Review / TV

With all the pages I've made on various series, I decided to do something a little different and just give a general review of this title. It seems that I often spend a lot of time pointing out the specifics, yet never really talk about the title in general.

Overall I rather enjoyed Maze. I found it to be one of those weird anime series that seemed to appeal to me in just the right way. This however, will not be the case for everyone. Maze is very much so a 'niche' anime. Probably one of the most prominent features is the mecha. While mecha pervade throughout the anime, this title isn't really a mecha anime (unless you classify Magic Knight Rayearth as 'mecha anime'). The title also has elements which make it seem like fantasy anime (such as Record of Lodoss War), but with mecha running around it isn't this either. The story line is at times a comedy, and at times more dramatic, but rarely both at the same time. Many other people will probably be turned off by the amounts of fan service (mild nudity), although I've always thought that if nudity bothers you, you shouldn't be watching anime in the first place, and should go watch some Disney animation. All this added with the main character changing sexes at dawn and dusk which people might also have problems with. With all of this, you can plainly see that you cut down the general audience into a sliver, yet somehow I managed to really enjoy it. A few years ago the rights to an anime such as this probably would never have been bought since it would be viewed as extremely risky (and it is!). Today however, the anime market is saturated and it's only a matter of time before some second rate vendor will probably pick up this title and wreck the whole thing with an abominable dub. (I really hate to wonder how they would dub in 'onenii-sama'.)

The general story line follows a girl named Maze(?) who finds her house in a strange dimension, and also on top of something called a demi-human. By luck, Maze happened to save a young princess named Mill who quickly got to liking Maze. As it would turn out Maze found herself right in the middle of a revolution. Strange gets even stranger when Maze finds out that she turns into a lecherous guy at night! Maze may not want to fight, but when a being with unimaginable power known as the creator has decided to destroy Maze at all costs, (s)he won't have any other choice.

I rather liked the story line for the TV series. It did however seem sort of directionless at first, and I must admit that this is one of those series that doesn't really develop into something interesting until later on in the series. Things don't really get interesting until Maze starts to learn about who she really is, and about her past. I also found almost all of the characters to be rather likable, with the exception of Mill who is occasionally cute, but often EXTREMELY annoying. I suppose I could go on and on about this anime because there's so much I'd like to say about it, but of course you might as well just watch the damn thing by the time I get done squawking about it. So if you think this show might interest you, take a look into Maze. You might find that it's a title you'll really enjoy.

Where/What is Mega Burst Space?

Folm

So what exactly is Folm? To know what folm is, you have to understand the bigger picture of the universe. All matter has particle energy. It is the particle energy which can be tapped and used for energy which is known as folm. The thing about folm is that it in fact varies from dimension to dimension. Some universes have more folm, others have less. Folm also comes in five different forms. These vary in names but can be identified as emerald, ruby, sapphire, diamond, topaz. Each of these types of folm differ slightly in their energy, and usage. Certain types of demi armor are considered to be more powerful, since they can use more than one form of folm.

Folerna

Folerna is the ability to use folm for teleportation, by traveling through folm. Using folerna isn't an ability that every folmer has. Solude for instance is very adept at using folerna, but isn't capable of using other types of folm. Folerna is also very difficult to use over long distances, and a person would probably totally exhaust themselves if they went too far. Maze of course being a folm master is capable of going where (s)he pleases, although (s)he doesn't seem to use the ability.

Creator and Eraser

Probably the best way to understand the creator and eraser, is by considering a universe (dimension) to be a living thing. While some universes have more particle energy (folm) and others have less, there is a general balance throughout a dimension. However if a foreign entity (such as a master folmer) should cause the level of particle energy to unbalance, the universe will take measures to regain the balance. It's much like a body which has an immune system to get rid of an infection. The one that causes this unbalance is known as the creator. In order to rid the dimension of the problem, the one known as the eraser is brought in to destroy the creator. The eraser should then leave the dimension if successful, otherwise the eraser his/herself becomes the creator, and the cycle begins again.

Who is Maze?

WARNING! This contains major spoilers

Describing who Maze is... is sort of complicated, since Maze is both two people in one, and two different people at the same time (not to mention the boy/girl thing). Akira and Mei Ikaruga, were once brother and sister attending the same school. While Mei was a mild mannered regular girl, Akira tended to get into fights all the time. So much so that he got held back one grade, and was put into Mei's class. Two girls gossiping noted that Mei and Akira were brother and sister, and that (the kanji for) Akira could also be pronounced Mei. So there are two "Mei's", which is pronounced "Maze". From then on "Maze" became their collective nickname. Mei and Akira were always very close. Probably closer than any brother and sister should be. But when their parents tried to split them up, their desire to stay together took them to another dimension where their dream could be fulfilled, although probably not in the way that either would have expected.