The plot: After meeting two mysterious individuals, a young boy named Shu soon realizes he possesses an extraordinary ability when he discovers that he can wield a Blue Dragon Shadow. Before he has time to think, Shu (with the help of other heroes) finds himself embarking on a quest to stop dark forces from ruling the world. Volume one contains the first five episodes titled: “The Shadow Comes Forth,” “A Fateful Decision,” “Shu And Jiro: Rivals In Training,” “A Member Of The Devee Tribe,” and “Front-Line Base Assault.”

“Blue Dragon,” which is based on the XBOX 360 game of the same name, doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. It’s your basic good vs. evil saga that is only made watchable by a unique and somewhat strange universe the characters inhabit. Viewers can expect to see aliens, robots, ships, and people wielding powerful Shadows which come in all shapes and sizes. While it all sounds appealing, the writers and creators unfortunately have to dumb the show down with kiddy and cartoony humor. The child hero (Shu) is a loud and obnoxious who acts more like a “Rugrats” character. I’m all for doses of humor, but ‘Dragon’ would have worked better had the writer’s took the mythology more seriously.

As for the action in the show, it is arguably the highlight of the series. The sword fights and shadow battles in particular are fun to watch, even if it feels like you’re watching cut scenes from an RPG game at times.

The fullscreen picture quality is solid. The animation looks clean all around.

The audio track contains clear voice recordings and action sequences, but the music is a little too loud in spots.

The only extra is the “Book Of Blue Dragon” which contains character profiles and a blurb about the plot.