MAPS Review By Rashad Moore
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MAPS is a prime example of anime that starts out with a great concept, but falls due to poor or rushed execution. While it does provide a good 120 minutes of good animation, music and nonstop action, It never slows down enough for you to understand the cheaply thrown together plot. And even if you did the results aren't very rewarding, but as forgiving as I am for this, MAPS in good entertainment nonetheless.

The anime gets off to a promising start come the first episode, we are introduced to the hero Gen and his girlfriend Hoshimi. Life takes a strange turn when an figurehead-like spaceship makes a huge entrance, and soon after they meet a mysterious woman named Lipumira, who claims that Gen is the Mapman, an important key to a treasure called the Star Maps which leads to a so-called "Flowing Light." Soon after a chaotic battle in Tokyo, Gen Lipumira and Hoshimi soon take part in an intergalactic treasure hunt for the Star Maps. But dangerous enemies are also after the Maps, in which they plan to use for their own destructive ends.

On the exterior, MAPS contains some good animation and the character design ranges from normal to unusual. The human characters were well done, while the aliens were rather shallow and uninspired.(Except for the bizzare round one-eyed space pirates on Episode 2.) The action scenes were also very well-animated and have some really bigger than life moments. (MAPS could probably be passed of as an anime Star Wars.) The music is pretty good as well, the score contains hard-driving orchestral action music, the only problem is that they seem overdone whe trying to match the action scenes.

But unfortunately on the interior, MAPS begged to be rewritten on a few parts and for a complete OVA it had a rather anti-climatic and sudden ending. Also within the action, whatever remainder of the story went to fast for you to follow and everything felt very rushed in order to fit it all on a 120 minute OVA. Not everything contained a proper resolution. (I wouldn't mind an ending that is left open for a sequel, but this was no ending in my book.) The plot involving the Star Maps got even more interesting and urgent, but this never followed through afterwards an the climax seemed like a distracting,(but effective) excuse to divert off the story. The more dramatic moments felt very rushed and failed to convey any sense of emotion.(But it pretty much took a backseat to the action.) The characters were interesting at best(although Gen does turn into the stereotypical hero.) and the villains were very cool and very evil at the same time.

Overall MAPS is an enjoyable Sci-fi anime, but I couldn't help but think that MAPS deserved more. (Maybe a longger OVA or movie continuation.) MAPS feels like a half-completed adventure. But entertainment-wise, MAPS delivers.

Available from ADV Films. Image shown is not created by atek studios.   Review by Rashad Moore. Sept 99.