Having been a big fan of the fansubbed Maze TV series (it is my favorite anime, period), I was psyched when CPM bought the rights to the first OAV. The psych simmered down a bit when I read the back of the box and found out how they were marketing it. The psych vanished when I watched it. How, I wonder, can this be from Maze?
Before I start ranting on this tape, let me tell you what I like about the TV series. It had a wonderful cast of varying characters that were neither candy-coated nor intolerable but instead imperfect people that you loved. Also, the story line was exquisite. The plot was mainly Maze dropped into Mega Burst Space (the land's name) in "Wizard Of OZ" style: Her room dropped out of the sky and fell on an evil guy. Then she finds out she had just saved Princess Mill and now must help her stop her relative from destroying all of the villages. Somewhere in there, all of the other characters come in and end up helping Maze. Oh yeah, Maze turns into a guy when the sun goes down and turns back when it comes up. Cool, huh? These two things blending together made a whirlpool of fun.
Now the OAV, the odd duck of an odd duck series. Probably the main beef I have with it is the story. Like a lot of OAVs, it takes place in the middle of the story and rewrites a few things (how Maze met Randi, etc.). Nearly all the people who watch this tape and have never seen the TV series don't get the full story. This is a major problem and leaves lots of inconsistencies in the tape. The full blown and polished story becomes a muddled mess and many people are led to believe wrong things. For example, a lot of people who have watched this think that Princess Mix becomes part of the main cast, she doesn't.
The characters also present a problem. All of these characters were bearable and sometimes loveable in the TV show (well, Mil was kind of annoying), yet they have become stupid pests you hope will take a turn for the worse in an unexpected plot twist. A good example of this is Otoko (male) Maze. In the TV series, he was a pervert, bullheaded, yet had a noble part about him and deep down really wanted to do the right thing. In the OAV, they decided to emphasize on the pervert and bull headed part. They turned him into a huge jerk with no redeeming qualities what-so-ever.
Don't get me wrong, there are a few nice qualities on this tape. The animation is much better than the TV series and that senseless battle at the start of the tape looked better than any TV battle. Though, when I say art, I do not mean fanservice. There is tons of it on this tape, MUCH more than any TV series.
Overall, this tape is really bad. The creators must have been going for that oh-so-artistic-yet-shallow feel. They basically traded in great plots and characters for some action and TONS of fanservice.
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