Film:
DVD:

Created by Robert Mandell

Features:

Episode guide

Character bios

Photo gallery

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

Evil queen

Western tropes

Luddites

Released by: Koch
Region: 1
Rating: All ages.
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Great for a rental or a nostalgia buy; if you have kids, get it.

In the year 2086, a new organization is formed to protect humans across the galaxy from non-human threats: the Bureau of Extraterrestrial Affairs, AKA the Galaxy Rangers. These rangers police the galaxy and support ideals of justice, peace, and order throughout the known universe.

This American-made anime aired in the mid-1980s and was unusual at the time for thinking kids might enjoy intelligent writing and continuous storylines, and not just anthropomorphic animals beating the hell out of each other over and over. The characters have a nice mix of personalities, as well as abilities, including super-computers, psychic powers, and cybernetics, and like most modern TV shows, the characters are only used on the show when it makes sense for them to be there contributing. The writers did not feel as if they had to shove every character into every episode just to have them there, unlike other team shows of the day, like Superfriends.

In the first of four episodes on the disc, the rangers get a tip from alien informant, Geezi the Pedulont, and are off to the domed city of Tortuna to recover some prized Memory Birds from the Queen herself. In the second episode, a deadly sculpture called Po has been stolen; this sculpture absorbs the emotions of 1000 people, and then emits them when touched. Can the Rangers recover it and withstand the force and pain of this effect?

In the third episode, the machinery of a newly colonized farming world awakens an ancient menace sleeping deep beneath the surface of the planet, which then possesses a scarecrow and endangers everyone. In the final episode, it's politics as usual when the wicked Queen of the Crown tricks King Spartos of Tarkon. Even though they are there to help him face an invasion, the Rangers are imprisoned by the King, who fears technology.

The DVD quality is surprisingly good. Care went into the digitalization and restoration, and it is nice to see a company, Koch Vision in this case, devote that much care to an old show. The animation and style are very 1980s in their aesthetic, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The extras include episode synopses, character bios, and a photo gallery. The bios are particularly nice if you are new to the series and managed to miss it on TV as a teenager.

If you are a fan of outer space adventure anime such as Gundam, Batman: TAS, and other similar shows, then you'll definitely want to give Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers a try. It has a fun combination of science-fiction and Old West elements that make it entertaining and unique. It is also a fine piece of 80s nostalgia that will take you back to your childhood in an entertaining and refreshing way. It is also a solid bet for parents looking for kid-friendly entertainment that avoids sex and too much violence, but still manages to be entertaining and interesting. If you think one more DBZ episode will send you right over the edge, then get these discs for your kids and relax. You might be surprised by how good it really is.

Buy it from Amazon.