Labyrinth of Flames

Rating:
Summary: naughty-Sexy fun
Review: I passed over this anime because it looked and read like another nerd cast adrift in a timeline of wild girls. When I bought it, I was shocked because it was actually pretty good. (The worst thing is it only has two episodes.)

Yes it is another guy and bunch of gals video, but it cuts right to the bone: the main male lead already knows three of the fem's and the first thing to happen is he gets a sword from the princess, which is a marraige proposal. None of the slow ...of introducing girls one-episode-at-a-time and having them fight over the lead.

Rather, this is more conventional. We meet a whole bevy of ladies in the first episode and they aren't so plastic as some are. They don't all fight for Mr. Nerd. He isn't just another clueless highschool kid. The dirty old man is a muscled samurai who's kinky and gets his thrills various ways. Yet he's also competent. The princesse's retainer lusts for her unwanted father-chosen fiance and she gets her guy!

Keep in mind that I'm male, and I like offbeat anime. This gave me lots of nice bikini grade shots of the ladies. The lead male is a clumsy but earnest knucklehead who you can see why the princess loves. (She's no super-lady herself). It gives slapstick and situational humor and diverges from the same-ole plot lines of others while maintaining the general mysterious strangers plot. It takes place in modern day and has swords and tanks mixed up and killer manikins. Blood spurts in humor during the first few minutes; after that deaths are avoided. . There is profanity and sexual inuendo enough to make it a much older young persons anime - but it's not trashy like some ribald sex movies. The people are quiet believably human, cheering at one moment and booing at another.

In the end, this is good general audience fair, a must-see for older normal people. People with a twisted lech for violence or pornography or pure goddy-two-shoes or robot mechas will find it boring or insulting, but for a normal person of mature mind who likes what is sometimes outrageous comedy and sometimes cutting human-interest satyr, it's a decent watch.

Rating:
Summary: vodka shaken, not stirred
Review: This Fun Anime by Katsuhiko Nishijima (creator of Project A-KO and Agent Aika) features a look at raunchy Anime humor. Much like "Agent Aika," the animation is filled with mild sexual content, that's almost too obvious. Which by far is one of appeals of the show. It's almost comparable to flipping through the pages of a "Maxim" magazine. I really must admit, the animation is very good though. The plot at times is pretty outragous, which isn't too off of many Anime comedies. The voice acting isn't great, but bearable, which is common in many of the works in the genre. I really, really liked the Russian soundtrack though, it seemed strange at first, but accented the show very well. The dvd package is decent, with an art gallery and a few extras, including a textless closing that features the women of the show in let's say "compromising positions." If your taste turns toward wacky humor, appealing art and lots (I mean lots) of female underwear shots, this is definately your Anime.

Rating:
Summary: vodka shaken, not stirred
Review: This Fun Anime by Katsuhiko Nishijima (creator of Project A-KO and Agent Aika) features a look at raunchy Anime humor. Much like "Agent Aika," the animation is filled with mild sexual content, that's almost too obvious. Which by far is one of appeals of the show. It's almost comparable to flipping through the pages of a "Maxim" magazine. I really must admit, the animation is very good though. The plot at times is pretty outragous, which isn't too off of many Anime comedies. The voice acting isn't great, but bearable, which is common in many of the works in the genre. I really, really liked the Russian soundtrack though, it seemed strange at first, but accented the show very well. The dvd package is decent, with an art gallery and a few extras, including a textless closing that features the women of the show in let's say "compromising positions." If your taste turns toward wacky humor, appealing art and lots (I mean lots) of female underwear shots, this is definately your Anime.

Rating:
Summary: Labyrinth of Flames
Review: This new show from the creator of Project Ako is not a disapointment. It manages to bring light-hearted comedy to the screen as well as some fleshy scenes that might be appealing to some viewers who may feel animation belongs only in the realm of children.
As I stated there are a few adult overtones in the show but these are laced with extreme insanity which, though it often does not work in a live action format, often does wonders for an animated feature. There are no direct nudity scenes in the show itself though the end credits leave little to the imagination.
The voice tracks seem in some ways to be coming from different directions. The Japanese voice track does not seem to flow as easily as the English especially in the comedic scenes. The Japanese actors seem almost to be struggling with their characters but this might be expected. The original idea for the show was that of a samurai show after all. The English track was recorded long after the idea for the show was switched to comedy so the idea the English actors had was different from that given their Japanese counter-parts.
Compared to other shows such as Love Hina the flare with which the characters tackle their environment may seem old fashioned but it is sure to appeal to anyone who likes comedy in anime. It may not be another Tenchi Muyo but it is still worth taking a look.