Girl from Phantasia

Original Title: ふぁんたじあ
Romanized: Fantajia
Literal: Fantasia

Plot Synopsis

Akihiro is a normal (anime) high school student on his way home when he trips over a carpet just lying in the middle of the street. He takes it home thinking it will impress his girlfriend only to meet Malon, a cute female spell casting sprite who comes directly out of his new rug. Turns out it's actually a gateway to another dimension, the world of "Phantasia". At first he tries to use her magical abilities for his own wishes but this ends up backfiring and he becomes angry with her and throws her out of his house. But that's not the end of events as he soon meets Roll, a magician exiled from Phantasia who is now hell bent on destroying it and all of it's inhabitants. And just as soon as he leaves to hunt down Malon, Akihiro is also visited by Malon's two friends, Short and Monbran, who are not so happy with Akihiro's decisions. Looks like it's going to be a long day for Akihiro.

Reader Review

Rating: 4 / 5
Reviewer: Chainclaw
Review Date: 2003-05-19

After you read the synopsis you are probably thinking this is just another anime about a high school student who meets a girl from another dimension/planet. Well I've got news for you, you're right. That's exactly what this is, but it is an exceptionally good one. If you can't stand cute romantic themes or if the whole concept turns you off then you will probably hate this, but oddly enough I am usually that way, and I ended up being surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

First of all the animation is superb, and the music, while nothing special, fits the mood and settings fine. But what really makes it interesting are the characters. At first Akihiro just seems like a greedy perverted jerk but as the film goes on we see that he has some deep feelings and there is a lot more to him. Also you may be fooled into writing Malon off as a typical fairy style airhead, but just as with Akihiro we find out that is not entirely the case. And Roll certainly plays his part as the "pissed off exiled wizard obsessed with revenge" good enough to make him a solid villain.

Overall the story is not too original but it still holds up and moves along pretty well. I really think this is the type of story that both an 8 year old and a 20 year old can enjoy. But some parents might object to the large amount of profanity and mild sexual themes.

A final thing to point out is that this movie is just 40 minutes long. And as far as I know A. D. Vision never made a dub version or DVD. All 3 are things I can't stand about some anime, but I will overlook them all in this case because the movie really is good enough. Still, unless this type of anime really interests you I strongly suggest you rent.

US DVD Review

None exists.

Content Guide

About a 13-up.

Violence: 1 - Just some magic fights, nothing graphic and no death.

Nudity: 1 - Just a bit of skin.

Sex/Mature Themes: 2 - Some raunchiness.

Language: 3 - Surprisingly large amount of profanity.

Notes and Trivia

Based on the beginning of a 5-volume manga series by Akane Nagano (not available in English as of this writing). It was published between 1993 and 1996, so the video only covers the very early part of the story.

The original title was simply "Fantasia," written in Hiragana as if it were a Japanese word. No doubt this was adjusted a bit in the English release to avoid running afoul of Disney's films. There are also two ADV releases, the earlier of which has... distinctive box art--lots of garish vertical stripes.

King Records has a page in English with some info and images about the series.

The characters' names are all references to cakes; "Maron" is "chestnut" (comes from the French word; popular in Japan), Roll and Short are obvious, and Monbran or "Mont Blanc" comes from a version of the French cake also popular in Japan.

Availability

Formerly available in the US from AD Vision on subtitled and dubbed VHS, long out of print. eBay is pretty much your only shot at finding a copy.

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