"What, What just happened? IT WAS MY RIGHTEOUSNESS"
10 years ago the King of the Celestial World decided to have a tournament to find the one who would replace him. He selected 100 candidates and their task was to go to the Human world and find a Junior High School Student and give them a power to use, then they would compete in a battle tournament. The winer of the tournament will win the "Talent of Blank" (they get to fill in the blank), and the candidate who selected them will be come the King of the Celestial World.
HIGHLIGHTS
A first year student, Ueki, who is more interested in planting trees and cleaning the area up is chosen by Mr. K (a Candidate) to be his fighter. When given a choice, Ueki decides to take the power to turn trash into trees. It appears to be a week power but Ueki thinks it will suite him just fine. The big problem with Ueki, is that he has a deep seeded moral streak and tends to stick up for the week and those in need. He also has begun to use his power to defend others. When he was given the power there was one string attached. He could not use the power against anyone who does not have a power of their own. If he does he will loose a talent. Talents are individual traits that we all carry, such as the talent to draw, cook or even attract the opposite sex. Each person is born with these talents and if the fighter looses all of their talents they will cease to exist. For the fighters you loose a talent if you use your power against someone who does not have a power, but if you defeat a power user you gain a new talent.
Most of the fighters want to win because they would be able to make the "Talent of Blank" to serve their own selfish wants and desires, but Ueki just wants to win to stop them from being so selfish. He is not sure what the blank would be for him.
There is one secret that even Ueki does not know, and once he discovers it, he becomes more determined to win. He also finds out that there are a group of fighters that want to destroy the world with the "Talent of Blank". Along the way Ueki fights many strong fighters and sometimes the fight comes to a draw. In these cases, the fighter is often someone else who has high ideals and moral standards. They often leave the fight with mutual respect that will eventually become a greater power. As the battles progress a common theme comes through. Almost everyone Ueki fights, either good or evil, he tends to show his spunk and unwavering ability to keep coming back no matter what, impresses the opponent and tends to break down their resolve.
Once the fighter field is down to 25 fighters the location and structure of the tournament changes. The tournament moves to the Celestial World and the fighters must team up into groups as large as five. They then compete as a team and the winning team selects the new Celestial King and the top member of the winning team will get the "Talent of Blank". This brings together some old competitors with similar ideals and moral values. The battles are set in some interesting surroundings and provide for interesting results, but the odd thing about this entire tournament is that there is something the King new all along and it was not the winner, but a darker secret that is revealed in the last part of the show.
OVERALL
I was not familiar with The Law of Ueki, but when I read the liner notes my first though was that it was going to be a third rate Yu Gi Oh or some card game base Anime. To say the least I was pleasantly surprised. From the very first episode I was hooked. This 1200 minute box set is strong from begging to end. It did get a little slow at times and drug out a few of the battles, but it was easy to sit through the 20 hours to find out what the final outcome was going to be. And in the end it was full of twists that now seem to make sense. After the first few episodes, Ueki's intense moral standard and devotion to others reminded me much of the same personal attributes that Naruto and Ichigo, from Bleach, possess and is a common theme in Anime. But for Ueki it does become a little to standard and self righteous rather than a mantra that is the backbone of the show.
I was pleased with the number of twist along the way and also the level of humor that keep rolling along. Strange powers and goofy abilities abound along with a warming sense of friend and family that help keep these characters solid. I would recommend this box set to anyone who is a real fan of Anime that is centered on good fighting evil and is lighthearted. If you are a fan of Naruto or Bleach, you should check it out. It may not stand up to the same high level, but it gets very close. And in many ways it beats both of them with creativity, and brings in bizarre elements the same way Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo did.
I was entertained by this series and laughed out loud many times, along with having a warm feeling when a battle was won. This Complete Series was just released by FUNimation on June 9th, 2009 and should be given an opportunity to prove it's worth.
ComicsOnline gives The Law of Ueki: The Complete Series 4.5 out of 5 powers to make you love eyeglasses.
