MELODY OF OBLIVION
Post-apocolyptic beach volleyball!
Review by: M.H. "Bouncy bouncy" Torringjan
Length: 24 episodes
Genre: Action, sci-fi, mind-fuck
Watched: Entire series, dammit!
I have just completed an odyssey. I'm not talking about the series, although the two could be compared. I'm talking about watching the series. It took me two years and four computers to get this entire series and watch it (including half a year alone for the final episode). Now, having watched the entire series, I can finally render my verdict on the series and say that it was pretty mind-fucky.
Plot summary: In the 20th century, there was a war between humans and monsters, of which the winners were the monsters. The end result was that the monsters enslaved humanity and basically made them their bitches (children were sacrificed, mistakes were made...). In the 21st century, nobody remembers the war except for a choice few. The resistance of humanity gets summed up by a set of motorcycle-riding Melos Warriors who fight with magical bows and arrows (to hell with missles or guns!) who are led by a mysterious figure of a girl that no one else can see, but they call the Melody of Oblivion. So they travel from city to city, disturbing the peace that the monsters have brought (at the minor cost of a few screaming brats) and generally being a pain to the leader of the monsters, Monster King III. Kind of like Mad Max, only with large-breasted chicks and monsters.
Artwork: The artwork here is very crisp and colorful, with memorable character designs and nice technological designing. Thescenery blends very well with the rest of the artwork, except in the earlier part of the series, where the background is done in watercolors (and this is purposeful). This is a Gainax production, as well, so you can bank on there being a great variety of delectable chicks, brought in mainly for the fanservice quotient (as evidenced by the random shots of a farm full of large-breasted women wearing glasses and cow-print underwear near the end of the series; I shit you not). The most attention in this series was paid to the drawing of the female form (Gainax) and of drawing things to fuck with your mind (Again, Gainax).
Music: There's a great variety of music on this soundtrack, making this a major attraction to the series, despite the lack of variety. The entire soundtrack could fill two, maybe three CD's, but what they have is very nice. The music fits the mood very nicely, and runs the gamut of peaceful orchestral tracks to a few rock instrumental tracks. The most interesting part of the soundtrack, though, is the action music, with its distinctly salsa feel to it. The characters could be just as easily dancing the flamenco in bright red suits with sombreros (complete with little dangly balls) as fighting monsters, and I wouldn't notice the difference. They realy did well on this department.
Characters: The main character is Bocca, a young boy (not to be confused with Bocca the burger) who had heard from a Melos Warrior sympathizer about monsters and the people fighting against them. His sense of honor and his desire for humanity's freedom drives him to find a Melos Warrior and come to see the Melody. He soon leaves the comfort of his home and sets off on a journey to destroy the monsters and free mankind. Kurofune is the Warrior who inspires Bocca to become a warrior, a badass warrior who travels by himself, and gives himself selflessly to his cause, without a thought of himself or others. One of those others is Sayoko, who joins Bocca and rides around in his motorcycle from city to city, searching endlessly for Kurofune, on whom she has a crush. She is a flirt and selfish, but shows undying devotion to the one that she cares about. Tone is a young girl who hates Melos Warriors because she bleeding well says so. Cognitive dissonance apparently has no meaning to her, however, since she is one herself. Coco is a young girl who travels around with a performing troupe and just happens to fight monsters along the way. She is a flirt, as well, and has a direct way about her manner. She's also very adept at judging other peoples' characters and letting them know what she thinks.
Plot: I'd never thought that they would be able to successfully combine Greek mythology with Mad Max and a healthy dose of any random soft-core porn. The story itself draws somewhat from Greek mythology, as well as some of the specific charaters and their abilities. The theme of the story itself hasn't been done much (if at all) before, making you question some of what the plot goes over, as well as making you think about it after you've watched it. The development of characters was covered very well, as well, leaving you liking who they were, happy with them, sad with them, and so on. So, as long as you can stand some really abstract scenes and mind-fucking going on in the meantime, it's really an interesting story. The healthy amount of fanservice, for once, doesn't seem to weigh down the story, and just acts really as window-dressing. The only problem raelly was with the enemies, many of which were monster-of-the-week type (or three weeks, since each sub-plot was about three episodes long). Many of them were well-defined and enjoyable, but the main villain wasn't very well-defined. One minor setback for an otherwise interesting series.
CHICKS!!! Although it's a far cry from a harem anime, this series has a good number of chicks available for drooling, and more likely than not, there's a little something for everyone! The female lead is Sayoko, who has spent the past few years chasing after Kurofune. She seems to know what she wants from a man, and that is to be saved. If you feel like being a knight in shining armor to a girl, this is the one that you'll want to do it for ('cause then, she'll do it right back for you). She's also a flirt, which is nice for the times that she catches you staring at her generously-endowed-only-in-Gainax breasts. Tone is a quiet, shy girl who keeps mostly to herself and travels alone with her motorcycle (which she *loves* to ride). Her attention would be hard to catch, since she's a little bit too wrapped up in her motorcycle to really notice anyone human. But if you can get ahold of her, her lithe figure is worth more than a few looks. Coco is a little bit young for most places, but her playful attitude and flirting are enough to endear her to you. Her figure is still underdeveloped, but considering it's Gainax, in a couple of years, she should shoot up very quickly like a stock.
Overall: The ecclectic style of the beginning of this anime, and its nice techincal qualities were enough to keep me watching, and despite the year and a half where I couldn't watch it, I was still interested by the end of the series. Although I call it a mind-fuck, that's only due to the abstract scenes, and not any deep philosophical points that it makes. It's really a very straight-forward series with an interesting blend of themes and hot chicks. This series was well worth my time, and it probably would be well worth your time to at least check out a couple of episodes. Although it wasn't perfect, it was still pretty darned good.
In a Nutshell:
+ Technically very nice
+ Nice character development
+ Great chicks!
+ Complex plot and messages
- Monster-of-the-week
- Had to wait to finish it
Final score: 8.5/10
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