Yugo the Negotiator Recommended

Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Year
2000

Yugo the negotiator volume 1

By noghri
29th Nov 06

I have been eagerly awaiting this since seeing the trailer, I thought it would be a fly by the seat of your pants kind of show with lots of action.

I was surprised to find that the show started off very slow. The first episode started with a lot of character development and explaining a little of Yugo Beppu’s background. It also set the scene for the following episodes. I thought that each volume of the show was going to be another negotiation. But this does not appear to be the case, the series relies little on the more common theme of a weekly menace, instead it appears to be setting the scene for a much larger storyline.

Yugo is a character of high intelligence; he speaks many languages and apparently can withstand any type of torture due to his outstanding physical and mental resilience. But by far his most useful abilities are his ability to read and instinctively know how far to trust people and above all his sense of human compassion.

After the first episode I was a little disappointed and so I left it for a while before watching the rest of the disk. This time allowed me to reflect on my thoughts and I realised that I was just reacting to my own hype and expectations for this show, so I started the disk again.

The soundtrack is the first thing that hits you, although I don’t think the opening theme is the best choice, I think the soundtrack is brilliant for the show it sets the tempo and the mood for the show. I actually enjoyed the whole experience of being proved wrong with my expectations. It has taught me a long forgotten cliché; you can’t judge a book by its cover.

For some reason Yugo the negotiator reminds me of Indiana Jones, he appears to be based in a situation around an educational centre, but his main job is helping people who’s case is beyond that of normal means. He gets paid to bring people home no matter the cost.

The first storyline is a negotiation in Pakistan to save a young woman’s father, where previous negotiations with a local guerrilla leader, have failed due to military involvement. Later the series leads our new found hero to Siberia to locate and return the granddaughter of a rich man, who’s life has been turned upside down due to the Russian revolution.

The set-up of the 13 episode series is also a little unusual, it appears to be almost two three hour movies as each story arc is animated by another different production team. Whether this will gel into one fluid series, remains to be seen, and ill gain a bigger picture in future releases to come.

The show although being a little slow, was great at building tension, and I hope the next volume will be as exciting as I think it will be. The lesson is learned and whatever happens in the next volume shouldn’t disappoint me, any expectations I have, have been drawn from the first volume.

Yugo the negotiator, although slowly paced for a series made up of thirteen 25 minute episodes Yugo the Negotiator is a fantastic show, and by the end of the show I just couldn’t wait for the next volume.

I found the combination of the quality of animation and the soundtrack to lend itself to the seriousness of the story arcs, and the shows lack of reliance on the more common aspects of most anime means the show is refreshing, and the setting of a peaceful man doing his best in a world full of brutality really stands out among the crowd.

R2 DVD Notes

Notes:

-- noghri 29th Nov 06

Yugo the Negotiator Images