Video Backlog: "L/R: Licensed by Royalty"

Publisher: Pioneer (Geneon, USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 13 Episodes x 25 minutes
Production Date: 2003
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes (Madman Entertainment, Australia)

Story Outline: Jack Hofner and Rowe Rikenbacker are “L/R”; two secret agents from the government of Ishtar’s secret service unit called Cloud 7. Their job involves protecting the reputation of the Royal family of Ishtar which is often dangerous or politically sensitive. The pair are soon involved in the strange quest to find the “15 Year Princess” in which eventually a country girl named Noelle is revealed to be the true heir to the throne. However a conspiracy is soon revealed that threatens the Royal Family and several corporations in Noelle’s home country of Ivory Island.

Mini Review: OK, so Ishtar is meant to be England, and judging from the bombings, the accents and the bad blood between the two countries, Ivory Island is meant to be Ireland. Or maybe it’s meant to be Wales with all of that mining... Anyway this show boils down to a couple of secret agents in a sort-of-kind-of slightly futuristic Britain protecting the monarchy from embarrassment and theft. The main problem here is the story. It’s dull as hell. The action sequences aren’t very interesting. If you have a look at the promotional film that both the Japanese and US divisions of Pioneer used to promote the show, of the four sequences in that film only bit of the first sequence and the fight against the blimp sequence actually made it into the show. The more exciting sequences which involve the launching of the mini jet plane down a motorway and the fuel tanker chase and explosion never appear in the show. The promo film is obviously cut down from a pilot film for the series, which is much more exciting and much better animated than the final TV series. Add in the absurd 15 year old princess sub plot, the show stinks a bit really. The Beatles references are OK, though Mr Penny Lane was a bit daft of a reference. Surprisingly the dub for this show was really good, and I don’t listen to dubs. Sounded like they used British actors, however some the dialogue is very much American, not British. Overall? OK, not brilliant. 5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 21 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).