Maze (OAVs)

Original Title: メイズ - 爆熱時空
Romanized: Maze Bakunetsujiku
Literal: Maze Explosively Hot Space-Time

Plot Synopsis

Maze is pretty much an average anime girl: she's stuck in a fantasy world, transforms into a lecherous male version of herself after sunset, has a whole crew of warriors following her around (most of whom are more than platonically interested), and is protecting Mill, a princess on the run from some bad guys. In this two-part OAV series, the crew happens upon a kingdom, Babylon, in a sorry state of disrepair. The problem is, the king is so intent on finishing a tower that will stand as a monument to his greatness (like that ever works) that he's forsaken the people... and kidnapped Maze to sell for more construction funds. The crew, along with the help of a kind fairy and the king's daughter, will have to escape from a dungeon, rescue Maze, and maybe even save the kingdom. And, of course, the real bad guys are sending ever more minions after them...

Quick Review

Rating: 2.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 6/8/2003

The Maze OAVs aren't really designed for people who haven't seen the TV series, but even with the wacky setup they're still watchable as a fantasy romp if you haven't. Like many OAVs, their content is quite a bit more mature than the TV series, making for a lot of nudity and rather blunt sexual themes.

Past that, the OAVs have some good silly-fantasy comedy, the variety of fun characters any good ensemble series demands, and something vaguely resembling a plot. The main character's simple likability helps make the whole thing work, and the nice animation, decent art, and lively voice cast rounds out the picture. Definitely worth a shot if rather sleazy fantasy humor is your thing, or if you liked the TV series. Probably too low-brow otherwise.

US DVD Review

The DVD is a fairly standard old-style USM release; clean video, clean audio, and a minimum of special features: a "meet the cast" section where you can jump to a scene that showcases each main character's thing. On the positive side, they're starting to acknowledge the Japanese acting--you can switch audio tracks for those clips, and the Japanese actors are listed in the menu as well (a partial Japanese cast is given on the package, as well). You can apparently get to more special features (scripts, images) if you have a DVD-ROM drive. The disc also includes the first episode of the Maze TV series--it shows up looking just like a third OAV in the menu, on the 2nd page of the chapter index.

Content Guide

USM labeled it 13-up, but it should be 16-up on account of blunt sexuality, a lot of nudity, and generally crude behavior.

Violence: 3 - Actually some fairly serious and bloody fights at the beginning.

Nudity: 4 - Not particularly detailed, but there were several extended nude scenes, including one with a young male.

Sex/Mature Themes: 3 - A lot of groping and fondling, with more implied.

Language: 3 - A lot of humorous [machine-gun sound] edits, but also a lot of surprisingly blunt sexual language.

Notes and Trivia

Based on the manga by Satoru Akahori (not available in English as of this writing), these OAVs were actually produced before the TV series (and the later movie) although they fit somewhere into the middle of the story. It's more like a re-telling of one part than a sequel or side-story.

Also a quick note about the translation; the country they're in is called Babylon, and the tower, true to Biblical parallel, was called "Baberu no Tou"--the Tower of Babel. But for some reason, USM decided to call it "the Tower of Babylon" in the subtitles... don't ask me why.

The two episodes are called "Bold & Wonderful Challenger" and "Bold & Radical Adventurer."

Availability

Available in the US from US Manga Corps on bilingual DVD (buy from RightStuf). Was previously also available on a single subtitled or dubbed VHS volume.

Looking to buy? Try these stores: RightStuf (search) | AnimeNation | Akemi's a(nime)Store