Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland
These brief (30 minutes total), silly adventures use a few elements of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" stories as a premise. The title character has been transformed into a blond teenager in a sailor suit; all the other characters have been recast as curvaceous women in scanty costumes. The White Rabbit is a Playboy bunny, years after the last Playboy Club closed. The Cheshire Cat attempts to seduce Miyuki; the Queen of Hearts (who wears a dominatrix costume) cracks a whip and tries to make Miyuki kiss her boots. Of course, it's all a dream, but not a pleasant one. Western viewers may have trouble understanding why the all-female Clamp studio would make such a sophomoric example of fan-service sexism. Perhaps the material plays differently in Japan, but it's difficult to see how. Unrated; suitable for ages 17 and up: Brief nudity, violence, sexual situations, including lesbianism and sado-masochism.--Charles Solomon