Deluxe ARIEL Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2011-03-22 (updated 2011-03-22)
• 2 stars out of 5 (?)

ARIEL was a badly botched attempt at low-key, when-you-think-about-it parody. This sequel, Deluxe ARIEL, improves on that failure, but not much--about enough to move it from very disappointing to merely somewhat disappointing. The visuals look great, and the first episode has a lot of younger sister Kazumi grinning like an idiot to herself while the latest wave of alien monsters is unintentionally thwarted by lack of budget. Sadly, the second episode does nothing with this momentum, instead consisting of a lengthy string of mad-science attempts to avert the obliteration of Tokyo that's played far too straight.

Deluxe ARIEL a significant step up from the previous two-episode series, the opening episode is reasonably fun, and if you go for old-school tech-overload, you might even enjoy the underpowered closing half. Not particularly recommended, but not a total waste of time, and you can safely skip the even-more-disappointing prequel series without missing much.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2011-03-22 (updated 2011-03-22)
• 2 stars out of 5 (?)

ARIEL was a badly botched attempt at low-key, when-you-think-about-it parody. This sequel, Deluxe ARIEL, improves on that failure, but not much--about enough to move it from very disappointing to merely somewhat disappointing.

The sequel, ironically, has more information about the characters' backstory than its predecessor. This lets you get a bit more attached to the three pilots, and pulls the whole thing together much better. Sadly, the beleagured alien command team doesn't get to do much other than lament the fact that their ship is going to get stuck on Earth due to equipment failure. I'd have enjoyed them panicking more than the mild-to-moderate annoyance we get, though their apathy is amusing given the apocalyptic consequences down on the ground.

There are still problems with awkward pacing and blown comic timing, but Deluxe is significantly better than its predecessor, leaving it feeling merely somewhat slow and choppy rather than near-narcoleptic.

The best part of the whole thing is youngest sister Kazumi, who, thanks to having gotten asked out on a date by a mystery classmate, goes through the entire first episode grinning like an idiot and looking altogether too pleased with herself regardless of what's going on around her. She also has the good sense to put defending the earth from invasion above her personal life, which is more than can be said for the other two leads.

Other high points are some entertainingly massive collateral damage due to the ARIEL pilots' shoddy aim, and the fact that the corresponding wave of monsters was launched due to equipment malfunction and the heroes' "victory" was because the enemy ran out of gas. None of which they actually realize--rather funny in a subtle, backhanded way. There's also an amusing variety of random outfits the girls end up wearing when pressed into service as pilots.

If you hadn't seen the previous ARIEL and assumed that the relative lack of set-up was because you missed the intro (rather than the reality of it not existing outside the novels and audio drama prequel), you'd probably end the first episode of Deluxe with a pretty good opinion of it. The directing is weak, but it's relatively enjoyable and subtly funny.

Sadly, the second episode does nothing with that momentum. The plot consists entirely of the alien ship geting closer and closer to an apocalyptic crash-landing in the middle of Tokyo (where else?) and an assortment of massive-scale SCEBAI plans to kick it back into orbit. Apart from the mildly amusing contrast between the nonchalant aliens and the grave, panicking earthlings, the whole thing is apparently played for drama. Or, if it's not, it's played so straight I didn't find it funny. Since there's no real tension (giveaway: of course Saber Starblast will save the day at the last second--that's all he does other than pose dramatically in random locations), the only "drama" is whether older sister Aya will take a break from studying for her college entrance exams to try and save Tokyo (and presumably the school she wants to go to) from obliteration.

The end result is that the only thing that's actually interesting in the final episode is a bunch of techno-babble and giant, mad-scientist machinery being deployed. Which isn't really my thing, though it does look quite nice.

On that note, Deluxe ARIEL takes an already solid visual foundation and improves on it. The expensive-looking character animation is the best of it--some of Kazumi's antics in particular reminded me of quality theatrical animation of the era. The collateral damage looks equally good, and there are plenty of sequences of giant machines being moved, prepared, launched, or fired, all of which have the sense of scale and mass that fans of that sort of thing should love. On the opposite end of the spectrum are a wide variety of fashionable (and not-so-fashionable) outfits, and a costume party full of anime in-jokes. Top it off with detailed art and if nothing else Deluxe ARIEL is a very nice looking series by almost any standard.

The sound effects and music, however, still have the same problem as the previous series: They barely exist, making the whole thing seem even lower-energy than it would on its own (which is pretty darned low-energy). An exception is the willfully goofy, old-school intro song--sung by a group of children and straight out of a '60s hero show. The end theme is less funny but reasonably good late-'80s stuff.

At least the modestly improved directing makes the acting come across more naturally, if still broken up by awkward and completely unnecessary pauses. The star this time is Megumi Hayashibara, who actually gets to do something with Kazumi--a lively-yet-realistic and likable performance additionally worth singling out since the character fits her distinctive voice perfectly. Mia has a different voice this time--Michie Tomizawa replaces Mami Koyama, and sounds fine in the role. (An amusing bit of trivia: Tomizawa voiced Kazumi in some of the audio dramas that preceded the anime.)

In all, Deluxe ARIEL is something of a disappointment; it has a lot of potential--both in concept and execution--that it fails to capitalize on due to a combination of a poorly-framed story and a boring finale. Still, it's a significant step up from the previous two-episode series, the opening episode is reasonably fun, and if you go for old-school tech-overload, you might even enjoy the underpowered closing half. Not particularly recommended, but not a total waste of time, and I'd say if you're interested you can safely skip the even-more-disappointing prequel series without missing much.

Chainclaw has a much lower opinion than I do.

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As with the first ARIEL series, the most obvious pick is cult favorite Shinesman--it does the same sort of sly, underhanded comedic take on a sentai show, and does it right. If you want a semi-parody of giant robot shows that goes in the exact opposite direction--outrageous and over-the-top--check out the flashy, fanservice-laden, solidly entertaining Godannar.