the pirate ship Sol Bianca is not afraid of anyone, so when they cross paths with the most powerfully armed power in the known universe, it is sure to be a wild ride!

Sol Bianca - The Legacy - Limited Edition Boxed Set
Average customer rating:

Some Knowledge of Original Series Needed

Sol Bianca - The Legacy - Limited Edition Boxed Set
Starring: Sol Bianca-Legacy
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00009B8D4
Release Date: 2003-07-01

Amazon.com

Although this 1999 six-episode OVA continues the adventures of the space pirates of the Sol Bianca, the character designs and stories have been completely reworked from the 1990 original. Captain April and her unruly crew--Feb, Jun, Jeni, and young stowaway Mayo--set out to recover a rare "Frontier Age" flintlock stolen from her years before. They find it at an auction on a distant planet, and snatch it from the grasp of the sinister Gyunter of the Terra Force. Gyunter and brash lieutenant Ranny pursue the Sol Bianca across the cosmos.

Both crews eventually find their way to Earth, which is now encased in a Dyson Sphere, a metal shell approximately the diameter of the orbit of the moon. The Admiral, who serves as Gyunter's commander, regards the pirate ship as a fabulous artifact and is determined to capture it at any cost. Inexplicably, Gyunter turns on the Admiral in the heat of battle and fires a nuclear missile. The Sol Bianca not only survives the blast, it's resurrected, with enough power to vaporize the evil Admiral--although Gyunter somehow survives. The sketchy storylines and flat character interactions do little more than tie together the sky chases, elaborate effects, and shoot-'em-up action. Writer Hideki Mitsui's stolid dialogue lacks the outrageous espirit de corps that won the earlier incarnations of Sol Bianca so many fans. (Rated 13 and older: violence, occasional profanity, nudity, sexual situations) --Charles Solomon

Description

Mankind has taken up residence in space, with any memories of Earth more a legend than a reality. A militaristic splinter group, known as the Earthians, share a quasi-religious belief that the Earth is sacred ground, and prefer to use force to seize the Earth's holy treasures. However, the beautiful crew of the pirate ship, Sol Bianca, gleefully challenges the Earthians oppressive tactics and meets might with might. Join April, Jun, Janni, Feb, Meiyo, and their marvelous space ship, the Sol Bianca, as they challenge the forces of the Galaxy in the pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Lawlessness! Contains all 6 episodes collected in a "Bailey Box."

Customer Reviews:

Some Knowledge of Original Series Needed.......2006-06-09

Winter of 1992 I was introduced to an English Subtitled tape of Sol Bianca... Yes, it was good, it had its interesting points... Sol Bianca 2, however, seemped to ramp things up a bit.( And left you in a seriously big lurch at the end, making me wish there was more out there)

However, that clifhanger ending of Sol Bianca 2 was what made the previous reviewer's comment about Jun's association with the ship click in my head. I've got the first tape, looking forward to the remaining 4 episodes.

Average customer rating:

Expand your fantasy
An enjoyable flick

Sol Bianca - The Legacy #3: Going Home
Starring: Rica Matsumoto , Yoshiko Sakakibara , Eri Miyajima , Tomo Saeki , and Haruhiko Jô
Director: Hiroyuki Ochi
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Sol Bianca - The Legacy #2: Separation
Sol Bianca - The Legacy #1: Lost Treasures

ASIN: B000055XA8
Release Date: 2001-02-13

Description

extended Family Values! Captain's Log: We may fight, but families are important, and Feb's departure has fractured the family of our crew. Fortunately, Jun has a lead on Feb and on Mayo's family, so if we're lucky, we should be able to celebrate two family reunions. It will probably be a big fight to get Feb back from the Earthian's headquarters, and she may not even appreciate a rescue... Still, family's worth fighting for, and if we didn't like a little rough, we wouldn't be pirates! - April

Customer Reviews:

Expand your fantasy.......2001-10-30

The design of the ship, the system in the ship, and the angel's appearance caught my imagination since the first time I watched this Sol Bianca. As the last serie of the Sol Bianca The Legacy, the ending story is well plotted and let's say, it makes your heart out.

Not to mention the energetic (I mean it!), ENERGETIC Theme song called 'To Be Free', sung by Stella Furst, kind of a mix of Jazz and classic rock music. I just wish to find it's CD Soundtrack.

An enjoyable flick.......2001-02-22

Sol Bianca doesn't have much new in the way of plot (this review is probably longer than the movie) and the characters are pretty familiar, but a few little things set it apart, and above all else, Sol Bianca is good old fashioned fun. The storyline itself is almost non-existent: You've got some space pirates, they help out a kid, they blow up the bad guys. That much is definite. But one thing that I thought was actually kind of amusing about the plot is that the good guys really weren't all that bright, and even the bad guy was just a two-bit dictator on a backwater planet. Instead of using all these clever plans to outsmart a vastly superior enemy and get away with it, the five women's general strategy was to just walk into a situation and assume either their physical prowess or really impressive hardware would get them out of it (which worked pretty well for them). Fans of more intelligent action movies will probably be annoyed by this, and even I was a tad put off by some of the extreme moments of good-guy supremacy, but at least the story wasn't really unrealistic--it's just that nobody was very clever. (Actually, I sort of enjoyed the underpreparedness of the Sol Bianca's crew.)

But a functional if a bit dim-witted plot isn't what caused this one to win any awards (which it did), or what made it memorable. One of the things that stands out (and most likely the reason it was so popular in its time) is the action. It's not the fastest or most gripping action I've ever seen, but it's pretty darned good. There's a great airborne chase, plenty of gunfights (with pistols that may look small but pack enough of a wallop for a bazooka), a couple of slick space battles, and my personal all-time second-favorite anime weapon (for my favorite, see Project A-ko): a laser sniper rifle with enough range to pick people off from orbit (which is exactly what Feb does with it). When it gets going, the action is so much fun, you'll probably wish there was more of it--my only real complaint is that the whole thing was over too quickly, but you can't have everything. And speaking of all those cool guns, another thing that stands out in Sol Bianca is the technology. There are the above mentioned archaic-looking (but super-powerful) pistols and laser rifle, neat laser whips, and the Sol Bianca itself, with an onboard park, dimension diving capability, a variety of interesting weapons, and a generally unique design. There were a few additional touches that were nice, like the fact that the people of Tres were really tall.

I really loved the chase sequence and the technology, but those aren't the real reason Sol Bianca stands out in my anime collection. There were two other things that set this one out from the pack for me. A lesser feature was that the story had that air of there being more to it than we're being told. There were a few things that showed up and were never fully explained, and a couple of points (like the origin of the Sol Bianca) that you got the feeling there was more to than we were being told. I enjoy that sort of storytelling, and although there was a LOT more of it in the sequel, this movie had a bit too. But, the one thing that really set Sol Bianca apart in my mind was the characters. They more or less fit into standard molds, but they were distinct and there seemed to be just a little more to them than just stereotypes. Not that they were masterworks of subtlety or something, but they were a little more three-dimensional than I was expecting, and there was a dynamic with the group that I enjoyed. Also nice was that they seemed a bit more realistic than standard action anime characters; they may have been space pirates, but I caught a whiff of "realness" to them that I found appealing. Past that, I can't really put my finger on what it is that I like about the group, but there is something, and after I saw the sequel (which, if you like the characters, I recommend), I felt vindicated--that movie definitely confirmed that whatever it was I liked about the characters in this one wasn't an accident.

The final piece of the appeal of Sol Bianca, and probably what distinguishes it above all else, is the visuals. The character designs are attractive, memorable, and unusual; in keeping with the somewhat surprising realism of their personalities, they also looked more realistic than most anime, with almost realistically proportioned eyes. The rest of the world, though not quite as good, also has a distinct look to it, with a few nice locations and some neat mechanical design (the Sol Bianca in particular was really cool). Unfortunately, the animation isn't terribly smooth, but some of the character animation was well done, and the action sequences looked slick for the most part.

The acting in this one stood out, too. The few minor parts weren't noteworthy at all, but Batros was very well cast and voiced with a proper amount of flair by Aono Takeshi, and the five women were all distinct and solidly acted. There may not have been much in the way of drama, but there was a sense of normalness to the acting and voices of the five women that I thought was quite appealing (to be honest, this is one of my all time favorite anime casts), and it also set them apart from a lot of anime heroines. It also went quite a way toward making them believable, as I mentioned above. Note, though, that ADV's creative translation bears part of the responsibility for some of the overly sentimental or awkward dialogue (not to mention a lot of profanity, though not really out of character). The music wasn't particularly notable, but there was a decent action theme that showed up a couple of times, and I thought the end theme was quite pretty.

Amazon.com

The makers of this six-episode OAV are clearly more interested in jazzy computer-graphics effects and action sequences than in coherent story lines involving the female pirates of the ship Sol Bianca. In "The Cleaner," the Sol Bianca is taken over by Booster, a fanatic mutant psychic, eager to begin a campaign of assassination. Toting enough fire power to level a fair-sized city, Jeni charges to the rescue, with the aid of Gwen, a powerful man with a curious link to Booster. In "Lovers," April shares a passionate interlude (and escapes the pull of gravity) with Percy, the dashing proprietor of a pirate theme park. The perpetually tipsy Feb decides she can't continue as a pirate, and runs away. Pressured by the other crew members, April tries to bring her back, but they end up separated. Hideki Mitsui's dialogue lacks the humor and warmth that would characterize the banter of a real team. The rather sketchy story lines and character interactions serve as vehicles for more shoot-'em-up action and elaborate effects. Jeni and Gwen battle Booster's army of murderous robots; April's rescue mission is a nonstop barrage of explosions and bullets. But the adventures of these outrageous pirates should be more fun. Unrated; suitable for ages 13 and up for nudity, violence, profanity, and sexual situations. --Charles Solomon

Description

Is it a man, or space that came between them? Captain's Log: Reminder, when the tarot cards tell of trouble, next time believe them! A terrorist violated the Sol Bianca today, but fortunately, he played the situation to Jani's strengths and she was able to answer the situation in her favorite way - with guns blazing. It's a good thing that Jani's able to control herself or she'd be a real problem. Speaking of which, Feb is getting more out of control, and the cards are warning about trouble again. I hope it's those annoying Blue Comets. They're easier to deal with than Feb's attitude. - April

Customer Reviews:

An excellent remake!.......2000-11-26

This is a fine bit of animation, in a series that I feel should have more heard of it. However, this title has a significantly darker/more mature tone to it than the original. The [adult content] and violence makes me say PG-13, not PG...

This isn't a criticism, though, I enjoy this DVD more than number one. The story is becoming more plot based, less episodic, and the characters are getting fleshed out. This series reminds me a lot of Cowboy Bebop, and the animation quality is the best of the best.

Even if you haven't seen the first DVD, this second one is more than enough as a starting point.

All in all, if you enjoy a bunch of beautiful pirates, or like Cowboy Bebop, this is a good purchase.

The series improves with action, drama and sex..........2000-11-20

All the technical shortcomings of the first DVD are still here in the second- bad digital camera work and obvious CGI ships. However I really enjoyed the stories far more in this 2 episode compilation then the first because we look deeper into the crew and the specifics of some of the characters as well as a good dose of sex, action, drama and sorrow.

Episode 3 'The Cleaner' has the Bianca held hostage by a hard core psychic with awesome abilities to manipulate objects and read minds. Jani, being off ship, is unmolested by the captuer and arms up in order to return to free the ship. Along the way she finds an unexpected love interest. Episode 4 'Lovers' deals with other pirates and the sexuality of the female crew. Feb decides to leave and creates a cliff hanger for the next and final DVD.

The music is very nice and mixed with the incredible designs it gives a great feminine romantic quality to the anime without being too cutesy or sugary like the 'girlie' anime series. Decent action in greater quantity then the first DVD spunks up the pace and the monster designs from 'The Cleaner' are pretty cool (very Mignola influenced). I recommend this DVD more then the first and give it a solid 4 stars. This has it all for the space adventure anime fan.

space exploration.......2000-08-07

A new series continued on from the older series, Sol Bianca, is a action-adventure packed anime. The space style adventures captures all the space lovers out there. Equiped with the latest technology, guns, missles, the space pirates go on different missions. One thing the new sol Bianca series has is that it's a completely digital visual and audio presentation. The girls have never looked sharper with character designs by Hiroyuki Ochi who is also responsible for the look of Armitage III.

Amazon.com

The adventures of the rambunctious space pirates of the spacecraft Sol Bianca continue with the first two episodes in the new story line, The Legacy. In "Emblem," Captain April and her unruly crew set out to recover a rare Frontier Age flintlock stolen from her years before. They find it at an auction on a distant planet, and snatch it from the grasp of the sinister Gyunter of the Terra Force. In "Memories," Gyunter and brash Lieutenant Ranny pursue the Sol Bianca to the ruined planet Consegra. Jun and Mayo find themselves in a deadly maze, more or less inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, but navigate it with the aid of Sancho, a genie/graphic interface that Jun keeps in a ring. The writing is spotty, with adventures ending before they really get started. The viewer never sees crew members Jun and Mayo escape from the maze; they just turn up at the end of the episode. Fans of these outrageous female pirates probably won't care about these shortcomings, though, because director Hiroyuki Ochi and writer Hideki Mitsui give them plenty of fast-paced battles, wisecracks, sky chases, and explosions. (Ages 11 and older due to violence and occasional profanity) --Charles Solomon

Description

The all-girl crew of the pirate ship Sol Bianca is not afraid of anyone, so when they cross paths with the most powerfully armed power in the known universe, it is sure to be a wild ride!

Customer Reviews:

CG Experiments Lameý.......2002-03-05

The original Sol Bianca was an arguably entertaining story about a smugglers ship crewed entirely by women, and a stowaway with issues. Now it seems the ship has been rediscovered by antique enthusiasts with a passion for Spanish. Fans of Armitage will find Hiroyuki Ochi's style familiar. The ambitious all CG animation is unique but not fully matured. Pans in particular are jarring and you just can't get over the feeling that it looks wrong some how. Some unique effects don't really outweigh the sense of unease created by the animation. The story might get better later but I don't think I can sit through the next 2 DVDs to find out.

Such a good short series.......2002-02-08

This series is da bomb! Unfortunently the bomb's about as big as a cherry bomb. Talk about short! 3 whole volumns with 2 episodes each. sheesh. Why did they even bother. I love the show. Terrific story, great graphics. It left me wanting more! Just when you think after watching this first episode that you're in for a long ride of swashbuckling adventure, think again.

Episodes 1 & 2 in an epic Science Fiction Drama........2001-02-19

Sol Bianca originally came to us from two OVAs (Original Video Animations) in the early 90s. These two stories told of a Sol Bianca much further along in its history than is depicted in the current video releases, which pick up the story at least one and possibly many years earlier, when May was not yet a part of the crew (she joins in episode 1). Yet, as fans of some of the best OVA series of a decade ago are discovering as these stories are remade into new modern OVA series, there are often many points of story and character redesign, in many ways a retelling of the story in a different way. Whether the new Sol Bianca OVA series ever converges back with its original OVA heritage is a matter that may only be resolved as time goes by.

I'm quite surprised by the depths of storytelling in the new OVA series. It is also very Japanese in that from the beginning of episode 1, it is clear that the whole story will not be revealed until many episodes have passed, if not until the end of the set. One must watch, wait, absorb, and above all, think, in order to appreciate this series.

Episode 1: We are swept back into Sol Binaca's past (in comparison to the original OVAs) where the new OVA begins on a backwater left-behind former frontier world. In the first three minutes a stiring montage of scenes from April's history roll out, setting the stage and placing the foundation for all the storylines. This continues for all of them, in bits and pieces, hints and possibilities, droppped here and there. The main plot is set up to introduce us to those who will obviously be the recurring villains of the series. We are also introduced to some important world-building information not previously available that begins to explain a great many things.

Episode 2: The crew is off to a planet where treasure might be found, but the Blue Comets are hot on their heels. We learn important new background information about the history of the setting and about June and about the history of the setting.

I felt my money was well spent here.

Great art work, a plot would have been nice though........2000-12-20

This is the fisrt time I have been let down by amazon reviewers. I can't believe the great reviews this movie got. Sure the art work is of very high class but does that make up for absolutely no content what so ever? I watched the first movie consisted of a ship, a couple of women, and thats about it. It was not possible to understand where whe story was going or what was happening around them. There were many characters in the movie that had no introduction and it was not possible to tell what everyone's role was. There were many battle scenes that were very pleasing to the eye but not to the mind, why were they fighting? I guess that is up to you to figure out.

As a matter of fact if you are going to get this movie I suggest you make up your own plot and apply it while you are watching. It will probably fit better that what is supplied.
I do not recomend bying this at all, rent it first. Yes the art work is good I will give them that but I need more.

Lush designs and interesting characters with scant story..........2000-11-20

I saw this OVA series around for a while and kept debating wether to buy it or not. Finally, I made the purchase and discovered it wasn't as bad as I first might have anticipated. Mind the fact that there was another Sol Bianca series which came before the 'Legacy' OAVs, so the story picks up with undefined characters and begins rolling immediately. Each DVD comes with two half hour episodes from the six episode mini-series and an 8 minute Animetronic music video using clips from the episodes.

The opening title sequence sort of gives an overall feel for what the series is about at its heart- Five females trekking around lazily yet not interacting greatly in a barren world with lots of female symbolism. The five women(one a small girl) are each named after a month in the year; Jani, Feb, April, Mayo and June (I assume this keeps in line with the 'sun' motif in the series). Typically there is the strong stubborn leader, the lusty lush, the hacker techno geek and the strong silent one however they are fleshed out very convincingly and thoughtfully unlike most anime groups cut from the old mold. They are the pirate crew of the rogue mystery space ship 'Sol Bianca' which has awesome and undefined powers. 'Sol's central computer casts a hologram of a giant goddess within its capacious CPU room and manifests itself outside the craft during certain attack maneuvers.

The most striking detail of the series is its art design and character design. I haven't seen an anime with such beautifully detailed characters. The women are drawn exceptionally well in all ways and drawn rather deftly without pandering constantly to the sexy skimpy bobbing anime woman preconcepts. Because of a more refined approach the characters seem almost real and have more depth to their believability. I noticed the rather graphic approach to minute details mirror a large influence from Mike Mignola (Hellboy comics) who happens to be a titan influence recently in American and Japanese animation. The bgs are ok, but the painting can sometimes be a little sub-standard compared to the characters. The animation is MOR and leaves a little to be desired in all ways. Perhaps the two biggest eyesores in the series are the CGI ships which appear to be CGI and the horribly abrupt camera moves which have little finese and seem as annoying as pan and scan adjusts due to this series being done digitally. The overall story isn't too bad, but appears to be an almost direct rip off of the BBC series 'Blake's 7'- unquantified legendary pirate ship piloted by crew of malcontents led by a tenous thread of leadership, and oddly also Asimov's 'Foundation and Earth'- humanity forgetting its roots in the universe and searching desperately to regain its past to correct the future. There is a little more exposition then action and the first two episodes lead to better ones in the following DVD. The content is fairly mature, and the female characters display some sour traits unsuitable for children(just incase you want buy this for your 8 year olds).

I wish there were half stars because I would have rated this DVD as 3.5 mostly for unsightly digital video technique and scant story. However I couldn't slag this series off in a million years because of the incredible drawings and character designs of women handled with more class then almost any other female anime series. A good buy.

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