The Soultaker - The Truth (Vol. 4)
Revelations continue to pile up--although they obscure as much as they reveal--as this gothic adventure reaches its conclusion. Kyosuke visits the Moon and encounters his grandfather Daigo's brain, floating in a tank. Daigo conducted the secret experiments with the drug Beta Applicon that turned humans into mutants: he got the drug from the last member of an alien race who hoped to produce a mate. Kyosuke and his twin sister Runa are the ultimate products of those experiments, and during their climactic battle, they debate whether they're human or alien. These last episodes borrow heavily fromAkiraandEvangelion, but lack the dramatic punch of their models. Director Akiyuki Shinbo bombards the viewer with still artwork, negative frames, simulated slow motion, and images that suggest stained glass, but the visual flash can't disguise the thinness of the story. Rated 16 Up: Graphic violence, grotesque imagery, profanity, brief nudity, tobacco use.--Charles Solomon