Saber Marionette J Again - Plasmatic Crisis Collection (Vols 1-3)
This six-part OVA serves as a bridge betweenSaber Marionette J(1995) andSaber Marionette J to X(1998). It repeats the weirdly sexist setup from the earlier series: decidedly female-looking robots called Marionettes take the place of women on Terra II. The first three episodes play as a sort of domestic comedy, with Faust sending his three Marionettes, Tiger, Panther, and Luchs, to learn about domesticity from Otaru's crew of Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry. In the woods, Lime meets the mysterious and powerful Marionette Marine, who joins their household. The story darkens in the second trio of episodes, as a once-every-80,000-years "Plasma Storm" threatens to destroy Terra II. The dangers are increased via a weird subplot in which the nasty president of New Texas tries to capture Marine using "liquid metal" cyborgs lifted fromTerminator 2. Much ofJ Againplays like a very un-PC cross betweenTenchiandSlayers. The Marionettes all love Otaru and desire only to please him, although it's not clear why. Unlike Tenchi or Akito inNadesico, Otaru never displays the good heart or hidden powers that would make him worth all the bother. The series offers lots of "fan service" jiggle shots, and there's a running gag involving Hanagata, a gay guy who makes passes at Otaru, only to get punched out by him--all of which will probably delight many adolescent boys, the obvious audience for the discs. Suggested for ages 13 and up: Sexual humor, violence, partial nudity, alcohol use, mild profanity.--Charles Solomon