Product: Gasaraki: Volume Two - The Circle Opens (1998)
Rating: 4.0
Building up steam...
Thefirst volume of Gasarakireally surprised me. It was well written and thoughtful, trying to tell a deep story that was more about behind the scenes power plays than robot brawls.This second disc continues to add new wrinkles and complications. The war with Belgistan comes to a close (which surprised me as I thought it was going to run through the entire series) and the JSSDF forces prepare to pull out. We learn about a secret organization calling itself Symbol that was assisting Belgistan, though their motivations for doing so are still clouded.Yushiro causes some commotion when he heads off base and winds up in the middle of a kidnapping. We also see more of the mysterious girl from the first disc that seems to share Yushiro's powers.Very little seems to happen episode by episode. If the disc is watched straight through it is very satisfying viewing, but I can see that if I were watching this half an hour at a time as it was broadcast it would have been tough to follow.