i finally got a chance to fire up my new anime series, magical shopping arcade abenobashi this weekend. created by gainax (evangelion, flcl, etc…) and co-produced by madhouse, the 13-episode series rocks all over the place. holy shit is it all kinds of weird. the series follows two friends, sashi and arumi, whos families live and work within the abenobashi arcade in osaka. the areas being redeveloped however, and arumis family is about to move to hokkaido…so sashi’s not too thrilled x2. after an accident that puts arumi’s grandfather in the hospital, all hell breaks loose when theyre somehow tossed into alternate universes where everythings stupid and nothing makes sense. each successive universe is a warped version of their own…where they meet their families and friends, but theyve all taken up different characters in their respective universe. they also constantly run into mune mune, a well-endowed girl who doesnt wear much clothing and constantly rubs her breasts in sashis face, and uetus, a “wizard” who seems to know why they keep getting tossed into different universes…
so in the second episode, they find themselves in a fantasy realm, mune mune kills sashi numerous times, and arumi has to drag his ass back to the king each time to resurrect him. they also manage to take down the evil demon lord of the realm by smacking him stupid with a breast-enlarging sword (that arumi had secretly bought for herself). in the third episode, arumi has her panties stolen by an oni, who they then fight to get her panties back in their transforming robot as they shout out their attacks. in episode eight, theyre thrown in a love hina universe where all the girls fawn over sashi, and arumi (whos been transformed into a mini-oni) is constantly being harassed by a chicken. all the stupidity eventually makes sense, and thats what makes the series rock so much. its also wickedly funny too (dur). and while its all kinds of crazy, the nonsense has a part in the overall story. but besides the seriously weird shit, underneath the nonsense lies a consistent (and eventually serious) theme about people learning how to be happy with the world they live in.
its also pretty damn funny watching arumi forced into a card captor outfit and manipulated to strike poses. and when sashi eventually learns who mune mune really is, itll make you think hard. really really think hard. the people at gainax are thoroughly screwed up.
> magical shopping arcade abenobashi
> abenobashi trailer
sounds very interesting. can you let me know where you get all your anime dvds? what stores have a good inventory and any good sites to keep up with the anime world.
thx.
ok, keep in mind that i collect japanese dvds, not the american dvds. theyre cheaper, come in whole series (a 13 episode or 26 episode series is generally $25-$30), and theyre out months ahead. the downside is that the subtitles can be confusing sometimes, and the video quality is good but not stellar.
that being said…if you happen to live in nyc, you can check out otaku den over on broadway and waverly. if not, you can order from their site, or from sun devil. and if you want the american releases for any reason, you can check out anime nation.