Thursday, September 9

Retro Anime


Go on a voyage with Captain Tita and her crew in Plastic Little.

I was looking through the dvd stalls recently, and I am pleased to see that anime is finally trickling into the mainstream selections. A good double-feature DVD I got features two titles by Satoshi Urushihara, a manga-ka known for his incredibly cute yet sexy art style and work in various RPGs such as Langrisser on the older consoles and PCs. The two features are Plastic Little and Legend of Lemnear.

Plastic Little is set in a world dominated by a vast, cloud-filled sea; within this sea of clouds are various colonies that float in the very air. Plying the trade of pet-shop hunter is the good ship Cha Cha Maru, an exceptional vessel commanded and owned by the feisty and lovely 17-year old, Tita. Tita is accompanied by her small but selflessly loyal and loving crew, and together they go on various adventures in the sea of clouds, at least in the manga version.
The anime version of Tita's adventures is a 40 minute or so OAV feature which is beautifully animated, tightly written and brilliantly designed with great characters, mecha and action sequences. It's a compact movie that tells of how Tita and her crew gets involved with a beautiful young fugitive, an evil military plot to topple the government and a climactic battle with a hundred to one odds. All this AND lots of gratuitous, well-animated naked breasts. Hoho! Mr. Urushihara's work, I have to add, is often laced with ecchi and fanservice to the extreme.
The other feature in the Urushihara double-feature is Legend of Lemnear, a fantasy-action adventure set in a gritty, swords-and-sorcery world where an evil force is taking over the realm. The only ones who have a hope of defeating this great evil are the chosen Champions... one of which, Lemnear, the Champion of Silver, is a beautiful young woman who has grown up as a warrior seeking revenge for her slain people. Can she find her allies and save her world from ruin? Or will she just become an evil sorcerer's plaything in a steamy harem? Well, actually, BOTH of these things happen, though fortunately not in that order. Heh.

While both features are pretty old, they stand up quite well even to more recent anime, particularly Plastic Little, which still looks gorgeous. I highly recommend these titles for mature anime enthusiasts; the amount of bobbly flesh and bouncy breasts ensure that these are not for young kids, but there's a good story and great action behind all the skin. Check 'em out.

One last note. I have NO IDEA what the title 'Plastic Little' means.

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