The World of Narue Box Set
Hawkeye
There’s no way to dance around the fact that Narue is an alien with very real sci-fi powers, however she doesn’t really care about any of that. What Narue cares about is her family, her boyfriend Kazuto, and the planet she was born on, Earth. These things seem like your classic schoolgirl concerns. The problems come in when the world around Narue interferes with what would be normal experiences. Aliens and androids, long lost siblings, and strange mishaps seem determined to make her life difficult. World of Narue follows the characters on their stories about coming of age and self discovery, mixed with splash of science fiction just to complicate things. The World of Narue is a smashing supernatural shoujo sure to please even the harshest of critics.
This series is rated PG 13 and I would recommend adhering to that recommendation. While there is not excessive violence or any real sexual content, it does deal with some more complicated issues, such as abandonment and the concept of romantic love, that younger viewers just won’t understand and appreciate.
The animation was great in this series. It was fluid and not too over the top. I even liked the glittery sort of scrambled transportation effect whenever Narue would use her powers to go from one place to another. When animators are dealing with sci-fi powers, it’s often easy to just take it to a ridiculous extreme and cheap out on the rest of the anime. However, in The World Of Narue, this was not the case. Narue’s powers were not the main focus of the story and it wasn’t the main focus of the animation either. This anime found the perfect balance between extreme animated emotions and seriousness.
At first, I had a problem with a few of the voices for the series. I didn’t like Kazuto’s nasally pre-pubescent voice, however, as the show progressed, I decided it fit his unsure, inexperienced attitude. Had he had a booming man voice, I wouldn’t have been able to believe that he was reading dating tips to get ready for his first date. The music was also good. I was really digging the opening and closing themes, if more anime had these kinds of intros and endings I’d use my “next chapter” button on my remote a lot less. The rest of the music during the episodes fit in perfectly for ambience and atmosphere, complimenting the emotions the characters were going through at the time.
While the box set didn’t come with any shiny bauble, the DVD features more then made up for it. The director’s commentary gave us an inside look on what the creator was trying to achieve with this story, as did the Japanese voice actor commentary. Throw in storyboards, an art and sketch gallery, and the ten other goodies on the disc and you’re in fandom heaven. Kudos to the crew who put together this basket of beautiful bonuses.
I fell in love with this anime by the end of the first episode. Not only is it original in story and art, the characters are relatable. You have Narue, your sweetheart of the school, Kazuto the boyfriend who doesn’t quite know what he’s doing but tries his best anyways, where there’s Kazuto there’s Marou, Kazutos girl crazy friend, and what crew would be complete with out the “little sister” Kanaka, and the weird classmate Yagi that all the popular girls make fun of. When you throw aliens, space ninjas and sci-fi powers into the mix it makes for a captivating combo.
Entertainment: 10
Yes it really was that good. Excellent plot, great characters, brilliant animation and fantastic music. I was thoroughly entertained, and recommend this show to all those shoujo fans out there, and even those who’ve been looking for an anime to get into shoujo on.
Technical: 10
This anime actually offered English with “sign” subtitles, with is utterly brilliant. On top of that there was more goodies then you could shake a stick at.
Overall: 10
DVD Features: Directors Commentary, Textless Opening and Closing, Japanese Voice actor Interviews, The World of Narue Trailers, Japanese Voice actor Commentary, Anime to Manga Comparison, English & Japanese with Subtitles, Story Boards, Japanese Commericals, Character Introductions, Anime Idol Features, Art & Sketch Galleries, Alternate Previews, Previews
Episodes: Complete Series
