Anime Review No. 3: Jewel BEM Hunter Lime

Anime Review No.3-Jewel BEM Hunter Lime (1996 OVA, 3 episodes)

Hello ^^ This is the Eclectic Dude; I review it as it is for the lolz. (Yeah it’s corny, but so is what I’m reviewing.)

Well, Jewel BEM Hunter Lime is one that seemed to have a lot of potential, but it falls short and fails to impress. It is a three episode OVA from 1996, done by Ashi Productions (now called Production Reed Co. since 2007). This company was more known for their ‘80s/’90s magical girl anime series as well as some work on Western animated series (like M.A.S.K. and Diabolik, which I’ve never seen). This OVA is also based off a Playstation 1 game, which is as much as obscure as this OVA. On another note, Media Blasters (through AnimeWorks) licensed and distributed. Great, just great…

(Bugger all, dude, u look tired-want some coffee?)

So, the basic plot is a ‘Fantasy Quest’, where the main characters are searching for mystical items in order to avert catastrophe/turmoil. In this instance, the main characters are a team of three. First, there’s Lime, a transformation demoness (with angel wings?) who’s the brains of the group. Secondly, there’s Bass (pronounced Boss for some reason in the dub). He’s a strong demon who’s dumb and a bit of a pervert (he likes groping female characters a lot).Finally, there’s Poogie, the mascot pet who can morph into a number of handy devices and items that Bass and Lime use to capture the Jewel BEMs.

The Jewel BEMs, the mystical items central to the plot, have the ability to suck in negative feelings and become corporeal in the form of things that feel neglected by modern human society. The Magic World, where they come from, was kept hidden. However, some evil demon (who only shows up in the first 5 minutes then isn’t seen again) takes them away into the Human World. Lime and Bass pursue and beat the renegade demon. However, the chest containing the Jewel BEMs falls from the sky, releasing them and scattering across a city in Japan (of course). So, now Lime, Bass and Poogie must retrieve them in order to avert disaster to befall the Earth.

Now, with a setup like that, one would be excited. However, the story falls apart about halfway through the first episode. Turns out, the Jewel BEMs have possessed three somewhat neglected everyday items-a candle, a purse and a hypodermic needle (hence the three episode length).

In the first episode, for instance, Mr. Candle (very corny) takes away light throughout the city in order to convince people to return to candles. This plan, of course, is totally stupid, for people with working brains. Of course, the heroes (Lime and Bass) are also equally incompetent-it takes them several attempts to capture Mr. Candle, involving them coming up with plans that work well but failed terribly. What finally kills the ‘evil’ Candle? Poogie turns into a Bunsen burner and cooks Mr. Candle to death (with bad puns accompanied). Yeah….. (sighs)….

(This makes no sense in any context, lol)

Second episode features Mr. Purse, who shows up at the very end of the first episode (Spoilers? What’s that?). Of course, this creature is kind of an amnesiac, hanging out in the girl’s locker room at a local school, been treated more like a pet. Lime meets Mizuki, a minor character in every meaning of the word (so unnecessary, u could cut her out of the story and it wouldn’t suffer for it). So, the majority of the episode involves Bass assisting Mr. Purse with doing a bad deed, which will lead to enlightenment (wait, what?). This, of course leads to much hilarity, as the bad deeds end up being good deeds (like stealing a car from a pair of bank robbers). Finally, after robbing a cash register from a restaurant, Mr. Purse finds enlightenment and returns to being a Jewel BEM.

(The standard look of Lime-angry at Bass for some reason)

Third episode takes place mostly at a hospital. A bit of time has passed since the second episode (weeks to a month, they don’t explain) and now Lime and Bass have a small apartment. Bass has apparently got a cold, and so the pair (along with Mizuki) go to the hospital, mostly because Bass is fantasizing about the head female doctor there (cause why not, he’s a pervert). However, instead of being a hot vixen, the head female doctor is a tanned, muscle-bound Amazon (who, for the dub, they got a dude to voice the character, which isn’t the most awkward choice of voice casting, it closes to it). Now, there’s a problem at the hospital-the needle shots are very painful, more so than usual. Lime decides to investigate, as she suspect the head female doctor has something to do with it. Bass, on the other hand, leaves a bit to go on a date with Mizuki. Lime disguises herself as a nurse, however she faints at the sight of blood when she brought in for an operation as the staff thinks she’s a real nurse. She’s taken into the head doctor’s office where she discovers that the head doctor isn’t behind the painful needle injections (no-you think?!). The true villain is Mr. Needle, or the dub calls him C.Ringe (oh hardy haha xD). He has a diabolical plan-make people hate hypodermic needles even more by making injections more painful as well as using a medicine that can apparently dissolve objects. Lime and Bass, with help from the Amazon Doctor, defeat the Mr. Needle/C.Ringe. They have three BEMs captured and are off to capture the rest. Now, what is the final scene? Bass gropes Lime’s butt which earns him a punch clear across the city, landing him in an impact crater. I kid you not. Credits roll, game over.

Final score for Jewel BEM Hunter Lime is 5/10.This is primarily due to the fact that the OVA is half of a story. The abrupt ending leaves much to be desired; though given what was animated part of me is glad that nothing more came of this. It is basically video game tie-in, a product to promote the video game. Of course, given that the game hasn’t come over here in the States, it makes me wonder why this was brought over. Who knows, that’s all I can say. The voice acting ranged from decent to bad/wooden quality, much like Wild Cardz. Animation was pretty enough and that’s about one of the only good things I can say about this OVA. Granted, it is not terrible, but quite frankly, it isn’t likely to get awards anytime soon. It had great potential, but had its ups and downs. This is sort of sad, but then again its brevity is a blessing in a disguise.

Well, now, as final note, my new release schedule will be on Saturdays from now on, instead of Mondays. Next week, well……it’s a surprise…..

Laterz ^_^