Anime: Ou Dorobou Jing in Seventh Heaven

This OAV is a follow-up to the series "Ou Dorobou Jing" in which Jing purposely gets himself caught and thrown in the most notorious and dangerous prison in order to steal a very special prize. To obtain it, he must conquer a maze of dreams and desires of the one who holds it. In the process, we learn about his past, and that of his foe.

Animation

I found the animation to be impressive. The animators made good use of visual art and style to create a real and dream world, which transition into each other almost seamlessly. It was much better (in my opinion) than the style of the original series. Character design was pretty good, except I didn't really enjoy the looks of the main foe.

Sound

Again, impressive in creating both a seamless dream- and real-world. The voice actors were pretty close to what the characters should sound like, so no one sounded out of place. Also, the music helped to draw one into the story and completed the atmosphere--jazzy and surreal.

Story

This is where the OAV falters and it becomes inconsistent. While the story focuses on the present, the story is intriguing and fun. When it focuses on the past, it becomes irrelevant and I lost interest. I tend not to really care about a character's past unless it adds something to the plot . In this case, when we learn about Jing's childhood, it doesn't make sense how his past adds to the present storyline, and in fact, at the end of that particular episode, the foe, Campari, remarks that it was a very good story, as if it were only a sideshow to the plot. In addition, it doesn't really explain why Jing became a bandit in the first place, which is probably the key thing we would want to know about his past.

On the other hand, Campari's past is more relevant to the story, and it's kind of cool how Jing deduces where he comes from, and what happened, etc. However, that does not prevent the audience being subject to another corny flashback and resolution to Campari's past. I guess, however, that it fits in with the rest of the series. Luckily, there aren't as many stupid dramatic "Kir Royale" sequences which annoyed us all in the series.

Character

This is another flaw in the OAV. There are only three episodes, which aren't a whole lot to make one care about the villain Jing is up against, include Jing's past, and have it all make sense. Therefore, any new characters become simple archetypes, which make them and their actions predictable. In this regard, it made the story even weaker, and the outcome less interesting. The only character who changes is Campari, but he isn't even important, as he is left behind as the series ends.

Value

In the end, the main value of this series is the playful and artistic worlds of reality crossing with dream worlds, and the story of Jing's past (I'm sure this is why the OAV was made) for those who are interested. However, as the story is irrelevant to his past, and the characters are flat, it becomes not so impressive as it could have been.

Enjoyment

I enjoyed this series, mostly because I enjoyed the visual and auditory effects. The story was not interesting enough for me, nor was Jing's or Campari's past. However, it did increase my enjoyment of the original series because it reminded me of the imaginative playfulness of many of their adventures.