Galaxy Fraulein Yuna (1995)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Yoritusa Yamaguchi and Akiyuki Shinbo
Original Story and Character Design by Mika Akitaka
Screenplay by Satoru Akahori, Masashi Noro, Sumio Uetake, and Masashi Kubota
Music by Takanori Arisawa

Features:

• None
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• voice-acting that can shatter glass
• idiocy abounding
• the love that dare not speak its name
• rampant Sailor Moon references
• Deus ex Machina every thirty seconds. Make that twenty

Rating: 12+

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: Skip it.

Yuna, Savior of the Light, has control of a super-powerful mecha that strikes fear into the hearts of galaxy evil-doers, as well as the Galactic Council who fear her power, but she is also an ordinary girl. Yuna is also a deeply devoted fan of Polylina, a real superhero who also plays one on TV. Yuna has a host of friends who also help her when necessary, especially the android Yuri, Misaki the erstwhile Council spy, and Elner, the mechanical sprite. Then there's the villain, Fraulein D, who is actually a member of good standing with the Galactic Council. And not to forget the two hopeless hench-persons of Fraulein.... Sound impossibly confusing? Well, it is. Lucky there's no real plot to muck that all up even further.

Galaxy Fraulein Yuna is a collection of five OAV episodes. The first two episodes of the disc detail an evil plot to discredit and then exile Yuna, engineered by the evil Fraulein D. The final three episodes comprise a storyline wherein the Demonic Sisters also attempt to eliminate Yuna to get her out of the way of their evil plots. One of the sisters ends up falling for Yuna/wanting to be her friend, just like most every other female in the known Universe. Each of the three episodes focuses on a different Demonic Sister.

The anime is based upon a video game, and because of that, viewers of this disc are given next to no real introduction to any of the characters, including the lead. Some of it can be picked up as you go along; you will, for example, recognize the villain as soon as you see her, what with her shroud and all. It is, however, quite irritating to have no idea who anyone is, what their relationships are, etc., especially towards the end of the first two episodes, where the numbers of shrieking people go through the roof.

Which is another thing. Usually, if the English voice actors are particularly annoying, then you can always try the Japanese, or vice versa. This time, however, both the English and Japanese crews seemed to think that sounding like injured mice was the thing to do. My cats hid under the bed the entire viewing time. Of course, from this you can tell that the audio quality is rather good--so I guess that's something.

Unfortunately, the disc is free from the burden of special features. Not even a motion menu. Or an art gallery. Much less an interview with any of the creators, a soundtrack, a look at the original game.... Nada.

On the plus side, though, Galaxy Fraulein Yuna is visually satisfying. The art is well-drawn, and the colors are saturated and attractively chosen. The video quality is top-notch, quite good enough for the rapid scene changes of the plot to be nearly dizzying.

In short, if you like mecha space operas with lots of weird character interaction, have a high tolerance for the upper registers of human speech and ludicrous amounts of coincidence, and don't care much for little things like coherence, plot, or character development, then Galaxy Fraulein Yuna is for you. If, on the other hand, you loathe cliches and are at all fond of such things as emotionally appropriate character voices, skilled plot writers, and basically anything that makes Anime worthwhile, then look elsewhere for your fun.