Are these any good?

Was planning on buying the following DVD's and I just want to know if they're any good:

Armitage III (polymatrix/dual-matrix collection)
Serial Experiments Lain (complete box set)
Outlaw Star (complete box set)
Gungrave (complete box set)




It would be nice if you could give some short reviews, but for the most part I just want to know which ones are good and which ones suck so I know what to add/subtract from the list.

Armitage III (polymatrix/dual-matrix collection) -

Though I've only seen the dual-matrix movie, Armitage III was a pretty good movie when I saw it in the Encore Action Channel. Nothing really special about it, though.

Serial Experiments Lain (complete box set) -

This is a great series. Next to AIR, it's the best series I own so far. Be aware that there are some elements and concepts that may confuse you, but it's all part of the show. It's an underated series, but a very good one. There was a review I wrote in this forum, but it's terribly outdated.

I have not seen enough of Outlaw Star and Gungrave to tell you if they're good or not.

Gungrave and Outlaw Star are well worth the money. Gungrave as a blast.

Outlaw Star is excellent so yes, that is definitely worth it. I have not seen most of Serial Experiments Lain but I hear nothing but great things about it so I would say yes for that one as well. Lain is often compared to my favorite anime series, Boogiepop Phantom, so that alone means it must be pretty good.

Serial Experiments Lain (complete box set) -

I have seen this and I thought it wasn't that bad. Its one of those psychological animes that has some crazy stuff thrown in but also the main point of the series is pretty well thought out and is exemplified well enough through out the series so that you don't have to think to much to figure out what it is.

Outlaw Star (Complete Box Set) -

I have seen this also and again it wasn't that bad. It kind of reminded me of a crazy mix between star wars and cowboy bebop, well kind of. At any rate its pretty good. Not sure if I can remember any particular theme this one has to it but it is part comedy and the dubbing isn't bad so thats good.

In all actuality both of these are about an 8/10 on my anime ratings grid which is pretty good: Solid animation, dubbing, and storyline.

I haven't seen Armitage III or Gungrave so I couldn't tell ya about them.

Outlaw Star and Gungrave are good, but each could have been better: Gungrave in the action and animation department, Outlaw Star in the story execution (needed less comedy), supporting characters, and action department. Definitely quality anime, though--somewhere in the B+ range. Outlaw Star's biggest strength is its aesthetic, Gungrave's biggest strength is its drama.

Also of note:

Outlaw Star was part of what I think of as the "space cowboy" triune of 1998 that was Trigun, Outlaw Star, and Cowboy Bebop. All very different, but all working off the idea of presenting space cowboys. There's kind of an unspoken rule here, that if you like one of the three, you'll at least like the other two a little bit.

Gungrave is created by Nightow, of Trigun fame.

Gungrave was originally a pair of stylish action shooter games for the PS2. The anime presents the backstory and an alternate universe for what happens in the games. Unfortunately, most of the stylish elements and a majority of the over-the-top action was lost in the anime transition. However, the story was greatly boosted. It's a shame, though, that the anime lost the original's awesome defining points. It's still a good watch, but to see the full picture of Gungrave, I think one needs to play the games and watch the anime.

I have the Lain Boxset and two of my friends have Outlaw Star. I'd reccomend them both.

I haven't seen either of the other two so I can't say either way.

I really disliked Serial Experiments Lain myself. The entire show goes too far out of it's way to try and confuse you and make you think. About half way through I just lost interest because it was way too boring for my tastes. Rather than being psychological, it just looked like a big mess to me.

Outlaw Star is really a fun show, I don’t need to say more about that.

The first Armitage movie was pretty good but the second one was trash. I actually traded in my copy of the second movie because I didn’t like it.