 |
Volume 2
Copyright ©1996 AIC / Pioneer LDC Inc., TV Tokyo /
Softx / Mannensha
|
|
—by Peter Kenzaburo Cahill
Followup to the previous review
in EX 4.2:
The first volume was reviewed last
issue and nothing much has changed. Having never liked cheery
magical-transforming-sailor-skirt shows at all, I was wary of this
assignment. But I was at least partially won over by MAGICAL PROJECT S's humor, as well as the fact
that its creators seem to feel at least a bit like I do about this
kind of show... And since the animation and goofy ideas are still
fairly impressive, I'd say our self-mocking anti-heroine (this is
about as close to Clint Eastwood as a magical-transforming-sailor-skirt
girl can get) shows no signs of faltering.
In this volume of episodes Sasami is still not too happy
about having to transform into such a ridiculous character to fight
such ridiculous villains all the time. But now she's mostly worried
about someone discovering that she and Pretty Sammy are one and the
same. Pixy Misa continues to send forth embarrassingly bizarre
"Love-love monsters" that are as delightfully twisted and
self-deprecating as the rest of the show. And like all of Clark
Kent's friends, no seems to notice that Sasami and Misao always
disappear when Sammy and Pixy show up...
Vacuous Mihoshi and hyper-tense Kiyone teach rival classes
at the same school and their clashes are much the same as they were
in the TENCHI videos. Washu shows up in the
third episode of this volume, and you can be certain it's only a
matter of time before the rest of the old TENCHI
cast manages to sneak in here.
The charm of the MAGICAL PROJECT S
series is its realization that magical girl shows can be terribly
silly and should not be taken very seriously. And like other great
parodies it pokes fun at itself and satirizes others like it as
much as possible. Granted, this is no YOJIMBO
and it's not quite BLAZING SADDLES, but it's
really quite funny. 
Released in North America by Pioneer Entertainment (USA) L.P.
VHS, 75 minutes
English Subtitled PIVA-7091S $29.98
Available now in the USA
Where to buy |
|
