C: Control - The Money and Soul of Possibility: The Complete Series (Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Product Description Kimimaro works two jobs to put himself through college. He's handed an end to his check-to-check lifestyle when he's offered a large sum of money to compete in a dangerous game. Kimimaro needs the extra cash, but he'll invest his future as collateral in the Financial District. In this alternate dimension, people wage battles using Assets: warriors that protect their masters at all costs. You get wealthier every time you win, but if you lose, it could rob you of your family, your home, or your life. The destructive forces at play between the Financial District and the physical world compel Kimimaro to confront the most powerful man in the game. In this groundbreaking series, find out if the world will survive or disappear from existence. Amazon.com Like Eden of the East, [C]--Control: The Money & Soul of Possibility (2011) reflects contemporary social concerns in a way no Western animated series has. Kimimaro Yoga works two jobs in convenience stores while studying at Heisei University of Economics. He doesn't want a glamorous career or fabulous wealth, just a job with a lifelong salary that will enable him to support a wife and child, an increasingly remote goal in Japan--and America. One night, the mysterious pink-haired Masakaki takes Kimimaro to the alternate world of the Financial District. There, people dubbed Entrés (for Entrepreneurs) fight bizarre battles, wagering their futures for a cash stake they can increase endlessly. But if they lose and go bankrupt, their existence in the real world changes: careers, possessions, even family members may vanish. Kimimaro forges a bond with his Asset, a battle assistant who takes the form of a girl with horns. With her help, he scores a series of victories that brings him to the attention of the fabulously wealthy Mr. Mikuni, who's been using his gains in the Financial District to preserve his vision of Japan. The stakes are higher than Kimimaro realizes: the collapse of Lehman Brothers caused an entire Caribbean nation to disappear. Director Kenji Nakamura and his crew create flamboyant visuals for the Financial District that evoke everything from Yellow Submarine to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Like Eden of the East, [C]--Control relies on an improbable hero to guide the audience on its journey through a skewed reality. Kimimaro may lack Takizawa's offbeat charm, but voice actor Todd Haberkorn gives him a warm decency that keeps the viewer rooting for him. The combination of imaginative visuals and a compelling subject make [C]--Control one of the best anime series of 2012. (Rated TV 14: violence, violence against women, brief nudity, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon (1. Complication, 2. Coincidence, 3. Conspiracy, 4. Conversion, 5. Cultivation, 6. Conflict, 7. Composition, 8. Confidence, 9. Collapse, 10. Collision, 11. Control)