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AKA: がぁーでぃあんHearts
Genre: Magical space case comedy harem show
Length: OAV, 6 episodes, 15 minutes each
Distributor: Currently unlicensed in North America
Content Rating: 16+ (nudity)
Related Series: N/A
Also Recommended: Excel Saga
Notes: Based on the manga by Amatsu Sae.
Rating:

Guardian Hearts

Synopsis

Hina, a clumsy member of a force which guards the earth from *something*, accidentally winds up living with some poor dolt and his malevolent mother......and the gaggle of other misfit magical girls who have also taken up residence there.


Review

We have here yet another of my random accidental downloads, and this one is a doozy.

I'll tell you one thing for certain: This show has characters. Problem is, they're all insane, stupid, or both. Not that that's bad, or anything, but not a one can easily be described without "crazy" being a prefix. Our male lead, Kazuya, is, in what I'm sure is quite a switch for something of this genre, never *really* beaten. Poisoned, sure, but never beaten. He's still somewhat dull, but to be honest I've seen worse, so I'll not fault him too much. Hina, the female lead, is dumb as a post and cute as a button *normally*. Her magical girl form is a skank, and seems quite a bit taller than her disguised form(though even transformed she's still thoroughly stupid). The ninja girl, Maya deserves mention for being so off-the-wall that it's hard to explain without ruining the "plot." For reasons beyond me to convey in human words, she is constantly trying to poison, kill, murder, assassinate and/or marry him(writing this is seriously not good for my brain). I'd mention the crazy transforming space princess or the crazy transforming space thief, but by then I'd just be covering more of the same ground. The other primary character who DOES bear some mention is Kazuya's mother, who, for reasons beyond my simple little mind, is actively collecting a flock of girls to live in their home. As I said, she's also rather malevolent.

Musically it's very boring, though I was rather amused with one song which I'm almost certain was stolen directly from a Tokemeki Memorial game for the SNES (16 bit and all). The voice work was alright, I guess, though a couple of voices grated on my nerves(the cat-creature, Daisy, was horrifying, actually).

The story is a lost cause, but with as bizarre and random as this show is it doesn't matter. The bits touching on ninja traditions are horrifically messed up, but that made me laugh all the more. I was a bit disappointed with the length, since, if the show had been longer they probably could've avoided the extremely nonsensical ending (I need say no more than "wedding cake cannon" to explain myself).

I didn't have much of a problem with the animation, though it pales in comparison to some of the stuff made around the same time, it's acceptable for a show of this nature. Character designs aren't bad, though the magical girl costumes are rather unusual (not that I would expect anything different, really, it's just not my kind of bag) and every female character has an enormous rack.

This brings me to my quibble with the show: Not the randomness or stupidity, but the immense amounts of nudity, fan service, and boing. I'm normally not one to tolerate that under most circumstances, but this show provided enough humor for me to override that and watch the insanity unfold.

In closing I feel we have here an amusing, if flawed final product. Its random, fast pace is nice, but for me the frequent nudity and hyper-rushed ending took some of the enjoyment out of it for me.

Absurd enough for a good watch, though if you object at all to lots of boing you're better off looking elsewhere for your daily dose of nuttery. Samuel Arbogast

Recommended Audience: I believe "More jiggle than a swimming pool full of jello" is how the saying goes. Not much else besides the poisonings / murder attempts on Kazuya by Maya, and that never gets *really* violent.



Version(s) Viewed: digital source
Review Status: Full (6/6)
Guardian Hearts © 2003 Sae Amatsu / Kadokawa Shoten / Soft Garage
 
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