Something possessed me to go back and watch the first DVD of Maburaho again today. I wanted something silly and light, and it fit the bill. Having watched a lot more animé since I first saw it, (and a lot of it was junk in the last season or so), I am just amazed at how good this series is. It’s imaginative, funny, sexy, offbeat, and has a top-notch haremette in Kuriko Kazetsubaki. (I can’t believe I left her out of my Dream Team Harem.) Yuna isn’t anything to sneer at, and while I may never have warmed to Rin, she wasn’t that bad. Yes, this was one kick-ass harem animé.
For two episodes.
Then it made a huge blunder, that was, unfortunately, a harbinger of the collapse to follow. The writers couldn’t come up with a good reason, so they had Kazuki use his magic needlessly. The next episode tried to regain the momentum, but then the Doctor did something equally stupid, which put potentially the whole school, and specifically Kazuki and the haremettes at risk. Contrived situations became the norm, and I’m told, after Kazuki dies (which ought to be pretty obvious it’s coming by the foreboding music and the 3rd time he uses his magic), the show loses any sense of momentum it might have had. Yuna turns into a jealous bitch and forfeits any fan sympathy due to the Childhood Marriage Promise.
Fortunately, I bought only the first DVD. The original review, ported over from Houblog without the pictures, is here. I recommend the version with pictures, unless your work environment has a problem with panties and garters.
It was an idea with a lot of potential. It’s too bad that didn’t tell a different story about different characters within that idea.
Yeah.
And Planetes is still in the unwatched pile. So’s the last half of Outlaw Star.
I wonder if any other genre has so many fans with an “unwatched pile.” I mean, you don’t hear about Italian Zombie movie fans saying, “Man, I’m way behind on my Fulci…”
Science Fiction fans quite commonly have an “unread pile” of books.
You should see my unwritten post file. 😛
Actually, I do not have an unread pile of books. I get one, I read it. It’s worse than animé. And the aforementioned pair of series actually aren’t in the unwatched pile, they are the unwatched pile.
Well, ok, unless you count fansubs I’ve chosen not to download, but that’s cheating.
Speaking of which, Lucky Star was offbeat, funny, and charming in it’s own weird way, but I don’t see how it’s possible to make a 20+ episode series out of such cute randomness. I mean, it made me laugh a few times, especially “Lucky Star TV” but there’s got to be more to it than this…. doesn’t there?
Well damn, I just remembered, I do have one unread book. A while back, For Us, The Living was published; Heinlein’s lost first novel (prolly lost because it sucked). I bought it only to complete my collection.