Speed Racer Volume 3 contains episodes twenty-four through thirty-six of the Speed Racer anime series. Because thirteen episodes were crammed onto the disc, the video quality is noticeably lower in comparison to the first two volumes (the episodes on this disc look rather fuzzy). And with thirteen episodes being crammed onto the disc, there are absolutely no special features included.
Like the first two DVDs, this disc contains chapter marks, but they are not usable by the viewer. In order to skip over something, the viewer has to use the fast forward button on their DVD player’s remote control. However, unlike the other Speed Racer volumes, this disc was packaged in a metal tin instead of a standard DVD box. However, it should be noted that when this DVD was reissued to correspond with the release of the live-action Speed Racer film, it was repackaged into a regular DVD box.
Overall, I was rather disappointed in this particular Speed Racer DVD. The first disappointment came in the packaging of the copy that I purchased. The tin it is packaged in is circular, in an effort to resemble a tire. A cardboard slipcase slides over the tin. Unfortunately, there is no hub in the tin to hold the DVD steady, so the DVD just slides around in the tin. What I dislike about this is the fact that by being able to slide around, the DVD is more likely to become damaged.
My next disappointment came in the fact that thirteen episodes were crammed onto the DVD. It really makes no sense, especially when the final two volumes of Speed Racer only include eight episodes on each on them. It seems like they could have found a way to divide the episodes a little more evenly across the five DVDs. From looking through my discs, it would have made more sense to have included 10 or 11 episodes on each disc. In fact, I would have split it out this way: disc one would have contained eleven episodes, the second disc would have contained ten episodes, disc three would have contained eleven episodes, and discs four and five would have had ten episodes each. Also, if it had been up to me, the special features would have been spread out over more of the discs, instead of only being included on the first two.
The inferior video quality on this particular set was also rather disappointing. The fuzziness that arose from the video compression was glaringly obvious, and it made the set a little harder to enjoy.
If you’re a fan of the Speed Racer anime and want to have all of the episodes on DVD, then you have to pick up this release to accomplish your goal. However, be prepared to be disappointed in the video quality and the lack of special features.
I wrote this review after watching a copy of this DVD that my husband and I purchased.
