Ozuma (OZMA)

Genre: Sci-Fi
Age Appropriate: Any age
Emotional Response: What will happen next!? Oh. Ok. 
Notable Features: sand, versions of humanity, sand, airships, sand
Language: Japanese
Length: 6 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Pretty Good

Earth has been changed dramatically in the future. All of the water has dried up, and the world is now covered in sand. Ozuma (or OZMA) opens with a young man on a sand-glider moving toward a young lady windsurfing across the sand while running from a military force. A giant creature heaves out of the sand, and creates an avalanche that threatens to take down the woman, and she is bravely saved at the last minute by the young man, Sam. As the fly off together, he learns that her name is Maya. He takes her back to his ship, where it is docked, and invites her into the mess hall. Shortly after their arrival the ship is beset with the military chasing Maya, and the Captain of Sam's ship takes a stand by running with Maya on board. In the process they use scientific technology to shift the sand beneath the ship and sink below it - almost like a submarine in the ocean. The military uses their own methods to find them  under the sand, and they end up in a battle of wills -ending with the concession of the military at the last minute. This is the beginning of a strange story about Maya and what she represents for the world to come.

-----

Ozuma is only six episodes long - thus the very short synopsis. It's a good six episodes, though. The post-apocalyptic/advanced technology is actually fairly well done. It reminds me of something specific but I can't figure it out. Maybe by the time I post the review, I'll remember. Either way, this is a great sci-fi interlude. It would be great for a night in, when you just need to waste a few hours. It felt like it had more potential that what was realized, but I'm not sure if it would be solved by better writing, more episodes, or simply making it into a feature rather than a series. It's actually upsetting me that I can't really say much more for it, but there wasn't much to work with in 6 episodes - which means about 2 hours of viewing time. If Sci-Fi is your thing though, I would recommend it.

-----

Thrusters at full power!: Sekirei

Jyu-Oh-Sei

Genre: Sci-Fi
Age Appropriate: Pre-teen/Teen
Emotional Response: heartbreaking, confusing
Notable Features: whole new world, killer plants, Beast King, outer space
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 11 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Pretty Good

Chimera, or The Planet of the Beast King - a penal colony where people are sent to live out the rest of their lives, if they can make it. Originally from Hecate (the home planet), Rai and Thor are sent to the planet after their parents are betrayed and assassinated. Rai and Thor are actually young twins, age 11, when they're sent to the planet. They are rescued from the killer plants that inhabit the entire planet by a group of wild boys (like Lost Boys from Neverland). The planet is a Darwinian type society, and it is no different for the boys who start picking on Rai because he's young and weak - as opposed to Thor who is tougher. The twins run from the boys, and Thor has a moment of hate toward Rai for his weakness. After an attack by some men, Thor loses Rai to the plants and this is the basis of guilt throughout the storyline. The series is essentially about Thor's new life on the planet and meeting his goals to get back to his home world.

The Rings are the societal set-up of the planet - Sun, Blanco, Night and Ochre. Each ring has a separate set of rules and is determined by the color of skin, hair and eyes. The similarity across the rings lies i the general structure: Top - who has defeated the previous Top, Second - Second in command and with certain responsibilities, and Third - again the same but with the least amount of responsibities of the three. Also, women and men are kept separate as women make up 20% of the population and are deemed precious. They have their own Top/Second/Third structures within the rings.

As the series moves on, Thor's determination leads to the conclusion that he must become the Beast King in order to avenge his assassinated parents by getting off Chimera. He moves up to being Ochre Top quickly, taking Tiz and Third (Ochre's previous Third) with him. There is a time skip in the series to cover the uneventful years of 11-15 that mark the beginning of Thor's reign as Ochre Top. He deals with hidden agendas, betrayal, love and disappointment throughout his journey - all to get to the Dagger Pagoda that will lead him off the planet and to his parents' betrayer.

-----

Normally, I have to set a follow some sort of viewing schedule to make sure that I watch the series in time to write a post. You know, this many episodes on this many days. This is one of those where I just watched a whole bunch and before I realized the time, it was over or I was falling asleep. I'm not even typically a Sci-Fi fan, but I still got sucked in.

It has a compelling storyline that really has potential. I made it through 6 episodes in one sitting, but around 7 or 8 the storyline stalls a bit. Some of the plot devices make sense, kinda, but they suffer in that middle part. The beginning really reals you in because you want to see what's next and you have some hope that Thor will kick everyone's asses and meet his goals, defying the way of Chimera. (I'm trying not to write too much about it, either in review or synopsis, because it's only 11 episodes.) In the end, this series is just sad - not bad sad, but tear-jerking sad. The last two episodes almost make up for the boring middle. They're moving. I guess, if you're into Sci-Fi, this is a good series to watch. I enjoyed it.


-----

New World Order: Girls Bravo! (per special request)