DICE

Publisher
Bandai
Director
Jun Kamiya
Production
Bandai, Studio Galapagos, XEBEC
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2004

D.I.C.E. V3

By David Rasmussen
30th Dec 05

Are you finding the thought of breakfast cereal at anytime an appealing thought?
Does the thought of popcorn for breakfast seem to you to be quite logical -- well, it‘s either that or poptarts or those tasty little flaky breakfast things with the fruit or cream cheese filling. Well, something breakfasty for a non breakfast hour (in short). If that is the case then perhaps you are living a life of Saturday mornings, and once again in the virtues of Saturday mornings of shows you watch for the campy fun we go back to the series that lives the life of the Saturday morning, BANDAI’s D.I.C.E.. Once again no need for recaps as we roll into DVD V. 3, and the halfway point of the DVDs as the adventure continues ever onwards.

D.I.C.E. DVD V. 3 - To The Rescue
Episode 11 - The Mega Gravity Planet
How does something that seemingly have nothing to do with the mission to the Mega Gravity Planet have such an impact on said mission? Well look out because it looks like D.I.C.E. is about to become painfully obvious, and if it is so obvious then the show should be ashamed of itself. How so? Well it looks like Jet and his Dino Breaker are out to catch a petty thief who seems to have stolen his mode of transport from an old Mario game (a shoe vehicle?), only to get interference from the Phantom Knight who he “accuses” of stealing a move his brother only knows… yeah, you get the point. If you are looking at a character who “seems” to have “stolen” the custom move of a certain someone (usually a friend or family member) then more than likely that person IS said certain someone in question!
By the way, if the Phantom Knight DOES turn out to be Jet’s bro Zack then SHAME ON THE SERIES! Talk about an ultra obvious plot device! Please don’t be so obvious, people!

Anyway the whole discussion about Jet’s brother leads up to Jet teaming up with a guy who used to know his bro while they’re working on this Mega Gravity Planet, which leads to a lot of awkward moments and touchy touchy feely feely towards the memories of his presumed dead bro… until we find out he’s probably the Phantom Knight and oh dear will we be disappointed with that!

Episode 12 - Jet Defeated
Oh, no. If there’s one “plot device” that I so dearly hate it’s the obligatory “hero is defeated and must find a way to make a comeback” episode! Why? Because it’s so overused it’s abit on the painful side to see it happen over and over again. Today Jet, our young hero of the D.I.C.E. team, is about to take a nasty fall.
It’s bad enough that he’s already been defeated once by the Phantom Knight (which drives him away from D.I.C.E. to hunt down said Phantom Knight for a “rematch”), he ends up tackling a strange man who has what he shouldn’t have, a DinoBreaker all his own! Obviously he’s going to lose, but him losing is not as bad as his DinoBreaker taking a beating and ending up near death.
After such a terrible defeat how can Jet and his DinoBreaker ever get back on their feet! How! How can they ever hope -- (stop staring at the next episode title) -- to make a comeback (stop) and get back up after this… how can they!?

Ok. Let’s pretend for a moment you don’t see that the next episode is called “Jet Returns” and let’s see how this all came about, together.

Episode 13 - Jet Returns
Yeah, yeah, I know, Jet Returns. Ok. Ok. Now let’s see how he returns…
The good news? Jet is out of the hospital.
The bad news? His DinoBreaker MotoRaptor is NOT out of the hospital… huh? Oh, DinoBreakers have their own hospitals just like human hospitals, with mega sized hospital beds and everything!
So with the drama thicker than a Blizzard from Dairy Queen it’s time to enter tha hallowed halls… of D.I.C.E. E.R. (cameo appearances by Noah Wylie and George Clooney not included)!

With all the overdone drama of a medical tear jerker Jet becomes shell shocked as he stands on pins and needles waiting for the fate of MotoRaptor to play out, tethering between despair and mind numbed deer caught in headlights shock. With some flashbacks to how Jet/MotoRaptor first met, a fake-out “death” scene where it looks like MotoRaptor had his powercore pulled, and a completely shameless cliché “return” scene that gets MotoRaptor back into the good fight (putting the kibosh on the evil DinoBreaker and sending it to the great big scrapyard where all evil DinoBreakers end up), the episode is a heavy slathering of tear jerking drama that sells short and has a ending that was way too obvious and too pedestrian for all the build-up we had to this ending! I thought the episode would have been groundbreaking and had an ending that would have been something we haven’t seen before, but we have seen this before and aren’t we ashamed of that!

Yes, I am being fair. Look at the way the episode ends! Jet crying over MotoRaptor’s dying body only for his tears to bring MotoRaptor back to “life”! Didn’t we see that happen in Poke’mon the First Movie when everyone thought Ash died and Pikachu cried over his dead body?!? At least that was more heartfelt and I wasn’t expecting more from that ending, unlike this ending which I thought would have paid out it’s investment of heavy drama with a more realistic (at least more original) end.

Episode 14 - The Mutant Laboratory
Ok, I’ll end here (for once) since it’s back to the action after all that tear jerking drama that sold short in the end. Let’s break this down.

D.I.C.E. Breakdown the 3rd
What’s Hot?
Even if I do have abit of a complaint below about Episode 13 that doesn’t make this a bad series, though it does need to sit in the corner for awhile and reflect on my ‘What’s Not’ list below all the same.
Look, if you are a fan of the campy good times that used to fill the airwaves on bright Saturday mornings, where action was king and campy goofy was acceptable, then you might find merit here… nah, you’ll definitely find some merit here. And hey, this time out there’s more than just campy goodness as the show goes into a bit of heavy handed drama during the course of the DVD!
Of course if you still need to ponder whether this is for you or not then the road to rental might be the key to discovering your compatibility with the series (since I don’t seem to remember it being on at a decent hour on Cartoon Network). Rent it, try it, see what you think of it. It’s not a heavy hitting series, but it’s got something for those with aspirations to put abit of lighter fare into their viewing.

What’s Not?
Now prepare yourself, this time out I DO have a list of NOTs to go over.
Let’s start with the obvious, the “extra” of the DVD. Ok, I know it’s way too late to file this complaint since the series have ended sometime ago and all that, but for the record I’d like to proclaim that I have had ENOUGH of the “extra” of the D.I.C.E. PS2 video game preview! Enough!
I know there’s going to be a next time for this, so all I can say is that there should have been some attempt to keep this “extra” fresh by mixing and matching promotional gimmicks for the game.
One time have the trailer, one time have behind the scenes on the game, maybe an interview or walkthrough or level design section. Something that would have made each “extra” fresh and new, and not the same trailer shown over and over and over again. Oh, and when I say it’ll happen again I don’t mean because of the long awaited and highly anticipated 5th (dot)hack game coming soon (whose trailer seemingly promises to make believers of past critics of the Quadrilogy and bring even the most ardent critic over with what looks like a game that should rock once it hits), I mean the upcoming “Cowboy Bebop” game coming in January. This game worries me, by the way. I have not exactly heard the most flattering comments from associates on their first impression of the game, in fact I’ve heard that they’ve had the most downer mood on this which I am not afraid to admit makes me a tad worried about what is to come from it‘s release. How can such an excellently done and executed series like Cowboy Bebop end up possibly saddled with what very well may be a not so excellent video game translation! I hope it’s not what I think but I guess I’ll have to do a First Look soon, if only to dispell my worries concerning this game. Anyway stay tuned for that.

Now the second complaint, the whole Phantom Knight thing. Yes, it is becoming very obvious that he’s probably Jet’s brother Zack, and that is such an obvious thing that there should be some shame in it. Didn’t they steal that from Speed Racer?
The last complaint is Episode 13, and it’s high drama that does not pay off with the episode sinking to an obvious plot ploy to wrap the downing of MotoRaptor up in a not so neat “package” that screams too much of been there been there, done that done that to me.
So dropping hints like that and being so obvious, then having Episode 13 (and what should have been one of the strongest episodes of the series) end on a down note with such an obvious ending is a shame on you. Shame on you D.I.C.E., shame on you.

Moments to Remember?
While you have your standard remembrance this time out one episode should have stood out, and that episode should have been Episode 13. In truth abit of the episode still stands out, except the ending.

What to Ignore?
Yes, the ending of Episode 13. Let’s try to ignore the “sad” way the people over at D.I.C.E. milked one of the oldest clichés known to animation to bring MotoRaptor back to life. Guys? You’re not being original, especially since the whole crying over the dying or dead was so done already when Pikachu cried over Ash’s dead body in Poke’mon the First Movie! Shame on you, shame!

Overall?
Gimme a home where the Dinobreakers roam, and the pilots and technical support play. Where seldom is heard a bleeped out word and the plots of campy all day… except Episode 13.
D.I.C.E.! D.I.C.E. on the… sorry.

Anyway you know the score, third verse holds true same as one and two. While I am abit middle ground over Episode 13, and certain things have gotten my DinoBreaker’s circuits crossed, I am still positive on this one. We’re still talking an experience of abit campy proportions (though the campy stuff is abit toned down this DVD here and there) that will provide a nice little thrill for those wanting some fun without a plot of War & Peace epic proportions. It’s still somewhat campy, it’s still fun, it’s still for someone who is either fans of the series or wanting a little something just for the heck of having fun, bringing back your Saturday mornings of carefree excess and joy in watching a show that is just fun (and dammit even I want something occasionally campy where I forget the depth and enjoy the simple fun)!

Yes, you can still find better with the other series out from BANDAI (Planetes, Galaxy Angel, Ghost in the Shell : SAC, Avenger, etc.) but this is one of those where you sit back and veg while enjoying the simple joy of campy excess, now pass the Capt. Crunch and that soda ‘cause Saturday morning has it’s place seven days a week with D.I.C.E., yes it does. Now if they only promise never to put out D.I.C.E. Trauma Center - Under the Welder for the Nintendo DS, or D.I.C.E. E.R. for the PC (starring Noah Wylie) I’ll be a happy reviewer all around. Nuff said.

-- David Rasmussen 30th Dec 05

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