![]() The idea of parallel dimensions has been visited time and again, as you genre fans know, but never quite in a way like this! And like SLIDERS, the question must be asked: how will Sasshi and Arumi find their way back home?Īs explained in the postscript by artist Ryusei Deguchi, there are a lot of differences between the anime MAGICAL SHOPPING ARCADE ABENOBASHI and the manga it inspired. Why do they keep running into a mysterious man, Eutus, who seems to know exactly what's going on? And why is HE being chased chased across the worlds by an obsessive and, ah, well-endowed lady named Mune-Mune? The story plays out like a condensed version of the TV show SLIDERS, which also involved travel from one parallel Earth to another each episode, each world being very different from the one the cast encountered before. The worlds seem connected directly with all the geeky things Sasshi loves (as a geek myself, I defend him!): swords and sorcery, sci-fi, video games, Edo-period samurai adventure, dinosaurs - including a certain King of the Monsters! - and more. ![]() (Even though she can hit with her paper fan pretty hard when he gets her mad enough!) But as they leave the hospital after visiting her grandpa, Sasshi and Arumi find themselves in.an Abenobashi that's very, VERY different from the one they know! Everyone they know is here too, but in very different roles, and the world is a medieval one of dragons and magic! They also find out they both need to play by a new set of rules in order to get back to the Abenobashi they know, but will they? Or will they find themselves in a shopping arcade even stranger than the last? But Sasshi has had enough and is in complete denial of what appears inevitable the LAST thing he wants is to lose Arumi. When a freak accident destroys the Pelican and injures Arumi's grandfather, she and her family moving from Abenobashi seems sealed. The entire local shopping arcade is slated for demolition, in fact, in spite of the shinshin - the charms representing four powerful gods meant to protect it three are gone and only one, the Pelican, is left. He doesn't want anything else to change, but it's an even bigger shock to his system when Arumi tells him her family's business might be closing down soon, and she and her loved ones will have to move away. Sasshi loves everything from role-playing games to robot models and collector's figurines and, of course, manga tragically, he just lost his treasure trove of otaku-ness when his family's home got hit by the wrecking ball. Written by Satoru Akahori and drawn by Ryusei Deguchi, the manga version of ABENOBASHI was created well after its anime incarnation.the story starts out the same, though! No two words have caused more upheaval than 'urban renewal', and it's happening to Osaka in Japan.affected in a negative way are a couple of local kids: an emotional super-geek named Sasshi and his best friend, the comparatively more thoughtful yet prone-to-anger Arumi. Like SAMURAI GIRL, though, it's not meant to be taken seriously! As long as you don't do that, you'll have a blast! I know I need to see the whole thing without any editing for family viewing, though! As pleasingly crazy and over the top as the anime was, too much of it flew over my head, mostly because the story moved at a pace that makes 'brisk' seem slow! Fortunately, things made more sense - although one still needs a seatbelt - for the manga version of ABENOBASHI. ![]() An epic story of a geek and her gal pal's chaotic voyages through parallel worlds was definitely different, even in my admittedly limited experience with anime. Its nightly showcase of anime definitely helped set G4 apart, and that's where I first saw Gainax's MAGICAL SHOPPING ARCADE ABENOBASHI. I think it was right after the cable network absorbed Tech TV? Anyway, it was still a while before G4 might as well have committed seppuku and eradicated all the video game-oriented programming that made it unique. ![]() Like SAMURAI GIRL: REALBOUT HIGH SCHOOL, I first saw this in its anime was broadcast (edited for TV) on G4. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |