2005 has come and gone, and 2006 is here. That means it’s time for closure for a series we’ve been looking at for the past few weeks now. Breakfast still weights on your thoughts, doesn‘t it. And by that I don‘t mean spam eggs and rice I mean breakfast cereal! Waffles! Popcorn… well, maybe not that but you get the point.
If the thought of breakfast anytime haunts your every thought then you are living a life of Saturday mornings, and one final time we bring the life of the Saturday morning to a close with a look at D.I.C.E. DVD V. 6, the finale of the season.

D.I.C.E. DVD V. 6 - The Mystery of Heron
Episode 23 - The Secret of Sitan
Oh-kay, I think we’ve been getting drops and bits of hints about this whole “Heron” thing for a few episodes now it seems, but now that we’re here at the finale DVD it’s just about time for those drops to turn into a payoff… right? Well, hold on a sec ‘cause we have at least one more episode to go through that has nothing to do with Heron before we get to the stuff that has to do with Heron.
Looks like this episode has to do with the hunt for this artifact left behind by some ancient race, and a race against time to find it before losers B.D.I.C.E. (the cheap knockoffs of D.I.C.E.) find it… that and a lot of mindless psychobabble! Can’t go on the search for an ancient anything without mindless psychobabble!
On the upside this episode features a neat trick that game creators should think about the next time they put together a future Sci-Fi RPG game… you know, something for variety’s sake.
Long story short (I know, too late) the search for this artifact has both teams planet hopping until they finally end up on a world where they have to fight a giant evil Gamera thing by transforming their fortress into a giant Mecha Gamera thing and… oh, turns out the Secret of Sitan is something known to anyone whose played Max Payne, or Dead to Rights, or Total Overdose, or Prince of Persia… yes, the ability to abuse time space and known reality! Oh, and the two scientists that

were pitting D.I.C.E. and their evil loser counterparts against each other turned out to be time travellers and the episode had a (bleep)y ending.

Episode 24 - The Body of Elder Conspiracy
Let’s see… planet that holds the secret of eternal youth + Body of Elders manned by a bunch of old guys * conspiracy to turn D.I.C.E. inside out / Phantom Knight and Jet… yeah, guess what the conspiracy is!
After the Phantom Knight attacks D.I.C.E. Zero (where the old guys are) Jet steals his team’s fortress (with most of said team sans the Captain) to go look for him, meanwhile the old guys running the “Council of Elders” finally drop the pretense of being “good” and make ready to head out to Heron (now that the portal to Heron has been found)… oh, and they have to crush a rebellion of D.I.C.E. ships sent out to get them.

Episode 25 - The Phantom Knight’s Secret
Somehow I don’t think that secret has anything to do with his preference in underwear, what he keeps in his pockets, or whether he’s male or female. Odds are his secret has something to do with the not so subtle “hints” being dropped like landmines the last batch of episodes focusing on Jet’s missing (dead) bro.
If you think this is going to be a completely obvious revealation that you’ve seen coming… yeah.
Oh-kay! Would the joker who thought THIS was such a neat plot point please go stand in a corner now!
Otherwise the “war” of D.I.C.E. vs D.I.C.E. is now underway as the ignorant (those who don’t know what the hell is really going on) converges on Fortress F (the only place where the truth is known) and begins an all out assault, of which our team barely gets back in time to join the fray against their own teammates.
Oh, and this is Jet’s whiniest episode to date! Listen to him whine like a little baby about… hmm… five minutes post the “shocking” “revelation” of the Phantom Knight’s true identity! Yeah… cut it out already! Like we didn’t see that coming for episodes on end!

Episode 26 - D.I.C.E. vs. D.I.C.E.
But not for long. Before we’re halfway through the episode the siege of Fortress F is decided and the good side (if there

is such a thing as a good side since the other side was more confused than evil) and the hunt for the renegade Body of Elders is on… but that’s short. The end hurtles at you at light speed, and we reach a conclusion that is probably the best for this series. Yes, I bet you know what happens but this is for the best since you have to take everyone’s personalities into account and everything.
So this is it… the end. No more Puffy maxing out her credit and shopping like there’s no tomorrow… not that we’ve ever seen her shop except for that one episode. Oh, well.
But the series is over, and Saturday mornings have drawn to a close (as most Saturday morning series eventually do). But as we close up let’s do one final breakdown and finish this off.

D.I.C.E. Breakdown the 6th
What’s Hot?
As we wrap up the series we close the premise of living a life of Saturday morning, and as we end the series we ponder what series will fill that fixation of Saturday campy excess in the coming year. I guess only time will reveal that, but for now let’s put D.I.C.E. to bed.
In the end it’s not the best, but it is a campy slice of fun for people who are interested in this kind of weirdness. And now that you can find it in two collections (taking the series and gathering it up in two easy to purchase bundles of DVD episodial excess) you should have an easier time picking up the series.

What’s Not?
Yes, one final time. D.I.C.E. is not for everyone. If you like campy fun you’ll get into this, if not you won’t (simple as that). The voice acting is sketchy and not the best I ever heard, and you can find better series from BANDAI than this, but it’s still worth checking if campy fun is your thing.
You don’t have to watch it of course, especially since BANDAI has a ton of series for you if this isn’t your fave, but still if you like campy excess then you might find a spot in your heart for it. Who knows!

Moments to Remember?
It has it’s moments, once again, just so you know.

What to Ignore?
Was the

Phantom Knight’s identity REALLY THAT OBVIOUS!! Sheesh. Like you didn’t just wave the flag of his identity a few DVDs ago by “focusing” way too much on that lost brother, which was so obvious! As much as a twist or surprise would have been nice (finding out the Phantom Knight was the brother’s fiancee and really a woman for instance) I guess we can forgive that.
The whole Council of Elder thing though… well, at least it didn’t end as badly as I feared it might, and the ending actually works considering the series and all so I have no complaints over that.
I just never want to hear Jet whine ever again.
(And there’s no point in complaining about the Dub only thing since I did that in the past, with Ronin Warriors and SD Gundam Force and, well, I’d just have the same complaint now.)

Overall?
Saturday morning lives, and it lives in the house of D.I.C.E… but now it’s over.
Hope you found a cure for campy excess ‘cause it’ll probably be awhile before the next interesting view comes along that brings that the thirst for A&W Root Beer, Flintstones Cocoa Pebbles and buttered popcorn so -- well, hope you have the patience for the return of Saturday mornings in Anime ‘cause it’ll be awhile.
Look, it’s not like I’m proclaiming that measles is a game you play (and then you sing a song) or anything, but a little campy might be well received if you like that sort of thing. Of course BANDAI carries a ton of fan fave series so it’s not like you must watch D.I.C.E., but if you do let me know what you thought of it… and then let me know when the next series proclaiming the return of nautical Captain Crunch to your dietary plan comes along, heralding the return of Saturday mornings to your viewing schedule (regardless of the day and time). Still if you did like D.I.C.E. now you can have it in two easy to purchase collections, making gathering and watching the series as a whole that much easier. And heck, if you are a fan of easier and wanted an easier way to get this show BANDAI couldn’t have made it any easier, now could they!