Post by ravenwithoutcause on Nov 23, 2004 11:06:39 GMT -5
Nurse Witch Komugi was an inevitability. Its predecessor, Tatsunoko's stylishly dour The SoulTaker, was a little too abstract for a lot of viewers, but it seems like plenty of people were more than willing to latch on to Komugi Nakahara, the show's spunky magical villainess turned heroine. It's not the first time this has happened-- we saw the same phenomenon when Tenchi Muyo! gave birth to Magical Girl Pretty Sammy and later Magical Project S. Just like Sammy, in a lot of ways Komugi is actually more fun to watch than its predecessor.
This OVA series, which began as a two-episode romp but quickly expanded once it became apparent that its Japanese fans wouldn't stop demanding more, turns the trick of yanking the cast of The SoulTaker out of their natural, earth-toned habitat and recasting them as show business friends and rivals. SoulTaker protagonist Kyosuke Date is now a teen heartthrob, vied after by everyone up to and including Komugi herself. Sinister hospital head Yui Kirihara heads up a struggling talent agency, in the process becoming a shrieking, ill-tempered harridan. Her charges include Komugi herslf, along with the curvaceous and vacuous Megumi, waifishly bratty Runa, and good old Shiro Mibu, who puts his world-weary sarcasm to work as Komugi's booking agent.
All of these characters are a little different from their SoulTaker incarnations except for Komugi herself, who still flounces around as a nurse-themed magical girl whenever the opportunity presents itself. There are plenty of such opportunities, because the evil and mysterious Ungrar seeks to flood the world with harmful viruses. Because of this, the Goddess of the Vaccine World, Peter Norton-- er, Maya, sends her spherical helper Mugimaru to find an earthbound champion. Komugi, for whatever reason, has the job. Her day job is as an idol-- she occupies a weird niche that sees her vying for bit parts in TV shows, appearing in stupid costumes at trade shows, and thrilling stinky otaku with her fabulous cosplay skills at fan events.
Komugi is frequently joined at these events by another performer, her friend Koyori Kotobunji. Koyori tends to be more popular than Komugi-- despite the former's irrepressible personality, the latter girl has an enormous pair of boobs, which are bound to keep her fighting away the crowds of fans and adult movie producers for years to come. The twist is, while Komugi moonlights as a syringe-wielding nurse witch, Koyori spends her "off" time acting as a diabolical maid for Ungrar, manifesting a haughty, malevolent split personality that her regular self isn't even aware of. Thus, we have the confict necessary to drive Komugi's extremely rudimentary story.
The true joy of Nurse Witch Komugi has little to do with the plot, however. It's fun to watch because of its savage mixture of parody and indulgence; even as the show mocks the no-life fanboys who go crazy for stuff like doujinshi and plastic model kits, it lays the fanservice on with a trowel-- like a good magical girl mascot, Mugimaru likes to give Komugi helpful advice... only he does it when she's naked in the bath. No fan is safe from the perpetually-bouncing Koyori's wrath-- she spends the first episode transforming hapless passerby into trollish characters from the incredibly popular Japanese BBS 2channel (the episode is still held up by fans of 2ch as one of its crowning media achievements). In the second episode, she invades Comic Market, subverting an artist into publishing a doujinshi that makes the fans who buy it act like not a very nice persons. Nobody can tell the difference.
The remainder of the fun is colored by sheer parody; the second episode involves a hugely hilarious homage to 80s robot favorite Gold Lightan, crescendoing with a huge brawl between the magical adversaries; while Koyori dons Tekkaman's space armor, Komugi transmutes into all five members of the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (and Dr. Nambu to boot, who duly warns them of the dangers of the Bird Missile!). Meanwhile, Komugi's shenanigans as a magical girl tend to sweep her away from her job at the most inopportune times; my favorite part of episode two involves her ostensibly helpful agent Shiro trying to summon her with calls of "Little nuts" and "Little Pissant Girl."
Komugi is interesting to look at right away, if nothing else for its bright colors and weirdly shiny character designs. Komugi and Koyori are cute characters, but the art style sometimes makes them look more like delicious candy than hot girls. You can see the animation staff making a real effort to actually animate, rather than relying on slow pans over cheesecake shots of the ladies. (There's actually a scene openly criticizing that dirty old trick.) Since it's a magical girl show, everyone is clad in pastels and bright colors, which once again makes for an amusing contrast against the show's predecessor.
Both of Komugi's language tracks have their merits. The English one features many of the SoulTaker regulars reprising their roles. This includes the sparkling Jocelyne Loewen, who's been so excellent as Millfy in Galaxy Angel, as Komugi. Other standouts include Luci Christian as the shrill, annoyingly gregarious Mugimaru and Lisa Ann Beley as Yui; she was effective as the character in The SoulTaker, but she's even better at flipping her wig as the mentally unstable version of the character in this series. On the other hand, the Japanese version features the entertaining Haruko "Halko" Momoi as Komugi. Momoi, a tiny, helium-voiced terror who also tends to write her own song lyrics, is a fascinating personality; she's dabbled in journalism and TV hosting, but really got her start as a performer by singing theme songs to pornographic computer games. She's since enjoyed a meteoric rise to seiyuu stardom, nabbing several choice roles besides this one.
Nurse Witch Komugi is a barrel of laughs, fun stuff for anyone who doesn't have a knee-jerk aversion to the show's calculated cuteness. The in-jokes and cheap gags are really the show's best part, but the total package is made by Komugi herself. It's interesting to note that she really did go over big in The SoulTaker; fan sites for the character and Momoi sprang up overnight when the series first debuted. Her appeal is well-preserved here; she actually behaves like a regular teenager, all lovelorn and confused and bratty, but she's honestly kind to her devoted fans. Komugi is another good example of a show I'd ordinarily be inclined to ignore, made entertaining by clever writing and appealing characters.
This OVA series, which began as a two-episode romp but quickly expanded once it became apparent that its Japanese fans wouldn't stop demanding more, turns the trick of yanking the cast of The SoulTaker out of their natural, earth-toned habitat and recasting them as show business friends and rivals. SoulTaker protagonist Kyosuke Date is now a teen heartthrob, vied after by everyone up to and including Komugi herself. Sinister hospital head Yui Kirihara heads up a struggling talent agency, in the process becoming a shrieking, ill-tempered harridan. Her charges include Komugi herslf, along with the curvaceous and vacuous Megumi, waifishly bratty Runa, and good old Shiro Mibu, who puts his world-weary sarcasm to work as Komugi's booking agent.
All of these characters are a little different from their SoulTaker incarnations except for Komugi herself, who still flounces around as a nurse-themed magical girl whenever the opportunity presents itself. There are plenty of such opportunities, because the evil and mysterious Ungrar seeks to flood the world with harmful viruses. Because of this, the Goddess of the Vaccine World, Peter Norton-- er, Maya, sends her spherical helper Mugimaru to find an earthbound champion. Komugi, for whatever reason, has the job. Her day job is as an idol-- she occupies a weird niche that sees her vying for bit parts in TV shows, appearing in stupid costumes at trade shows, and thrilling stinky otaku with her fabulous cosplay skills at fan events.
Komugi is frequently joined at these events by another performer, her friend Koyori Kotobunji. Koyori tends to be more popular than Komugi-- despite the former's irrepressible personality, the latter girl has an enormous pair of boobs, which are bound to keep her fighting away the crowds of fans and adult movie producers for years to come. The twist is, while Komugi moonlights as a syringe-wielding nurse witch, Koyori spends her "off" time acting as a diabolical maid for Ungrar, manifesting a haughty, malevolent split personality that her regular self isn't even aware of. Thus, we have the confict necessary to drive Komugi's extremely rudimentary story.
The true joy of Nurse Witch Komugi has little to do with the plot, however. It's fun to watch because of its savage mixture of parody and indulgence; even as the show mocks the no-life fanboys who go crazy for stuff like doujinshi and plastic model kits, it lays the fanservice on with a trowel-- like a good magical girl mascot, Mugimaru likes to give Komugi helpful advice... only he does it when she's naked in the bath. No fan is safe from the perpetually-bouncing Koyori's wrath-- she spends the first episode transforming hapless passerby into trollish characters from the incredibly popular Japanese BBS 2channel (the episode is still held up by fans of 2ch as one of its crowning media achievements). In the second episode, she invades Comic Market, subverting an artist into publishing a doujinshi that makes the fans who buy it act like not a very nice persons. Nobody can tell the difference.
The remainder of the fun is colored by sheer parody; the second episode involves a hugely hilarious homage to 80s robot favorite Gold Lightan, crescendoing with a huge brawl between the magical adversaries; while Koyori dons Tekkaman's space armor, Komugi transmutes into all five members of the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (and Dr. Nambu to boot, who duly warns them of the dangers of the Bird Missile!). Meanwhile, Komugi's shenanigans as a magical girl tend to sweep her away from her job at the most inopportune times; my favorite part of episode two involves her ostensibly helpful agent Shiro trying to summon her with calls of "Little nuts" and "Little Pissant Girl."
Komugi is interesting to look at right away, if nothing else for its bright colors and weirdly shiny character designs. Komugi and Koyori are cute characters, but the art style sometimes makes them look more like delicious candy than hot girls. You can see the animation staff making a real effort to actually animate, rather than relying on slow pans over cheesecake shots of the ladies. (There's actually a scene openly criticizing that dirty old trick.) Since it's a magical girl show, everyone is clad in pastels and bright colors, which once again makes for an amusing contrast against the show's predecessor.
Both of Komugi's language tracks have their merits. The English one features many of the SoulTaker regulars reprising their roles. This includes the sparkling Jocelyne Loewen, who's been so excellent as Millfy in Galaxy Angel, as Komugi. Other standouts include Luci Christian as the shrill, annoyingly gregarious Mugimaru and Lisa Ann Beley as Yui; she was effective as the character in The SoulTaker, but she's even better at flipping her wig as the mentally unstable version of the character in this series. On the other hand, the Japanese version features the entertaining Haruko "Halko" Momoi as Komugi. Momoi, a tiny, helium-voiced terror who also tends to write her own song lyrics, is a fascinating personality; she's dabbled in journalism and TV hosting, but really got her start as a performer by singing theme songs to pornographic computer games. She's since enjoyed a meteoric rise to seiyuu stardom, nabbing several choice roles besides this one.
Nurse Witch Komugi is a barrel of laughs, fun stuff for anyone who doesn't have a knee-jerk aversion to the show's calculated cuteness. The in-jokes and cheap gags are really the show's best part, but the total package is made by Komugi herself. It's interesting to note that she really did go over big in The SoulTaker; fan sites for the character and Momoi sprang up overnight when the series first debuted. Her appeal is well-preserved here; she actually behaves like a regular teenager, all lovelorn and confused and bratty, but she's honestly kind to her devoted fans. Komugi is another good example of a show I'd ordinarily be inclined to ignore, made entertaining by clever writing and appealing characters.
