The Choujo

The Choujo is a part of the Rumik World series of OVAs, none of which I’ve seen. It came out in 1986 from Studio Pierrot. Yes, the same studio that worked on Yu Yu Hakusho & Osomatsu-san. So, how does this compare to their other works I’ve seen?

Story:

We open with Maris, a survivor from an extinct planet, beating the shit out of some bad guys as part of her duty for the Intergalactic Space Patrol. She goes on vacation and tries to earn some extra money, as her parents break things constantly. That’s when she’s given a big, important job to rescue a kidnapped heir. She sees it as an opportunity to marry into money. Lady, just take out an ad. You’ve got super strength and good looks (by the standards of the art style), I’d bet some wealthy heir or heiress would accept you as a trophy bride. In any case, she goes off to confront the kidnapper and rescue the rich twit.

The biggest problem with this series is just that it’s pretty damn boring. The humour is stale with very predictable jokes. There are also long chunks of the OVA where nothing happens. You want a long scene that’s supposed to be funny where we just watch random shit on the beach? That’s in this. And I’m sure it’s totally not a flimsy excuse to see some ladies in bikinis. Because this series just puts its main characters, protagonist & antagonist, in bikinis any way. There’s just nothing compelling to it. Maybe there was some novelty value to be had back in 1986, but I’ve seen some other anime from that era and I kind of doubt it.

Characters:

Here’s where the real issues come in. This is one of those series that should be relying on quirky characters to make its humour work, but they range from dull to actively annoying. With the major characters gravitating towards the latter. Maris herself is just obnoxiously vapid. The same is true for Sue. They’re just physically powerful ladies, who have a vague “hate being poor” schtick going for them. But, you know, they dress in battle bikinis so we can call that character development, if we want to use dumb old memes. Then we have the heir. Think of Andy from Cowboy Bebop if he had no interesting or redeeming traits and was just shit. That’s pretty much Koganemaru.

Art:

Even for the mid 80s, this looks bad. The animation is really slow and choppy, a lot of the artwork is just lazy. In terms of its weirder, theoretically comedic, imagery, it’s not exactly Yellow Submarine. This might have actually benefited from being more stony, to be honest. About the best I can say is that it’s easy enough to follow and not a huge mess. Just a bit of one.

Sound:

Koyama Mami & Shimamoto Sumi are both decent enough in this, considering the script. Yeah, not gonna lie it comes across as a bit lacklustre. The music is fine too. Not the best in the world, but it works.

Ho-yay:

There isn’t any. The only bits of romance we see are vapid ladies pining over a bored rich boy.

Final Thoughts:

The Choujo is a bit rubbish, actually. With a completely trite narrative, weak humour, annoying major characters, poor artwork and sound that’s just okay (but still the best element in the piece.) Ultimately, I give it a 3/10 and probably should have left it floating in the septic tank instead of fishing it out just because I was curious. Someone put it in the tank for a reason. Next week I’ll look at Makai Senki Disgaea. I just hope the anime is as good as the game.