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[Good Morning Call/Time Stranger Kyoko VHS cover art]
AKA: N/A
Genre: Shoujo fantasy
Length: OAV, 10 minutes
Distributor: Currently unlicensed in North America
Content Rating: 3+ (nothing objectionable)
Related Series: N/A
Also Recommended: Full Moon o Sagashite, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne
Notes: Based on a manga by Tanemura Arina (Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Full Moon o Sagashite).

This was originally released as a promotional video by manga distributor Ribbon Magazine.
Rating:

Time Stranger Kyoko

Synopsis

The manga's storyline is basically about a girl in 30th-century Earth named Kyoko, who has the ability to travel through and manipulate time. The anime focuses on a minor, but popular character, named Chocola, and her misadventures with a group of bandits.


Review

Here's a great big "what the hell".

If you have never read or heard of Time Stranger Kyoko, then you will have no idea what is going on or who these weirdoes are. If you have read the manga series, then you'll wonder why in the world they chose to make this anime the way they did.

To put it simply, the anime Time Stranger Kyoko has about five seconds of Time Stranger Kyoko, and a whole lot of time devoted to the infernally stupid and vaguely Di Gi Charat-like Chocola. (In fact, isn't that the name of a Di Gi Charat art book?!? I mean, there is already Pyocola…)

So instead of getting a story that could've given us a taste of what the manga was about, we get a one-shot episode of stupid gag panel-style vignettes that have nothing to do with the main story or characters. What's worse is that the humor and plot (or lack thereof) come off as so stupid that any characters involved look like flaming idiots.

Aren't promotional videos supposed to, umm, promote a series? Well, if so, then Time Stranger Kyoko fails utterly. If it weren't for the fact that we know the quality of Tanemura Arina's previous material (Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne) then we'd completely pass up the original manga. And her latest manga-turned-anime, Full Moon o Sagashite, is far superior (which is to be expected because it's a full-length television series).

It's sad that Tanemura's self-proclaimed favorite work is given such short shrift as an anime, because this one-shot has none of the charm and humor that we've come to expect from her work.

Even if you've seen the manga, this one-shot only holds appeal if you really, really like Chocola. Carlos/Giancarla Ross and Christi

Recommended Audience: Nothing objectionable at all. Mind-numbingly harmless.



Version(s) Viewed: digital source
Review Status: Full (1/1)
Time Stranger Kyoko © 2001 Tanemura Arina / Ribbon
 
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