Burn Up W isn't one of the more well known anime series. It seems like many people just have not heard of it. However, it has gone on to a certain kind of fame in a sense, as the main character is very popular, even among those who have yet to watch the series. I think it's pretty obvious as to why her image can be found inside the computers of fanboys everywhere.

Meet Rio, anime babe to the extreme and member of the elite special police unit Team Warrior (W, get it?). She's a smart, talented policewoman with a thirst for action and problem with paying her ever-accumulating bills. And you'll have to forgive me as I must be perfectly blunt when I say that she is hot. Really hot. And she knows it too.

Along with the gun loving Maya, the super cute computer hacker Lillica, hardware expert Nambel, and the dorky token make Yugi, together with their leader Maki they comprise the heroes of one of the wildest, craziest anime I've ever seen.

How exactly do I describe this series? Even as I write this I struggle to find the words. The best thing I can say is that this series is a strange mixture of contrasting genres, gimmicks, parodies, violence, jokes, and action scenes that somehow ends up being highly entertaining.

Perhaps a brief individual dissection of these 4 episodes is in order.

Episode 1 introduces the team and sets up the main plot line. A group of pathetic terrorists hijack a hotel and make ridiculous demands, including a naked bungee jump by a beautiful famous signer. This signer refused, but (much to Yugi's delight) Rio takes her place! But it's all a front by a professional criminal organization to hide a sinister new virtual drug.

The second episode involves the kidnapping of a "virtual idol", which is some kind of computer girlfriend program and (again, to Yugi's delight) Team Warrior is called into action. There's a very cool ass kicking android ninja bodyguard woman and a hilariously blatant copyright-bending spoof on Evangelion when a large purple robot designed by Nambel is thrown into the mix for some reason.

Then, quite suddenly, the third and fourth episodes together take a dark and serious turn, where a police officer is brainwashed and goes on a killing spree inside his own station. Rio's best friend is murdered in cold blood and she vows revenge as she and Maya fight against a pair of strength-enhanced psychotic villains working for people behind the virtual drug. Lots of blood and violence decorate the added growing character depth.

Is this an action, a comedy, a cop show, or a sci-fi show? Who cares!? It's just a really fun series.

Animation is sleek and smooth with bright colours and lighting effects. The background design is incredible, with highly detailed slightly futuristic buildings with some incredible perspective applied. And character design? Just look at these pictures. They're absolutely fantastic, perfectly suiting their nicely defined personalities, each of whom have a funny little quirk. I especially like Maya, who gets incredibly excited when she's handling a firearm and becomes antsy and irritable when she's not.

All this craziness is accompanied by a great soundtrack. The theme song is really catchy, even though it makes very little sense to me. One line is translated to "About the whereabouts of forbidding blinking". Uhh.. yeah.

Oh, and another thing I should add. There's fan service. Lots and lots of fan service. These pictures are some of the tamer shots. I mean, there is absolutely no shame at all in the placement of camera angles. The girls are very, well, bouncy. Impossibly bouncy. We're talking bouncy to the levels of breaking the laws of physics. Often times while wearing form fitting or revealing outfits that look like they're about to burst. While there are a few shots of very brief nudity, just about everything else is gratuitous fan service. I'm trying to handle this as maturely as I possibly can, and it's really no worse then other anime out there, but I'm telling you, there's a whole lot of fan service going on, so if that offends you, you're not going to like this. Personally, I think it's funny.

Of course, I have to mention the time when Ryo tries to sell her own underwear in order to help pay off her debts. You can be assured that hilarity ensues, especially when Yugi walks in!

The Disc

No complaints here. The picture looks pretty good and is extremely bright (maybe too bright at times), and it sounds great. Much like Eva, you've got your choice of languages. I've seen the entire series in both English and Japanese. Both sound nice and clear. As usual I prefer the Japanese audio as some of the English voices seem a bit off to me, but both tracks are acted loudly and way over the top, just the way a show like this should be.

The menus are cool, with great pictures of the cast and each selection being labeled wit a police theme. A photo gallery and the typical ADV trailer selections round out the extra features. One of the neater extras is the use of the angle feature when the credits roll. Push the angle button to switch between credits for the Japanese or English voice casts. An unexpected and welcomed feature.

The best part is probably the value. It's not a cheap disk by any stretch, but you get the whole series with one pop. On VHS, each episode was released separately and to buy all 4 tapes would cost more than to buy this DVD.

Conclusion

Take my advice. Sit back and just let yourself enjoy it. There's no complicated story lines to hurt your brain. It's not going to make you think. Just give it a shot and don't take it so seriously. You might like it. Oh, and watch out for falling plot holes.

There's another Burn Up released before this one, but apparently they have nothing to do with each other. However, there is supposed to be sequel Burn Up series that will continue the story set by this one. I don't know very much about it yet but I think I will be picking it up when it inevitably makes it's way to North America. Until then..

Flash your dream, the present's here only once, so get it on!