Venture Bros. has to be one of my favorite shows, especially from Adult Swim, but I was a little torn with how Season 4 ended. It wasn’t bad by any means, to be honest it was a near perfect ending. The idea hurt: I didn’t want to see my favorite series go – I just didn’t want it to ever suck.
When I heard that Season 5 was a go, I was excited but I can’t deny there wasn’t a hint of skepticism. Well I’ve had the chance to power through Season 5. How does it hold up? Is it Hank Co approved? Well Speed-suit up or put on a Jacket; it’s time for my review.
One of the most exciting things about this season was the ways you could actually watch it. Digital distribution has been making it’s way to television sets and the Blu-Ray is accompanied by a Digital Copy. (Mind you it’s Ultraviolet… but hey, it’s a digital copy.) Unfortunately, you have to redeem it using Flixster which is a bit of a mess at times. Of course there is always watching the Blu-Ray itself.
What also surprised me,was how much of this season I hadn’t seen. It was a real treat to sit down and binge some Venture fun.
Story
This is a tough one to explain while still remaining spoiler free. Essentially it breaks down as such: O.S.I. is back in full force, while Gary (21) is running Sphinx. (For those not familiar with the series, it’s a spoof; think G.I. Joe and Cobra with plenty of amazing names for background O.S.I. characters.)
Brock Sampson and Shore Leave, our mains in O.S.I., are attempting to hunt down villains Monstroso and Molotov Cocktease. Meanwhile the Venture Family is dealing with past baggage, both happy things and experiments gone wrong. Hank goes a bit crazy with a run in with some Coffee Beans while Dean is all Emo. Then there is Hank’s friend Dermit who finds out who his father really is.
And of course villain the MONARCH has a very interesting T-Shirt collection and discovers some childhood trauma…
Features
What would be a Blu-Ray without some special features?
As mentioned above it’s accompanied with a Ultraviolet digital copy that has to be redeemed through Flixster. (Just a heads up, it’s neither HD or unedited, only what was aired on TV in SD.) All the episodes are contained on one disc, including the Halloween Special and the special Documentary about Hank and Dermit’s band Shallow Gravy. (Which is freaking hilarious!) Also included is an audio commentary track, which I am told is amazing as always.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC8WMvxzRis[/youtube]
HD / Sound Quality
When I first saw a Venture Bros. episode in HD I immediately wanted to upgrade my DVDs. As per usual the animation looks top-notch. All the line art is very clean, the vibrant colors that always stand out, and it’s all pretty to behold.
The best part of the HD is getting to see all the unnamed characters in the background. I think I spotted Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Nightmare Coat in one of the club scenes.
I also have to say the sound quality to was really impressive. Voices were all super clear, while the soundtrack and SFX were spot on. Everything is very professionally done.
Overall
I was quite happy with how Season 5 ofVenture Bros. turned out. All in all it was one of my more favorite seasons with plenty of solid writing that made me crave more.
I would recommend this to any Venture Bros. fan, and quite possibly for those who haven’t yet seen the series.