“Damn it! Whoever is the greater geek should not be the derisive factor in a battle!” When Gainax isn't producing its next piece of Evangelion media they can come up with some really unique items. Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi is one of those pieces. The series centers around Satoshi “Sasshi” Imamiya and his childhood friend, Arumi Asahina, as they travel though various distorted realities. The series starts out in an ordinary Japanese community, but by the end of the first episode it is anything but that. As Sasshi and Arumi travel through the different realities, they meet different versions of the people they know while trying attempting to find a way back to the reality they came from. On a more subtle level, the series deals with changes in life, particularly Sasshi's which will radically alter his life mirroring the changes that he will experience as he grows from a boy into a man. Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi likes to push the limits of parodies and doesn't hold too many punches. It makes frequent references to shows like Dragonball, old-school rpgs like Dragon Quest and even a few Hollywood movies like 2001: A Space Odessy. Each episode focuses on a particular genre. For the most part the plot does not advance much after the first episode and is as much focused on the parodies as it is about big breasts and panties, or lack thereof. Episodes 1. Mystery! Abenoboshi Shopping Arcade 2. Adventure! Abenoboshi Sword and Sorcery Shopping Arcade 3. Hock Up! Abenoboshi Great Milky Way Shopping Arcade 4. Fire It Up! Abenoboshi Hong Kong Combat Shopping Arcade Highlights Episode 2 – Early in the second episode, which revolves around role-playing game cliches, Arumi buys a magical charm to increase her bust-size although she never gets a chance to use it. Instead, it is used to defeat the final boss, a giant skeleton in armor, buy increasing its armor bust plating so big it lost balance and crashed to the floor. Seriously, I would never have expected something so absurd. The animation style of the series alters between episodes and is used to reflect the basic level of realism and wackiness of the episode. The first episode, being a representation of the real-world is drawn fairly realistically. The second episode is similarly drawn, but a lot more detail is placed on exotic items, like weapons, and often devolves into video-game graphics. The third episode, which is the most off the wall, is more crudely drawn while the fourth one really varied depending upon which martial arts style they were spoofing at the time. Extras The DVD came with the English voice over commentary to the third episode which shows that they aren't rehearsed as they had to do a second take during it. It also provided clean opening and closing as well as trailers and previews. However, what impressed me the most wasn't on the DVD itself, but the mock color weekly tabloid ADV added as an insert. This multi-page mockup pokes fun at every episode with in-depth commentary like the destruction of the shopping arcade or a special on Arumi recovering her panties safely. In addition it even has a more serious commentary by Tetsuya Tenaka on Osaka as well as production notes. Overall The first episode is ordinary melancholic Japanese lifestyle that is vastly different tone than the rest of the series and could give someone a false impression of the mood and tenor of the series. While there is humor in the episode, it is contextual and played down. The episode also is the only one with any sort of drama in it; later episodes are a complete opposite with tons of unrealistic gags and parodies. For the rest of the series. While the rating says 17+, this really was a series aimed at any adult male older than 14, especially with characters like Miss Mune-Mune, a bouncing-big-breasted red-haired woman along with other tie in jokes like Arumi losing her panties in an episode and having to run around trying to recover them. I kept waiting to see how long it would take Arumi to beat Sasshi senseless because he was drooling over Mune-Mune, and was surprised the few times it did not, unusually because Arumi was distracted. Beyond the pervertedness the parodies are directed to the male audiences, especially nerds, who would appreciate: video games, fantasy adventures, sci-fi action, mechas, martial arts fights, etc. In fact Arumi even comments on that at certain points. While I enjoyed the series, I felt some of the jokes did get a little repetitive, especially the ones with Sasshi goggling over Miss Mune followed by Arumi smacking him down. That's quite common in anime in general, but I think it just was overused in this case. I would also have liked the plot to develop some more and some explanation as to the appearances of Miss Mune, along with a blue-haired man, which are out-of-contrast with the multiple incarnations of people the two protagonists knew from the real world. The first few episodes ultimately feel like episodes meant to draw in the kind of person in who likes crazy off-the-wall comedies while, for the those interested in more serious plot development, hinting at something more serious later in the series. ComicsOnline gives Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi – Volume 1 4.5 out of 5 insane realities to travel between.