Welcome, and say hello to the anime with the most wicked battle choreography ever. I have no idea why I didn’t decide to blog this. It’s mostly because at the time I started watching this show I felt that I was blogging too many series already. Anyway, this is a series that’s recieving waaaay to little publicity than it deserves. So many awesome stuff happens, I don’t know where to start.
Apparently, this is the second season of a show called Jubei-chan: The Ninja-Girl. I also didn’t know this until they started making references to it in the third episode. Anyway, she is sort of a magical-ninja-sword-girl, who uses an eye-patch shaped like a heart in order to transform into the reïncarnation of a sword-master who lived 300 years ago. This season, another girl, wearing an eye-patch with the shape of spades, arrives, claiming that Jubei’s eye-patch is hers. Apart from that, there are some other guys who bear the grudge against the sword-master, and also have been waiting for 300 years, and also want to beat her.
I know, it sounds horribly cliché. This anime, however, manages to make something beautiful out of this.
The power of this anime lies in the fact that it manages to utilize contrasts perfectly. Each and every character has a minimum of two very distinct moods. Mostly a hyperactive one and a serious one. By first showing the hyperactive side of the characters, the impact of the serious sides of these characters (when they get shown) becomes huge. This is also one fo the few anime in which I really like the main character. She is an amazing person, but in the end, you’ll feel sympathy for each and every one of the different character. Even the ones who seemed to only have been inserted for comic relief.
The battles are also the most amazing ones I’ve ever seen. Finally there’s an anime which realizes that power doesn’t win battles, but skills. And that’s what the characters fighting have: skills. Everyone moves so fast, it’s almost impossible to keep track.
That doesn’t mean that this show is entirely consisted of battles. Most battle usually take just five minutes, in which the show accomplishes what most anime wouldn’t even dare to try. The rest of the time is filled with some of the most amazing aftermaths, with one aftermath even taking up as long as four episodes.
I haven’t even started talking about the comedy yet. Although it’s not the best comedy ever and some misses it’s place, when the comedy works, it really works. I can’t believe how utterly creative some of the jokes are (sometimes perfectly integrated with the battles, other times just the characters being extremely wacky).
Overal, this is an amazing series. The characters are amazing, the battles are amazing, the dialogue is amazing, and don’t forget the catchy soundtrack.
Why you should watch this: if you like wicked battles, heavy drama, or just a good show, then you should watch this.
Final Rating: 89/100
I have bought the first season on dvd here in Australia and it was fantastic. This was before I started downloading anime in bulk and spreading my likes across a larger range of genres. So basically most of the dvds and videos I bought, after second viewing seemed cliched and mundane to watch (I’m looking at you Ranma). But Jubei chan still hold up after the many years since its release.