Blassreiter: The Complete Series, Part 1

This anime series set in Germany offers an unlikely combination of Transformers and Night of the Living Dead, with the recently deceased—felled by a blood-borne plague—returning as mechanized monsters called Demoniacs. Riding to the rescue is Joseph Jobson, a mysterious motorcyclist who is infected with the dreaded disease. Needless to say, he faces a double struggle: killing off the Demoniacs while trying to not become one of them. Meanwhile, Gerd Frentzen, a motorcyclist critically injured in an accident, agrees to try an experimental drug as part of his hospital treatment but becomes a Demoniac as a result. When a special police force called the Xenogenesis Assault Team wants to use Gerd as a test subject to fight the monsters, things go awry. Blassreiter features plenty of slam-bang violence, and the narrative moves so quickly and the Demoniacs are so visually striking that anime fans will easily become caught up in its visceral energy. Compiling 12 episodes (of 24) from the 2008 series in a dual-language two-disc set, rated TV-MA, DVD extras include an episode audio commentary and promo videos. Highly recommended. [Note: Blassreiter: The Complete Series, Part 2 is also newly available.] Aud: P. (P. Hall)