When the royal family of Ishtar need assistance that can't be traced back to them, they turn to the agents of Cloud7: Rowe Rickenbacker and Jack Hefner, also known as L and R (though they're not telling who L is or who R is).

The first of four discs to the series, Deceptions includes four individual episodes and hints at a underlying story arc to the entire series, relating to the missing heir to Ishtar, the "15-year Princess".

Be Traced takes a low key approach to introducing the two lead characters as they accost a pair of art thieves, light on the action to provide time for establishing the personalities of Rowe and Jack. When another undercover agent has been captured by an evil mastermind in A Taste of Secret, L/R must think fast and talk faster to get him, and themselves, out of trouble.

The mystery of the missing heir is introduced in A Girl Goes to City when Cloud7 is asked to keep nosy reporters away from a young girl who had been thought to be the princess. The disc closes off with Sweet Enemies in the Same Desert where several teams of agents compete against each other to win a security contract.

When it comes to foreign material on DVD I'm usually in favour of the subtitled approach over an English dub, and anime is no different to this. L/R surprised me in this respect by providing one of the better English dubs I've heard, all due to the voice casting of British accents for the lead roles. There's just something about a pair of well-spoken British voices that adds legitimacy to the spy business. The musical soundtrack seems to have taken a leaf out of the book of Cowboy Bebop, with somewhat varying results - the theme tune is very catchy, with a Randy Newman feel to it, while other moments are reminiscent of Bryan Adams. Some will like it, others won't.

DVD provides an excellent visual medium for anime, and this is another quality transfer. Colours do seem a little more washed out than is usual for an animated series, although I think this is more of a creative choice to provide a grittier, more realistic feel to the series that can take a little adjusting to.

The extras are few and not particularly startling, with the inclusion of the opening and closing credits sequences both in Japanese and without any text, along with teaser advertising for other animated series.

I wanted to like Licensed by Royalty, after all what's not to like about an espionage series with two suave secret agents? But there was just something missing. The short episode format works against the show, not allowing enough time to develop back story or the motivations of the villains - it all just feels rushed. The series has been rated M, though if the first four episodes are a good indication, the series lacks the depth to grab and hold an adult audience.