Jewel Bem Hunter Lime currently airs on Anime Network, You can also snag the DVD on Amazon. You probably saw an ad for this show in a magazine somewhere, and it's possible, you were taken in by the bold colors and distinctly 90's feel. But you must be wondering, "What exactly IS this?" .... well... you'll be asking that quite a bit as the show goes on. But first, a little back story. Jewel BEM Hunter Lime, otherwise sold as Hōma Hantā Raimu, began it's short life as a Japan-only PC game, which was later re-released onto Sega Saturn. It was a perverted game, where you help Lime and her idiot cohort Bass, try and recover six power gems, through long, poorly animated cut-scenes. Shortly after the Saturn release, Aishi Productions, (now known as Production Reed) released a three part OVA. Reed was still on a video game high, after releasing the Rockman/Mega Man OVA "Upon a Star" and co-animating the famous Mega Man cartoon series with Ruby Spears. The hope was that the OVA would do well enough to warrant a full anime season for Lime, and generate interest in the two games. ..... Unfortunately, that didn't happen. But let's dive into the 3-part saga. The plot royally screams "I WANT A TV SHOW" as right in the first segment, we find Lime and Bass, accidentally leaving the magical world, through a door between the human and magical worlds, which only opens once on a rare month. The duo chase a demon, who has stolen six powerful gems, known as BEM'S. In the heat of the chase, they lose track of the demon, and the six gems become tiny demons, and start wreaking havoc in Japan. It's up to Lime and Bass of course to recover them. But they need a plan. What is Lime's best idea? Of course! Let's get an apartment, go to school and act like teenagers and maybe get a part-time job. Right, because that's just what a demon hunter does, right? After reaching this "brilliant" plan, Lime and Bass befriend a normal girl named Mizuki, who has no clue the duo are not humans, but manages to get swept up into the shenanigans of every effort these two make to recover the BEM'S. Lime runs hot and cold. One minute, she could be playfully ditsy, the next, she's ready to knock someone out. Bass is stupid, arrogant and above all, highly perverted, almost to a rape level. He can't seem to keep his hands off of Lime, even when he's calling her names. So you must be wondering, is this an action show? A comedy? Well...... truth be told.... the anime isn't sure what it is. We have random scenes of Lime transforming, while completely naked, we have a few random acts of violence, and then when they find a demon..... it looks like an angry marshmallow. And if this was a one-time occurrence, that might be cute. But this gag repeats itself. The action scenes are short, and the comedic scenes lack focus. This anime is suffering from an identity crisis. The rampant sexual imagery makes it too mature to be a kids' show, but the writing is too juvenile to be a teen or adult show. The writing isn't bad, but it just doesn't fit the picture on screen. To make matters worse, the jokes are just plain off. The timing is all over the place. It's a shame the writing isn't what it needs to be, because the animation is pretty fluid. The characters all look interesting and the colors are vibrant. Overall, this was a show that had potential in the plot, but couldn't effectively deliver on the promise it had. It's a flash in the pan fan service, and is best watched on mute. |
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Codename Sailor earthCodename Sailor Earth is a lifelong anime and wrestling fan. IRL she is cartoonist Koriander Bullard, formerly Koriander Ake, a happily married Chicagoan. Her favorite anime is Sailor Moon. A baby in the late 80's, the first anime titles she ever saw were Speed Racer, Voltron and Robotech. Archives
December 2017
Categories
All
|