Jing: King of Bandits - Seventh Heaven

ThePatches Aug 3, 2009

5

StoryWhile I've seen only six episodes of the original series, King of Bandits Jing, a lingering memory of it sticks out in my mind. Beyond the formulaic "caper of the week" plot-lines lay a rich and captivating world, full of quirky side characters and imaginative locales. The standalone OVA, King of Bandit Jing in 7th Heaven, offered an opportunity to revisit Jing's stomping grounds and get a coherent, exciting story out of the deal. As the old saying goes, "One outta two ain't bad." The opening of the OVA sees Jing and his bird-cum-companion Kir on their way to the maximum security prison, 7th Heaven. Locked in the deepest part of the prison resides the magician Campari, whose trove of captured dreams Jing hopes to steal. Instead of using the tight confines of the prison to deliver an action-packed ride, Jing in 7th Heaven leverages Campari's collection to tell three different stories that like to pretend that they relate to each other. Luckily, the second episode, which concerns the origin of Jing and Kir's friendship, doesn't share the same confused style as the rest of Jing in 7th Heaven. This middle portion limits itself to three visually distinctive locations tied together by a single narrative, and thus appears more patient and coherent. Due to its laid back tone and entertaining cast, the vignette stands out as the best part of the short series by far. Tragically, Jing in 7th Heaven shows the same narrative failings as the larger series, even at the frenetic pace of an OVA. Each episode eventually falls into a pattern that has Jing using his wits to confront a foe or difficult situation until it overwhelms his abilities, necessitating the cure-all solution of "blast it with KIR ROYAL!" *cue Kir Royal animation*. This simplistic plot structure offers little opportunity for development and allows for only the faintest resolution of the overarching story, squeezed into the last installment's closing minutes. By the third episode, it becomes clear that any plot here merely provides an opportunity to trot out Jing in 7th Heaven's tasty visuals.  AnimationKing of Bandits Jing sports some of the most stylish landscapes I've seen in anime, and this OVA continues in that tradition. 7th Heaven, the show's first real location, echoes a medieval version of the prison from the live action movie No Escape and confines an impressively diverse prisoner population. The prison, however, pales in comparison to the myriad environments used during the first episode's manic chase through a series of dreams. Though derivative (the dreams include an Escher-like world, a carnival and a city populated by robots), the backgrounds and characters in each dream help to both clearly define each location from the one previous and keep the chase scene interesting during the moments of respite for Jing and company. The second and third episodes take place in Jing's and Campari's hometowns respectively, which prove to be as engaging as any of the dream worlds, if a little less outright strange. Juxtaposed against its bizarre surroundings Jing's homely cottage struck particularly arresting tableau and deserves mention as the most memorable landscape in the OVA. From the various prisoners of 7th Heaven, to Jing's childhood friends and the vampiric Warden Maraschino, the side characters display the same endlessly inventive spirit as the show's backgrounds. Unfortunately, the OVA's main cast, Jing, Benedictine (the heroic duo's mysterious guide to Campari's world of dreams), and Campari, aren't nearly as creative. Jing certainly looks cool in the wake of his trademark "Kir Royal" backlit by the attacks green flames. But that's where it ends. The hero's everyman appearance may carry powerful symbolism, but he lacks enough distinctiveness to grant him real charisma. Similarly disappointing, Campari resembles a typical circus magician; given how interesting everyone else in the OVA looks, a more creative villain would have both fit the world better and made a more compelling antagonist.SoundWhile points should be deducted for Kir's annoying voice, given the content of his lines a grating reading can be forgiven. The rest of the voice cast performs admirably with no standout work: Jing remains as ambiguously boyish as he did in the series, Campari and Warden Maraschino's theatricality match the their arrogant nature, and Benedictine coos in a pleasant bishoujo manner. The music, while limited, perfectly matches the ethereal feel of the series as a whole. The synth-jazz melodies call up a timeless and place-less melancholy well-suited to the constantly changing bizarre scenery and technological mishmash that define King of Bandits Jing's setting. Jing's "hero" theme--used when he engages Kir--dovetails perfectly with the rest of the ambient melodies, and its use of horns adds a little drama to the transformation sequence.CharactersLittle substance lies behind the characters' attractive looks. Over the course of the OVA, the only character that seems touched by its events is Campari, and even then, his development gets crammed into the end of the final episode. That the characters appear so interesting aggravates the issue. For example, the series sidelines the flashy and emotive Warden Maraschino, who would have made an excellent villain in his own right, and chooses instead to focus on the inscrutable--and thus, less interesting--Campari. To add insult to injury, the OVA includes a short origin story for Jing and Kir in which the two main protagonists are by far the least interesting players. We learn over the course of the episode that Jing has always been Jing and Kir has always been Kir (an unfortunate, if unsurprising revelation). Jing's droll mannerisms and straightforward take on life conform to the same everyman principles that inspired his character design, but these traits don't make him interesting to watch. Regrettably, Jing and Kir, bland as they are, spend a large amount of time on the screen.OverallKing of Bandits Jing in 7th Heaven, much like its father series, provides its artists an excuse to showcase attractive backgrounds and quirky character designs. This OVA also pretends to have a plot, however, which robs the viewers of the chance to spend some quality time with any of the interesting settings or their denizens. Instead, the best parts of Jing's world flitter by as the show focuses on its dull main cast and weak overarching story. Thanks to the the OVA's mercifully short length and raw strength of its unique visuals, King of Bandits Jing in 7th Heaven remains an acceptable diversion in spite of these central failings. But, if you're looking for an well-told tale centered around a charismatic lead, look somewhere else.

Rbastid Nov 2, 2017

7

Like much of what went on the series, Jing’s apparent arrest is more than meets the eye, and that holds double for the encounters he’s about to have in the infamous Seventh Heaven Prison. Story - 7/10 Jing has finally been caught, and now he and Kir are off to serve time in a prison for the worst of the worst. Of course that’s what Jing would like his captors to believe, but the truth is he’s there to meet a famous magician, Campari, who’s known for stealing dreams and selling them to those who can’t dream on their own.   Each part of this OVA revolves around a specific dream Campari has set up in order to throw Jing off his game and keep him from stealing his orbs. First he must navigate his way through the prison maze that leads back to his own cell, all while being chased by a giant rat. Next he’s tasked with reliving his youth, specifically when he learned of his ability to team up with Kir for their special attack. For his final task he has to again escape one of Campari’s illusions, this time an angry Arabian who Campari sawed in half for a trick, but never put back together.  Eventually Jing gets to the heart of Campari’s dreams, a love he lost years ago, who also just happens to be helping Jing in his quest. In time Jing reunites Campari with his lost love Benedictine, and for the first time in ages the magician is finally able to dream on his own again, and of course his slumber allows Jing the chance to steal his most valuable dream orb, the Sleepless King. As usual things end in a neat way, with Jing being able to just blast his way out of trouble and back to freedom, which is extremely lazy to keep using as a way out of a story. Story wise you can understand why these weren’t placed within the series itself. They aren’t as cheerful or bright as the other thirteen, and despite being about Jing trying to steal the dream orbs, the stories don’t have the same arc and depth as the others, though it’s still a very good OVA. Animation - 7/10 While not much has changed from the series, there are still great looking characters and interesting scenery, they started the OVA out on a bad note, a really, really bad note. It’s my belief that trying to integrate CGI into anime is a scourge on the art form, one that almost always comes across as awful looking, and here it’s no different, thankfully it was used sparingly. Otherwise I can’t complain about what can essentially be a continuation of the series. The character designs were all par for the course in the series. All the background characters had interesting and creative appearances, when most of those who moved the story around were quite weak. The main antagonist of the story, Campari, also felt as if he was styled on the look of Final Fantasy’s Kefka Palazzo, with the red streaks smeared below his eyes. One thing I also found interesting was part of Campari’s first illusion included an area that mimicked M.C. Escher’s drawings called Relativity. In the anime I noted that many of the places Jing visited seemed to mimic the artistic style of those like Dahli, and this carries along that theme of the design team finding inspiration in great works of art. Sound - 6/10 While the voice over work is, like most everything else in this trilogy, almost exact to that in the series, the music does take a bit of a dive. Gone are all the great upbeat songs and in their place is, well a lot of Jazz that sounds almost mixed with what I’d describe as Techno-vaudeville. That’s not to say the music is bad, but outside of the ending theme it’s uninspired and slightly repetitive.  Characters - 5/10 While our main characters are carried over from the series, they actually worked in an interesting way to include Jing’s backstory, though as it comes in the form of one of Campari’s illusions, we aren’t one hundred percent sure if it was a glimpse into Jing’s past, or just make believe.  If what we’re told in that second episode is to be taken at face value, Jing grew up with a small group of children, almost resembling the Lost Boys gang from Peter Pan. Each of the three younger children looked up to Jing and his ability as a thief, so to emulate him they would go out and steal hard to obtain items, one which just happened to be a large egg with Kir emblazoned across it. The egg began talking, hitting on Jing’s female friend, Cassis, and eventually following the group around wherever the went. At the same time Jing received a package from our friendly Mail Man Postino. The package was given to Postino ten years ago by Jing’s mother, with the instructions to deliver it to him on his birthday. Inside was a small looking bazooka, which Jing was told would show it’s full ability when Jing’s right hand deemed it necessary. That day came when Jing tried to protect Cassis, but after the gun was damaged in battle Kir took it’s place, unveiling the origin of the Kir Royal (though it doesn’t explain how Kir can also be a gun.) The other characters in this OVA follow the pattern set forth by the series. There’s a beautiful girl, Benedictine, for Kir to swoon over, as she tries to guide Jing through the story. The misunderstood adversary, Campari, who Jing must help see the light. And the true villain, Maraschino, who is there mainly for Jing to make look like a bumbling fool. Even though it was only a three episode series, they could have built up those characters a bit more, instead of having long sequences of Jing running away from a monster while cracking a joke. While I did enjoy getting a glimpse into Jing’s childhood, we’re still left completely in the dark about his mother, as they almost take us a step back in unveiling that he was living apart from any real family, but then never expanding on it. Overall - 7/10 As an additional grouping of episodes the Seventh Heaven arc was pretty entertaining. A bit darker and stranger than the original series, it still stays true to the original with interesting twists and an ending with a happier than normal outcome. While this trio did help us further understand Jing as a character, they could have just did a slightly better job in tying up his backstory, most likely knowing this was the end of the line for the TV show.