The DUAL! PARALLEL TROUBLE ADVENTURES story finishes off in this fourth volume, "One Vision". If you are new to this series, please check out our review of the original Japanese release first for a better introduction to this world. I will try to avoid any real spoilers though, so if you are interested in an overall analysis, by all means keep reading.

To best summarize the show in the all-so-popular comparison description, I would have to say that DUAL is a lot like TENCHI MUYO with a poke at NEON GENESIS EVANGELION thrown into the mix. Toss in the more original "Parallel Dimension" element, and you may come up with DUAL. There is the main young male hero protagonist (Kazuki), four central women with radically different personalities that eventually share a liking to our protagonist, a city battle backdrop for large robots piloted by these various characters, etc. etc. However, considering how many ideas DUAL takes from past anime, it still somehow achieves a flavor of its own.

This volume contains the last three TV episodes (11-13) which brings the series to its conclusion, along with the DUAL special episode to add some extra polish to the ending. This seems to be a recurring trend, much like the "last episode" of EL HAZARD: THE ALTERNATIVE WORLD or HAND MAID MAY, where they produce an additional episode to either wrap up loose ends or add more potential for a sequel. Honestly, I felt Episode 13 to be a good solid conclusion to the series, though that's not to say I did not enjoy some of the humor of the special.

I must admit the episodes leading up to this volume had me very eager to see this conclusion (including the use of the ancient art of "cliffhanger endings"). Returning back to his own dimension, Kazuki finds himself with the dilemma of staying in his peaceful "home" world (with a rather big robot), or attempting to return to continue the losing fight against the Rara forces on the parallel side. The only problem is that his decision could be forced on him, as the threads between the two worlds start to collide. What is the secret behind the alien technology that powers this war? Who is D, and why is she so afraid of the final confrontation? In which world does Kazuki ultimately decide he belongs? This volume wraps all this together, and still sends out a few surprises.

I found the series in general to have very good production values for a TV series, with solid animation, action and character consistency. The DVD print and transfer by Pioneer on these disks are great, and there are a few extras including a short interview with the Japanese talent behind the show. The Japanese and English tracks are both well performed, although I primarily listened to the Japanese track for the series. On a minor note, the anime opening was catchy enough to keep me watching it all the way through for every episode (although I cannot say the same for the ending theme).

Looking back over the series, I honestly rather enjoyed it. DUAL did fall into many "Pioneer" patterns as Scanner noted in his review of the Japanese release of DUAL, but nevertheless I liked the characters, the plot and especially some of the humor and parodies ("Light Hawk Wings?"). DUAL proves to be a must watch to TENCHI MUYO fans, but this light hearted show is worthy of a look to anyone interested in a fun series that finds enough originality even in the heart of a "me-too" anime.