Knights of Ramune: Blast Off

Ever since I finished watching Iria: Zieram the Animation in 1998, I have prevented myself from purchasing Central Park Media (C.P.M), an anime and manga (Japanese comics) distributor with its two video divisions being U.S. Manga Corps and Software Sculptors, videos. The reason may sound unjust since I have not seen this company release a bad title, but their titles were being frequently shown on the Sci Fi Channel and their preview reel before their videos stunk.

Fortunately, my little brother loves watching action animes, and by him purchasing the first volume of Records of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight, I found out that C.P.M had changed their preview format from a reel to individual previews. One of these previews featured a catchy theme song and cool animation and it was for Knights of Ramune. After finding out that the writer was Katsumi Hasegawa who also worked on the multiple Slayers series (I later realized that she did not work on Slayers: The Motion Picture, the only Slayers release I was familiar with.), this $25 video cassette became an impulse buy.

Even though I was originally excited about who wrote Knights of Ramune, I failed to recognize that the character designer was Osamu Horiuchi who also worked on the only A.D.V. Films release that has a preview which shows nudity out right, New Cutey Honey. This anime turns out to be what I expected New Cutey Honey to be. Unnecessary nudity galore and a surprisingly large amount of sexual exploitation of women. And people wonder why Japanese Animation has not crossed over to the States.

If you ignore all the exploitation of women, you have an intriguing story with some funny scenes with some very likable characters. I guess any anime series that has a adorable slime ball character has some potential. Also, most technical aspects of the series are very good featuring a cute and unique character design and a very good soundtrack.

If you want something to joke around with the guys about, or if you want to see some strong feminine characters (hopefully that sounds like I have thought about the female visitors) try to find a place where you can rent Knights of Ramune. Acknowledging that most of the nudity is for a comedic purpose and look pass the crude sexual segments with the villainesses, this series shows that Central Park Media always seems to release a good, solid product. Will I buy the next volume of this series? Since I only make $55 a week and I tend to treat myself to movie outings and fast food, buying the second tape is not a top priority compared to viewing other titles.

NOTE TO READER: After looking at several other reviews on the 'Net' for this video cassette, I have discovered that I am one of the kinder critics when it comes to this title. This is probably because I interpret almost everything as some form of comedy while other critics consider it to be unjustified excuses for nudity.