Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi Complete Collection DVD Review

By sothis Published: September 28, 2005

PACKAGING AND MENU

9 / 10

Like the Azumanga thinpak, this release has a very sturdy box to house the DVDs. The spine is very attractive with dark pink behind a picture of the main characters, and the title. One side of the box has the three main characters in spy gear, behind a pentacle. I like this scene. The other side is not as attractive, and has the same three characters in a very loud (color-wise) and spastic scene. Perhaps a little appropriate but still definitely not the best choice of image to use for a cover. Your eyes don’t know where to go when you look at it, it’s too busy. The DVD covers themselves are the two pictures from the box, and then one other picture on the third disc of the two main characters up close. The backs, like Azumanga, all have the same layout: a few screenshots together on the upper left, with cute little icons such as mushrooms or the pelican on a solid background, with the text. The discs are solid colors with a pentacle on each one.

FEATURES

0 / 10

The Abenobashi thinpak has no extra features.

VIDEO

9 / 10

The video on this box set was truly amazing. I noticed almost no major or minor video anomalies throughout the entire thing. The color came across beautifully, and the picture was very clean and vibrant. The only slight problem was aliasing problems in a few scenes (especially panning shots). It really wasn't too noticeable unless you were looking for it.

AUDIO

8 / 10

The audio was transferred very nicely. The Japanese 2.0 Dolby Digital was fairly standard, with only a few scenes that played across the sound stage, however most audio was just centered. The English 5.1 was also done quite well. There were many scenes that really made use of the 5.1; however, there were also some scenes where it would have been nice to hear more ambient noise or music, and it wasn't pushed to the rear speakers. The dub was an interesting idea, giving the main characters a southern accent to keep with contrast with the Osaka dialect and typical anime dialogue.

CONTENT

8.5 / 10

Through a random twist of fate, young Arumi and Sassi find themselves traveling from world to hilarious world, and are trying desperately to get home. From prehistoric times to Hollywood, there are plenty of wacky places to be visited. Each episode is almost entirely episodic and very spastic. Eventually an underlying plot is exposed, which makes for an interesting and melancholy twist. In general, watching Abenobashi's randomness is funny and amusing, though admittedly, some epsiodes are much better than others. In general though, a solid random "story" that will amuse you.

Abenobashi excels at its extremely spastic animation styles. Since all types of things are parodied, there are all sorts of styles to be found. Different worlds can have very different types of colors and character designs, so it's impossible to sum it up in a little paragraph. Let's just say that you can find almost anything. CGI is also interspersed at times. The one thing I didn't like about the animation was the heavy ecchi revolving around Munemune, a buxom character who shows up in each world. The gigantic breasts covered by almost no clothing are thrown in your face the entire episode, nearly every episode. Yes, I know that that was supposed to be what makes it funny, but it was excessive and killed the mood for me a little. I love random, spastic, wacky humor, but not giant boobs in my face all the time.

The intro song to Abenobashi is easily one of the catchiest songs I've heard. Second only to Stellvia, though with a very different sound. I enjoyed listening to it each time! The rest of the music is quirky and stays in the background well.

Abenobashi is a delightful treat that will have you laughing out loud repeatedly. With a clever story and RIDICULOUSLY high paced and funny flow, there really is no reason you'd dislike this, unless you can't handle spasticness in a series. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it, either... definitely is more high octane than most of the random series I've seen. If you are looking for quality laughs and don't mind a few episodes that aren't as funny as the rest, Abenobashi is a great find.