ReRetro8bit
November 24, 2008
Not Recommended
Jungle de Ikou is another one of those prime examples of a title that banks soly on its "echhi" factor, that it doesn’t really care to make much emphasis on anything else. Story: 2/10 Or lack there of one, basically all it has is Natsumi (main lead) receive an ancient artifact from her dad, and is told she is suppose to save the world from the "god of ruin." Now I am all fine with a three episode OVA developing a mini plot like that, but there is just no emphasis on just where they are going with it. As the first two episodes simply have Natsumitaking on either a jealous rival, or fixing mistakes which she made herself!! Which are just mostly used as time fillers for the main showdown with the "god of ruin" to arrive. When Natsumi transforms herself in to "Mii" (goddess of fertility and the heroine) all she does is bounce around on screen with her overly huge breast, which the camera draws close into ever few minutes, without her actually having any style as to how she defeats her enemies. (Now I don't have a problem with fan service, but most of the style in which they do it in just comes off as more disgusting than anything else.) Most of the time she wins by pure accident because the enemies either kill themselves, or she makes a mistake in the fighting which works in her favor. (though she does defeat the end boss in a redeeming way of sorts) The whole story overall is just a bunch of crazy erotic dancing that is meant to keep the viewer entertained, but mostly comes out as rushed and totally inspired!
Honestly I would have much preferred them to just combine the first part of episode one with the last episode showdown, as the first two episodes deal nothing with the over all plot it makes, and just has the main heroine wasting her time on totally unrelated things. There really is no excuse for this, because it is only a three episode OVA!!!!! That being said though, even the last episode feels rushed itself, as the main villain just pops out of nowhere, and the viewer isn’t even given any chance to figure out just who he was the whole time!
I guess it goes without saying, but some viewers will find this offensive. What with its close up breast shots, sexual and erotic dances, and an old man that has a saber tooth jamming out of his crotch.
Art: 5/10
Its decent enough, considering this is actually an older title the anime does show some pretty good color and detail for its time. The characters themselves what with their chibi style design, I found to be cute too. That aside though, their overall style and appeal is just a lack luster, and most viewers will probably find them more on the side of generic than anything else. Its almost like the artists drew one single character design, and incorporated little bits and pieces of it to most of the entire cast. (In other words, I found the character design, while cute, to be pretty repetitive and lifeless!) Which is sad since the characters themselves do move with pretty good fluidity! Its does its job alright, but there is just no substance to it.
Sound: 6/10
Truly the best part of the show, it gives off these cool jungle beats that differ depending on the situation in the series, they climb to a suddle style heartbeat when a enemy is lurking, then beat faster as the action takes place. Even though that's pretty much the only memorable piece from the background music! The opening j-pop theme titled "J" I actually kinda liked, its a nice party mix theme, (even if it does seem a bit dated by today's standards) and the ending one was alright as well because it gives off a more sincere tone, which at least adds some variety to the mix. Most of the character voices on the other hand come off as just down right annoying, they just overact way too much! While others make it obvious they are reading from a script.
Character: 3/10
Sigh......it had potential, but all the characters are just totally undeveloped. And those with actual redeeming values either steal it from another style of characters found in another anime, (Nami the nice girl supporting character) or simply do it by over acting, which doesn't come off as funny in the least. I just couldn't really connect with any of them, as most supporting characters were too by the book as far as personality goes. To its credit though, they have all characters both supporting and main, given enough spotlight time to where you don't ever feel they are simply hiding them in the background, thus using them for show. The only character I kinda sorta liked was Nami, but even that was more of a default feeling, since the whole "nice girl" character always gives out that kind of attraction!
Bottom Line: 4/10
Jungle de Ikou had a nice concept here, but just never gave any attempt into working it together, as this title feels overall like a rush job. Which is sad since I feel it had a nice idea with the whole "Jungle superhero" theme, had they given some effort into making it more than just a girl with huge breasts bouncing around all over the place, it could have been great!
As it stands I really can't recommend this, other than to the huge "hardcore echhi" fans out there. There are much better series in this genera out there, I would personally just skip this one.
