Burn-Up W

Original Title: Burn-Up W
Romanized: Burn-Up W
Literal:

Plot Synopsis

In File 1: SKIN DIVE terrorists take over a tower where world leaders are meeting, and the elite Team Warrior is called in to rescue the hostages. The terrorists are complete amateurs, leaving Warrior wondering who was really behind the attack...

In File 2: SEARCH FOR THE VIRTUAL IDOL, a popular virtual idol goes missing off the net and the Warriors are assigned to find her. However, after they receive a ransom demand from the missing idol herself and are ambushed by an attack android, things start to go downhill...

In Files 3 and 4: POLICETOWN ASSAULT, a strange device is seized during a police raid. Before Warrior can figure out what it is, Policetown is attacked by the elite soldiers of the Virtual Drug Cartel: Cerberus, the Dogs of War. With a traitor inside rendering the police helpless, it's up to Warrior once again to defeat the terrorists and retake the building. Now it's personal.

Quick Review

Rating: 3 / 5
Reviewer: Arcane
Review Date: 2005-01-28

Burn-Up W is serious comedy--seriously silly and funny for the first half, and a serious action show with some comedy in the second. Both halves work well enough, and surprisingly, they also seem to work together. It looks good, too, so the only thing missing is a satisfying conclusion--it feels like it ends before it's really done.

Overall, Burn-Up W is some crazy comedy, dense plot and cool action all rolled into one series. If only it had a proper end.

US DVD Review

The DVD is standard ADV fare, featuring flashy menus. It includes all four episodes, both English and Japanese soundtracks, an English subtitle track, production sketches, and the Japanese credits via an alternate angle. It has since been re-released as part of ADV's "Essential Anime Collection" with a remastered 5.1 channel soundtrack.

Content Guide

ADV calls it 15-up.

Violence: 2 - Starts off with none, escalates to considerable, but the blood ain't convincing.

Nudity: 3 - Surprisingly little actual nudity, but almost all outfits are tight (except Yuji's of course).

Sex/Mature Themes: 2 - Quite a lot of sex-based jokes, including a trip into a used underwear shop.

Language: 1 - Nothing exceptional.

Notes and Trivia

A sort-of follow up series to the original Burn Up! one shot (the only character who apparently carries over is Maki with some changes), Burn Up W is considerably higher budget and more filled out. It has since been followed up by two TV series featuring the same set of characters, Burn-Up Excess and Burn-up Scramble.

Availability

Available in the US on hybrid DVD from ADV. There is also an older DVD release, as well as subtitled and dubbed VHS sets.

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