released 01 nov 08 / last mod 01 nov 08 / greg goebel / public domain
* At the beginning of MAGICAL SHOPPING ARCADE ABENOBASHI (MSAA) -- an anime video series in 13 episodes on three DVDs -- we meet two 12-year-old kids from Osaka, a boy named Sasshi and a girl named Ayumi. Their families have shops in the well-known Abenobashi Shopping Arcade in Osaka, which is being torn down -- with the result that Ayumi's family is relocating, a fact that Sasshi doesn't much like at all.
There is more to the Abenobashi Shopping Arcade than meets the eye, however. The destruction of an iconic statue sends the two kids off into parallel worlds, where the shopping arcade takes on different manifestations: fantasy adventure land, sci-fi environment, martial-arts movie scenario, battleground, and so on. In each of these environments, the kids run into versions of the people they knew back in their own reality -- as well as a mysterious sexy redhead and a man with blue hair.
* There are a number of bad things that can be said about MSAA: it's no brilliant production, its plot (such as it has one) is chaotic, and it gets seriously sleazy at times -- I think the production crew also makes porn anime, and it shows here and there.
On the plus side, a viewer who has a tolerance for more or less trashy entertainment will likely find MSAA amusing, with the different parallel realities played up as sometimes riotous parodies of anime and movies and whatever. The two kids are also amusing: Sasshi is basically a dippy sort of 12-year-old, while Ayumi is cute but bossy. I'm not sure I'd say MSAA is something that goes on the "must watch" list -- but it certainly has its moments.
