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AKA: ふぁんたじあ (Phantasia), Fantasia
Genre: Fantasy action comedy
Length: OAV, 45 minutes
Distributor: VHS from ADV Films
Content Rating: 13+ (harsh language, fan service)
Related Series: N/A
Also Recommended: Oh My Goddess, Urusei Yatsura
Notes: Based on a work by Nagano Akane. While the runtime is stated as forty-five minutes, it seems as if half that runtime is actually trailers for other ADV titles.
Rating:

The Girl from Phantasia

Synopsis

Ohtsuki Akihiro is a typical hormone-pumped Japanese high school student. Rushing home for his "date" with Miyuki, his girlfriend *and* the cutest girl in school, his trips over a carpet that has been tossed away in the garbage. Thinking to clean it up and use it for, ahh, questionable purposes, he finds, to his shock, that it is actually a portal to another world, Phantasia, and that the Guard Sentry of Phantasia, a pink-haired half-human girl named Malon, has already fallen for him in a bad way. Now he is he going to break this one to Miyuki...and the rest of the world?


Review

Okay, so you take Urusei Yatsura, add heavy dosages of Oh My Goddess, and some of the Nuku Nuku cutesy art-style, and compress it into a one-shot OAV. Maybe it's a bit short, but at least it should be sweet and fun, right?

If only it were that easy to make an anime. Apparently, the creators of The Girl from Phantasia thought so, and it shows. This anime *stinks* to high heaven and back, and here's why.

First off, Ohtsuki Akihiro takes the lecherous Moroboshi Ataru archetype and twists it even further into the abyss. Let's just say his motivations are for "laying more than carpet." (Yes, those were his words.) He's not a bit likable, and all he really does is tell Malon off, then think about it, then go off to tell Malon she can use her magic again so she can save his rear end from the collateral-damage prone Roll. Gee, what romance THIS is. (Not to mention his girlfriend, Miyuki, is a complete doormat.)

Then there are the supporting characters, like Roll himself, Monbran, and Short. (I kid you not.) Every single one of them is one-dimensional, with absolutely no personality to express. Not to mention that their homeland, Phantasia isn't even seen in this whole movie, just talked about as a land where the only emotion is love. And are the storyline and plot cheesy? Yes. Limburger level cheesy, to be precise.

And lastly, the supposedly kind and charming Malon, who seems to be a cross between Lum, Belldandy, and Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie. She should be a likable character, right? Alas, we are hardly so lucky. Instead, we get some annoying pink-haired floating girl who squeaks (yes, *squeaks*) lines like, "Malon likes chocolate, so Malon likes Akihiro, and Malon likes humans because they're compassionate!" No wonder the Phantasia natives frown upon racial mingling, if they all turn out as stupid as Malon... At least Lum was charming, funny, and *intelligent*. Malon merely misses the point.

So what is The Girl from Phantasia exactly? Romance comedy? Ki-blast fantasy actioner? Actual entertainment? Well, sadly, this anime does none of these right. About the only thing worthwhile is the art portfolio at the end, as it IS beautiful art, but it still isn't worth watching the dreck in the middle of the tape to get that far. It's a complete waste of your rental dollar (and I sure hope you _rented_ this) and unless you're expecting to goggle your eyes at the sense of impropriety and unbelievability in the plot, characters, AND premise, skip this one by. You'll be a better fan for it, trust me.

A turkey, through and through. The only reason we watched it was so you don't have to. Carlos/Giancarla Ross

Recommended Audience: Malon seems to exist only to be taken advantage of by either Akihiro or by the below-the-skirt and down-the-shirt camera angles. Apart from that, there's outfit-ripping ki-blasts, silly comedic slapstick, and a lot of swearing in the subtitles (even more so than in the actual dialogue!). Definitely not for kids, or anyone else with a sense of pride, for that matter.



Version(s) Viewed: VHS, Japanese with English subtitles
Review Status: Full (1/1)
The Girl from Phantasia © 1993 Akane Nagano / Takeshobo / Starchild / King Records
 
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