More Cheesecake–Maburaho Review

Well, I was stuck at home tonight, so I decided to work up some more anime cheesecake to post, with a bit of a review to go with it. I had some more trouble with the aspect ratio, despite Steven denBeste’s help (see Update 3; it was just my own lack of attention that caused it. I spent an hour taking new shots and they came out much better.

Unfortunately, they don’t come out perfect. For that, I blame ADV, the American distributor. I hadn’t really noticed it until I started taking snapshots, but the transfer has issues with rainbowing, aliasing, and cross-coloration. It’s some of the worst I’ve ever seen. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’ll see in pictures.

Speaking of which, lets get on to it. Warning, spoilers ahead! (The worst of the spoilers are blacked out, but I can’t get it to work perfectly; going to have to read up on styles a bit. Edit: finally got it to work. Highlight with your mouse to read them.)

Welcome to Aoi High School. Everyone in this world can use magic, but only the best students can attend this school! Well, except for that Shikimori kid. He can only use magic 8 times in his whole life before he turns to ash. Despite him, the average at this school is 8000 times. Considering that mage ability is the biggest determinant of wealth and influence in this world, he’s probably headed for an exciting career swabbing toilets. In the third world.

	First lesson at the Aoi High School of Magic: If you’re using a fly spell, pick one that doesn’t cause it to be windy if your skirt is short. This is Matsuda, a secondary character. She’s just caught Kazuki Shikimori (the short guy) and Nakamaru, her not-boyfriend about whom she is not-obsessed, discussing sneaking a magical peek at the ladies of the third year getting their regular magic exam. (Kazuki is scandalized by the idea). All three are from class 2-B, which renowed for having all the troublemakers in it.
	And this is what Nakamaru was trying to get an eyefull of: Kuriko Kazetusbake, third-year student, ritch-bitch, powerful mage. She can use magic 140,000 times. She’s a self-centered, arrogant, manipulative girl, but she’s only really evil once. Or twice. Oh, and yes, she’s in her underwear. It’s an exam, right? I think the Doc is a bit of a perv.
	While Matsuda blows up most of the floor chasing Nakamaru would have been a good time to sneak off. See what you get for not running when you could, Kazuki? Next thing you’ll go to the cafeteria and get bagged on by everyone (especially the women) because your magic ability sucks.
	No wonder Kazuki’s grades suck, too. He arrives to class late, then fakes an illness to get away from all the ridicule and avoid his magic exam. Lucky bastard–I’d hurry home too if this were waiting for me. He didn’t have any idea though, so no cookie. The redhead is Yuna; they met years ago, although Kazuki doesn’t realize it at first. Which is why he’s utterly thrown by the fact that she says she’s his wife. In a reversal of the Love Hina schtick, as a child, she promised to marry him when they grew up. But why now?
	Blushes really nice, especially for someone offering to hop in the sack with him only 30 seconds later. You’re in mortal danger, Kazuki. Run away! Run away!
	Uh, but look where you’re going. Now that’s a faceplant! (Eat your heart out Shinobu!) But what’s Kuriko doing here? And why is a girl who was upset over voyeurs suddenly happy to see one?
	Really happy. “Stop or I’ll call for help!” “Silly, that’s the girl’s line!”
	And this is Rin, a first year student. She doesn’t seem to be nearly as happy about running into Kazuki.
	Make that definately not happy. (Look at the edges of her hair; the aliasing is so bad in this shot that it’s visible despite the format change and shrinking the picture. Elswhere, the compression usually just makes it look only a bit fuzzy, but not here.)
	The battle lines are drawn in class! But what the hell is going on here?
	Kuriko gives a helpful pointer to what they’re all after.

Y’see, it’s like this. Kazuki may suck, but his lineage, unbeknowest to him, is peerless. At least 50 of Japan’s greatest mages are in his family tree, and that’s not all, so are Europe’s and China’s. Despite that, their power waned. Well, apparently, it’s been storing itself up, all concentrated, and is all due to come out in the next generation. He sucks, but his kids will be seriously ass-kicking sorcerors. And the families of all three girls have ordered them to secure him for their family. Yuna’s thrilled with it, but since she regards herself as Kazuki’s wife, she’s jealous of Kuriko and willing to defend him against Rin. Kuriko’s a free spirit, and focused on the goal–she just needs him in the sack (or hallway, or sidewalk…. anywhere’s good with her), but who said anything about keeping him around? If anyone else wants a crack at him afterwards, that’s fine. But Rin… no way in hell she’s following orders to marry someone that worthless. If he’s dead, she can’t marry him; problem solved.

	The menfolk in the class are not happy with this sudden upset to the social order. The two hottest girls in the school, and this new transfer student all want him? No way! Well ok, one wants him dead, but that’s probably not a good idea. Yet.
	Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! (So it’s two non-cheesecake shots in a row. You can’t expect me to pass up an opportunity for a Monty Python quote!) Ok, Shikimori, it’s like this: The class doesn’t recognize your marriage to Yuna, you’re forbidden to talk to her, and you can’t date any of girls in the class!
	Wait a minute, did you just say none of us could “date” him either? Like hell! Beware the power of the panties! Uh, press, I meant press! Yes, that’s actually a camera-cannon. Or Canon?
	Unsurprisingly, the classroom was destroyed in an explosion right after this scene. Again.
After the explosion, the teacher steps in and restores order. She’s a riot–most writers would have made her high strung and excitable, running around screaming during the chaos. She’s exactly the opposite, but she does lay down the law and rein in Nakamura. Yuna’s marriage isn’t recognized, and he has to get the permission of the entire class to date her. But he can associate with her. But he can’t get her pregnant. Talk about weird conditions. . . . Is the teacher saying he can’t date her but he can screw her as long as she doesn’t get pregnant? Maybe I just misinterpreted that. All the rest of the girls seem to figure that with Yuna sort of off limits, the decks are clear for them. Shortly after this, Shikimori and Yuna have an argument caused by Shikimori’s failure to recognize her from their childhood meeting. They fight; she runs off, throwing her necklace at him. He finally recognizes it–and her, and the scene that results absolutely chokes me up every time I see it. It was set up beautifully, it was executed well, and frankly, if the rest of the series were done to that level, it would be top notch. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. However, Rin and Kuriko are watching, and Kuriko definately realizes there’s more to him than she thought (by the fourth episode, she’s fallen for him.) Rin stops trying to kill him, too. So naturally, since she can’t date him, Yuna moves into his room–in the men’s dorm! Ms. Hirosaki, the awfully-young-to-be-wearing-that-widow’s-outfit dorm manager is evidently in on the plot (and a Yuna partisan), as she doesn’t blink an eye at Yuna’s coming and going.
	This is Elizibeth. She’s a ghost child that moves in with them briefly.
	However she develops an attachement to Kuriko instead, and moves in with her. She becomes a bit of an advisor to Kuriko, it seems.
Thanks to Elizibeth, Kazuki uses his magic for a second time and this scene absolutely does not work for me. It’s like the writers got lazy, and decided to insert a “ha-ha, gotcha!” moment. Shikimori uses his magic to rescue Yuna from Elizibeth, but then it turns out that she was only being tickled.
	One side effect of Yuna’s rescue is that the women’s dorm is dragged over and attached to the men’s dorm as if they were always one building. Another side effect will show up in the fourth episode.
	It is a bit of a surprise to everyone in the bath when it happens. Even most of the guys don’t seem pleased with it. Except maybe the one in the foreground, and he’s not entirely comfortable. (Notice how bad the cross-coloration is here, it’s rainbowing all over the screen).
	Rin, on the other hand, is decidedly displeased and very comfortable with showing it. If not lots of skin. She’s being not-happy again, I guess.
	What would you do for a Kit-Kat bar?Ok, what would you do for that cleavage?
	Would you face down two behemoths, creatures so fearsome that even one would result in the JSDF Magic Brigade being called in?
	And finally, I’ll leave you with two pictures from the “eyecatch” at the commercial break. These are invariably beach scenes involving the gang. They vary a bit, and can get really, really suggestive. Popsicles are bad enough, but the picture you’ll get by clicking the one at the left isn’t the tame one you see there. Same holds for below. They’re not exactly NSFW, but. . . If your mind doesn’t go there, I recommend Viagra. Or more exposure to porn.
	Oh, so it’s only ice cream? Heh…. If you have any thought that it was unintentional, check Shimkimori’s nosebleed in the background. I’m surprised they got away with this one on Japanese TV.
The closing below is extremely spoilerific, but explains why I have only bought DVD 1 of this series so far.
For a genre that’s become over-crowded since Love Hina and Tenchi Muyo ruled the airwaves, you have to do something a bit different to stand out. The characters themselves aren’t too different; there’s the rich bitch, the childhood friend, and the traditional/martial arts girl. Kazuki himself isn’t quite the hapless protagonist, though he sort of wanders through the first DVD. But storywise, this series takes a few chances, such as having only one of the girls really wanting him at first (although by the 2nd or 3rd DVD, the other two have fallen for him). At times on the first DVD, it flirts with actual quality. The argument-and-makeup scene in the 2nd episode so hooked me on these characters,gave me such an emotional investment, that I am terrified of a bittersweet ending. You see, on the 3rd DVD, Kazuki uses his last two magic casts to save Yuna’s life. He dies. Now that’s a change of pace, but he becomes a ghost and is still around, and the girls are bound and determined to resurrect him somehow. I think its particularly poingnant that he tries to carry on in some ways as if he hadn’t died; he even attends class until his (ex-) classmates make it clear that they don’t want him around, — it’s pointless for him to be there, they tell him. Reviews I’ve read state the series drops a bit here and seems to wander. But because the final DVD won’t be released until 4/11, I can’t find anything in the English language (and I even went to Japanese websites!) that say if it’s a happy ending or not. I don’t want a downer. I don’t want one of those open-ended or bittersweet endings the Japanese love. I don’t want them to be innovative and different here, I want Yuna and Kazuki to be together. (Preferably alive, though I suppose her dying somehow would do it… I thinkI don’t like that idea though. In a few more weeks, I should know, at which point I’ll probably just buy the boxed set (if I will like it) to save money and give the first DVD to a friend.

• Fanservice: High.
• Animation: Average, but the DVD transfer is awful. Music: Love both the OP & EP. OP is a high-tempo J-Pop tune, while the closer is a more sentimental ballad. Music during the show fits the mood well, tends towards low and ominous during dramatic scenes and whimsical during the comedic.
• Plot: Seems ok so far.
• Storytelling: Uneven; flashes of greatness amid a lot of pedestrian stuff.
• Characterization: Based on the first DVD, harem romance, with magical girls. The music makes it clear that there’s a darker undertone coming.
• Rewatch: Fair
• DVD Quality: Normally, I don’t make a big deal out of this category, but I have to make an exception here. ADV blew the transfer, lots of cross-coloration, and aliasing is bad; if you view it on a larger TV, it will be noticable.
• Overall Grade: B+ It’s meant to be mostly light entertainment with a romance, and it works for the first at least.

Edit: 4/18/06: Steven DenBeste watched the rest of the series and posted a review; sadly the ripoff aspect of Kazuki’s second magic use was a harbringer of things to come. The series really goes downhill, has little plot, and they inexplicably turn Yuna into a jealous bitch. What a waste. The first DVD was a good place to stop, it seems.