Cleopatra DC Review

Hi everybody. Well, the relatives have come & gone, and Tiny Tina’s Assault On Dragon Keep has been conquered. With those two things out of the way, it’s time to get back on schedule with the reviews for July! Today’s review is a fun but rather unknown title released by Anime Works, a group known for putting out more obscure titles. So, let’s not waste more time, and review Cleopatra DC!

Story/Setup
Here’s the snipbit from the Wikipedia page:

“Cleopatra, or Cleo as she's known to her friends, would much rather go on vacation in some exotic locale than concern herself with the business end of the Corns Conglomerate, which is the most powerful economic player in the United States. However, Cleo has a kind and forgiving nature, and will not shy away if trouble is near. And more often than she cares for, Cleo and her friends find themselves in all sorts of fantastic adventures, from putting out oil well fires to safeguarding a powerful telepathic girl.”

Like Black Magic M-66, this is an easy story that I can get behind.

Setting
For the most part, the setting Cleopatra DC is rather ordinary. You’ve got urban environments, mansions, and office buildings. Things do start to get into more exotic fare towards the end of the first episode when the gang travels to an oil field in the Middle East, as well as the NASA Space Station in episode 2, and a submarine & secret laboratory in episode 3. Unfortunately for this show, the more fantastic places seem rather lackluster, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

Characters
Cleopatra DC has a colorful cast of characters, both primary & secondary. For starters is the show’s title character: like the story section says, Cleopatra would rather go on vacation or enjoy an easier life. With that said, she does have a heart, and won’t back down when trouble shows up. Her friend & partner, Sven, is almost her exact opposite. She’s responsible, proper, and practical. Despite their differences, the two girls form a nice partnership, and will hunker down & solve a problem when it arises. Sven’s qualities also extend to the other members of the group, they’re all hard-working, and have a no-nonsense attitude to them (Although one of them, Nakky, seems to be a little more young & whiney at times).

The bad guys, while weak in terms of character, are all stereotypically evil. They’re over-the-top, scumbaggy, and somehow likable because of how goofy they can be. This is especially true of the mercenary leader: he looks & acts like somebody you’d see from an Arnold movie from the 80s. On top of that, the guy has a bitchin mustache!

Animation
Cleopatra DC is a very stylized show. The men in this show look either very handsome, mildly good looking, or rather gruff (This is especially true for the mercenaries hired by the bad guys). As for the women, they all look rather lovely. Even some of the more timid & meek girls have some looks to them. Unfortunately, this doesn’t necessarily extend to everything else. For one thing, these moments in each episode where it looks darker than it should (It’s not quite as bad as Angel Cop was, but it can be within the ballpark sometimes). Secondly, the backgrounds for the most part look rather plain & boring. Even the more fantastical settings, such as the NASA space station in the 2nd episode, and the submarine & laboratory in the 3rd episode, feel weak. If more effort was put into them, perhaps they would stand out more.

Voice Acting
Given Anime Works’s habit of dubbing some shows & leaving other shows without a dub, I’m going to assume that this show doesn’t have one. Luckily, the episodes I downloaded had subtitles (Unlike my downloaded copy of Barefoot Gen 2), and thus I knew what was going on. If there is a dub, then I’ll be quite surprised.

Episodes & Episode Length
Cleopatra DC is a 3-episode OVA, with various running times within each episode. The first & second episode run at 29 minutes each, while the final episode is a much longer 50 minutes. Pretty much like everything I’ve reviewed so far, Cleopatra DC is a afternoon kind of show, although given the somewhat risque nature of some of the characters, you might not want to watch this among polite company.

Availability & Pricing
Despite being a obscure show, Cleopatra DC was released. However, finding a copy can be a little difficult. I was able to find a couple new & used copies over on Amazon, but not many. Luckily, the prices for both copies start out relatively low, so there’s that.

Extras/Other
Since I downloaded this, I don’t know what the extras are.

General Impression & Rating
Cleopatra DC is an odd show for me. On the one hand, it’s a relatively forgettable show. It goes by so quickly, you really don’t have time to absorb what you saw. Having said that, while I was watching this, I was having fun! It’s a very high-energy kind of show, filled with colorful characters, a healthy dose of comedy & action, and some sprinkles of fan service to keep the guys interested. I wouldn’t actively encourage you to find a copy of this show, but if you happen to acquire the show, I’d say give it a go or two.

Cleopatra DC gets a 7 out of 10.

See you all later this week, when we’ll look at a rather odd movie. Until then, stay Otaku!