Title: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

Genre: Comedy

Creator: Studio Gainax

Company: ADV

DVD Info: 13 episodes, 3 volumes

Summary: As a result of a cosmic accident, the shopping district Abenobashi and its patrons are drifting between parallel worlds, each one spoofing different anime series or genres. The series focuses on two kids, Sashi and Arami, who are at the center of all this nonsense.

The Good: If you're a seasoned otaku, you'll probably get all the jokes. The animation's nice. The DVD version even includes "vid-notes" (pop-ups that fill you in on stuff). Catchy theme song in the opening, too.

The Bad: I strongly suggest you put this on subtitles. Otherwise, ah declare, those pseudo-Southern accents will git downright annoying, ah gay-ron-tee! (sorry, had to give you a taste of the bad voice acting.)

Offensive Material: Lots of panty jokes, off-color humor, and a big-breasted woman named Moony-Moony. Most of the violence is slapstick. There's a fair amount of bad language.

Overall: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi is so bad it's good. If you can get the jokes, you'll probably like it. The bad voice acting on the dub takes it down a few pegs, though.

My Review: 2.0 Category: C

Note: Gainax Studio's credits include: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Wings of Honnemaise, His & Her Circumstances, FLCLand Gunbuster. A manga based on the anime is available from Tokyopop.