Disgaea Volume 2   Starring (voice): Kaori Mizuhashi, Tomoe Hanba and Yuko Sasamoto MVM RRP: £15.99 MVD2271 Certificate: 15 Available 03 August 2009

Flonne is a not very successful angel in training from Celestia. Having been given the task of hunting down and killing King Krichevskoy, it has taken her two years to track down what she thinks is his coffin, in a garbage dump. The problem is that, having broken into the coffin with a rocket, she doesn’t find Krichevskoy but his son Laharl. When Laharl discovers that his father is dead he determines to travel to his castle and claim the throne...

Disgaea: Volume 2 (2006) and we carry on with another four episodes of the over the top silliness, in this show which is played strictly for laughs. The show doesn’t forget its roots as a consol game; even one of the characters is referred to as a mid-boss, much to his personal annoyance.

The animation style is whimsical, which perfectly matches the show's content. The show's strengths are its comedy; its weakness is the very tenuous story arc, which so far hasn’t progressed very far. This does mean that you can watch individual episodes without missing much information. If you’re into just playing an episode for a bit of light relief this will be a strength but if you’re looking for an immersive story arc then you’re looking in the wrong place.

So this disc kicks off with episode five, A Dungeon of Temptation... Maybe. Laharl continues with his quest to reclaim his father’s kingdom, but it seems that this time someone has put a price on his head. Things go quickly downhill when he accepts a dinner invitation from the demon slayer Saldia, who traps Laharl and Etna. Fionne meanwhile is lost in the desert and Captain Gordon, the 37th Defender of Earth, is also on his case, ineptly aided by the buxom partner and a robot called Thursday. If nothing else the characters names should give you pretty much an accurate idea of just how silly the show is. Each episode finishes with a peek at the next.

So he’s gathering vassals to his cause as they traverse the Netherworld, moving closer to his goal, but first Laharl decides to claim the bounty for himself with episode six, Etna’s Embarrassing Secret. When the crew get to their destination, they discover that the castle is owned by Maderas, a demon who was banished for stealing dumplings, but before he can claim his bounty he is betrayed by Etna.

The show mixes up the relationships with episode seven, Netherworld Siblings, which introduces Maharl, who is supposedly Laharl’s little sister. The episode is similar to the preceding two in that it’s a bit of fluffy nonsense, enjoyable in its own way, but the general lack of narrative progression makes them start to feel a bit samey. This is not something which the last episode, and so far best, can be accused of. Episode eight, The Prinnie's Longest Day! If you haven’t seen the show the Prinnies are, by far, the most interesting characters - oddly surreal penguins - which try to band together.

The show is difficult to judge, it’s not well written and the story often appears to be going nowhere. On the plus side, if you like a lot of brightly coloured characters prating about, this may well be your thing. Personally I found it started to grate after a while.

The picture is bright, if a little soft, with the options of either an English or Japanese audio track, with optional subtitles. The disc is extra free, unless you count trailers. From what was a good start, the lack of progress in the story is starting to look like a major weakness.

6

Charles Packer