Canaan: Complete Collection

This intricate anime series revolves around a central trio of very different female characters whose paths cross in highly imaginative ways during an anti-terrorism conference in Shanghai. The eponymous Canaan is an assassin with an advanced form of synesthesia, a sense-altering condition that enables her, for example, to read someone's mood as a color. Canaan becomes a protector to Maria, an amnesiac photographer who was infected with something called the “Ua virus” during an earlier terrorist attack (Maria's physician father developed a vaccine to save her life). Maria is a pawn in a rivalry between Canaan and the third woman—Alphard, the leader of a terrorist organization called Snake. Also on hand is the reporter Minoru, who's been assigned to cover the conference and is additionally investigating a curious phenomenon involving people with mysterious purple scars on their necks. Canaan is packed with both intrigue and adventure, a fast-paced series featuring three strong women that is unusually well written and handsomely animated. Compiling all 13 episodes from 2009 in a dual-language, two-disc set, rated TV-14, extras include “Minorikawa's Report”—a narrated, condensed version of the first few segments. Highly recommended. (P. Hall)