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Title Info
- seen: 1-2 of 2
- type: OAV
- grade: worthy
- genre: parody
- form: sub
- made: 1993
- Review created: Sun Jul 8 02:48:37 EST 2001
- mod: none
There have been many great animes, there have been many humorous animes. However there have been few great humorous animes, although quite a few people think this strange little anime is a strong contender. It's certainly novel enough to be worth a look even if the humor doesn't appeal to you.
Synopsis
It's another day in your average fantasy world....sort of. The lead character, Mink, is going all super deformed over a broadcast from the appallingly named fighting idol Dick Saucer. Meanwhile a legendary swordsman and a fearsome red dragon fight it out in her house. Although that's not unusual, it's just mum and dad playing around again. Seems that this swordsmen married the dragon he was sent to slay and had a beautiful daughter. And her horns, wings and tail are so kawaii (cute).
When Mink hears that there is a concert ten days away she dreams of attending and professing her love. There are problems however, the worlds least serious villain and his crazed henchmen, intend to capture and use Mink for revenge against her fathers betrayal. Meanwhile his daughter, a powerful sorceress and head of the dick saucer fan club, develops her own hatred. And last but not least there's the fact that Dick Saucer himself is also a famous dragon slayer.
Review
But don't take the story too seriously...after all, the show certainly doesn't. It's basically a very good anime rendition of a joke manga full of incidental humor and silly situations set against a story used only to keep things moving. It's never so busy that it can't share a joke, a visual gag, or go a little super deformed. If you're in the mood for a bit of strange, silly, humor then this may well hit the spot.
The other clever thing is that while there is a lot of humor and silliness it is well mixed into the story and the characters are developed well. Impressively well for such a short OAV series. The combat between saucer and mink for example, or mink's fight in the `bad guy' tournament are both serious and silly at the same time. And alternate between each at the most unexpected times. Likewise some of the interaction between the characters is both entertaining, amusing and gives a strong sense of identity to even quite marginal characters.
And, as a final reward, there's a good helping of parody. Mostly of good old fantasy anime standards, but also somewhat wider than that. The idol singer bit, as well as dick saucers atrocious songs, is great. There's even a free mecha scene as well, and some fun of the whole `arena death-match' anime standard. And it's done well, lots of little visual touches well backed up by the occasionally manic, but fully of personality and style, animation.
The down-side? Well, it's short and doesn't really come to a conclusion. Likewise the production could easily be seen as sloppy, the story as fragmented and the humor as childish. If you're not in the mood for something light, different and fun then you could easily take a dislike to this show. However the infectious nature of the humor and the clear skill with which it is created, and the sheer novelty, should make it worth a try.
The animation is...weird. From a purely technical point of view it's largely rubbish, wobbly and low on detail. From the point of view of expressing personality, humor and the feel of a comic manga it's very good. I guess the best thing to say is that while it doesn't meet the criteria for high quality animation it doesn't need to. And there is a lot of skill hidden in there, leading to it being very watchable. The voices are good and energetic, there's not that much music but what is there is good support. Special mention as well for the end track which is one of those sickeningly catchy things, although sadly untranslated on the fansub I saw. In any case, if I remember correctly, it's largely meaningless but it certainly is energetic, unusual and catchy.
Other Reviews
- THEM review An entertaining and positive review from THEM, although since they've got a good sense of humor it's not too surprising. And while they mention that there are some section where the humor is a touch `forced' in general it's successful and high paced fun (4/5).
- Akemi's AnimeWorld review A positive and perceptive review of something incredibly non serious. Akemi enjoyed the humor, the artwork, and a lot of production touches but warns that this won't be to everyones taste. As a bonus they also have the lyrics to the end track so you can fully appreciate (?) the insanity (3.5/5).
- Anime Review review A short review but it shines with the enjoyment the reviewer got out of the tape. The reviewer states he doesn't like super deformed anime but clearly the entertaining story and raw energy of this show won him over (5/5).
- Anime Critic review The Critic's a fairly tough character, but it looks like this tape worked on him as well. The review is good and positive, but echoes the warning that it won't be for everyone. He also mentions that two episodes can be too much in one sitting, but two episodes are too few to exist (3.5/5).
- Lord Carnage review Well, from what I know of his Lordships taste I thought this might appeal to him...and the review certainly backs me up. Although some will notice that it sounds quite familiar. Still the review strongly supports this as one to get your hands on (4.5/5).
Words by Andrew Shelton, Web by Ticti, Last Compile: Wed Aug 5 12:39:17 WST 2009