Magical Project S

—by Charles McCarter

I really didn't want to watch this tape. Having suffered from TENCHI burnout a long time ago, I felt that any more would be superfluous, a second-rate rehash of a show that had seemingly passed its prime. The renaming of the PRETTY SAMMY television series into MAGICAL PROJECT S didn't help soothe my fears, either.
I was wrong. This show is amusing and even sometimes downright funny. And while it's not the most original show to be released, it still managed to make me smile after a very long and ugly day.
To enjoy this show, one can pretty much forget everything he knows about Tenchi, as it's not that important. MAGICAL PROJECT S is the story of Kawai Sasami. She's an ordinary girl doing ordinary things and having ordinary dreams, until Tsunami, the new Queen of Juraihelm, comes to visit her and bestows upon her magical powers. Tsunami has chosen Sasami as her champion to help tip the scales of good and evil in the balance of good.
But Sasami is more than reluctant to take the job. At first, she thinks the idea of magic is cool (because she can use it to get stuff), but after she transforms and looks at herself in the mirror, she takes the magic baton and hands it back to Tsunami saying, "I don't want it." She hates the costume. But Tsunami will hear nothing of it, and leaves her Ryo-oh-ki, who is supposed to be a cat (Tsunami is a bit of a scatterbrain) to guide her.
Things are made worse by the fact that Tsunami's rival, Ramia, is hellbent on ruining Tsunami's rule as queen. As a result, she goes to earth and gets herself a magical girl too. Pixy Misa is Sasami's best friend Misao, but no one (not even she) knows it! And Misa has a large assortment of evil henchmen to help her out. What's a reluctant magical girl in ugly clothes with no skills to do?
This show could have easily fallen into the formula of every other magical girl show ever made. But it manages to side-step many of the pitfalls. The fact that Sasami doesn't want the job, and is constantly complaining about the clothes, and the training, and the baton adds to the charm of the character. In fact, her inability is a constant running joke. During their first encounter, Misa tells her that it's no fun beating her and gives her three hours to train. Okay...
Also, the bizarre "bad girls" are humorous in themselves. "CD Girl" comes from a CD and shoots CDs out of, well, just watch it. And Comic Girl is yet another in-joke about manga and manga readers. In short, the creators of this show have gone for cute and funny rather than serious, and it works.
Also, the characters sometimes "break the boundary" by directly addressing the television audience. I died laughing at the end of the first episode when Misa says. "You want to know who I am? I'm...(long pause) I'll tell you next week!" and they cut to the end credits.
Don't get me wrong—this isn't a perfect show. The music is very saccharine and the opening song is just plain annoying. Also, the subplots of the schoolboys chasing after the magical girl are a little tired. However, this is more of a comedy than we've seen from anything in the Tenchiverse for quite some time. It reminded me of some of the sillier episodes of URUSEI YATSURA or RANMA because it is light entertainment. It's strength comes from the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously, and neither should you. But that doesn't mean that it's not worth watching. I'm more interested in this than I am in TENCHI IN TOKYO.

Released in N. America by Pioneer Animation
VHS, 100 minutes
English Subbed PIVA-7090S $24.95
English Dubbed PIVA-7090D $19.95
Available now in the USA
Where to buy