Blazblue: Alter Memory

This anime series takes place in the year 2199, a dystopian future still resonating from the devastation of global wars. A criminal named Ragna is seeking revenge against Yuki Terumi, who also goes by the name Hazama and runs a paramilitary group seeking to round up criminals like Ragna. But Ragna is not your run-of-the-mill miscreant: he has a prosthetic arm that doubles as a weapon, and his crime spree has resulted in a ridiculously high bounty placed on his head. Also on hand is a vampire named Rachel Alucard (spell her surname backwards!) with a magical cat. Since this series was inspired by the Blazblue video game franchise, it would definitely help if viewers were already acquainted with the storyline's intricacies, as the narrative here is often extremely confusing. But the animation is visually striking, and some of the action sequences carry a visceral energy that compensates for the opaque storytelling. Presenting all 12 episodes from 2013 in a dual-language Blu-ray/DVD Combo set, rated TV-14, this is a strong optional purchase. (P. Hall)