I love anime, but for the most part, my anime of choice contain a lot of action and more dramatic elements. However, I recently got a hold of The Labyrinth of Flames from Central Park Media that had me in stitches. I did not even care for the non-stop action-the comedy sold me on this title.

     Labyrinth of Flames is about Galan, a spastic geek who would do anything to be a real, live Samurai. An impossible dream becomes a reality when a girl named Natsu gives him a strange sword, and stranger people begin to attack him. While this leads to several scenes of battle, humor is the focus of this movie-that is humor and girls wearing practically no clothes. But there is nothing wrong with that.

     Anyway, the show starts with a beautifully animated fight scene, as Galan fights an evil gang and mops the floor with them. Once we get past his imagination, the real fun begins. Introducing Lady Natsu, a woman who is supposed to marry one named Datenoshin, but her true love is our spastic hero, Galan.

     At Natsu's house, we meet her father, who loves his daughter a little too much, and when she kicks his ass for making advances, he seemed to like getting beat up more. Natsu's aunt Inshinko is the only person in the group who seems to have a head on her shoulders. Inshinko is also the only one who knows that the sword Natsu has given to Galan Bethroved her to him. Just one thing the sword is enchanted and is a guide to an ancient treasure that other creatures want to get a hold of and will do anything to get it, even go out with Natsu's father. What happens next involves wacky action as the helpless Galan must learn to fight, save Natsu's family, and become a real Samurai.

     This is a great show with some truly funny scenes and a lot of fun action. One of the best scenes was when Lady Natsu was going to meet Galan and Natsu's servant spots a puddle on the ground and jumps headfirst onto it, preventing Natsu from wetting her feet. As the water expands, so does a pool of blood from the servant's face. I'm sorry, but seeing that had me laughing out loud hysterically and seeing her get up with blood streamed down her face and squirting out like tears, only made me laugh louder. It turns out, she has anemia and needs to carry an IV wherever she goes. Imagine a girl parachuting out of a plane with an IV attached to her arm, it is so damn stupid that it is funny!

     The one thing that really annoyed me were the convenient plot points that occurred throughout the film. For instance, when the servant got a full dosage of blood transfusion from her IV, she became a golden ninja, saving Galan and company from danger. Also, Carrie, a freelance reporter who claims she is in town to report about the last years of the feudal era, turns out to actually be an undercover agent looking for thieves who are conveniently the ones after the ancient sword. Thankfully, I was able to look past these points, because this film had so much going for it.

     Besides the action and the comedy, Labyrinth of Flames contained some awesome animation. In certain scenes you could literally see the ink strokes. More importantly, the music was fantastic. I have to get my hands on the soundtrack for this anime. The music is a parody of what's going on. Imagine intense music used during a battle scene for a movie that is based in comedy. It was a strange, but oddly perfect blend.

     Labyrinth of Flames scores big points and while it isn't the anime I usually would enjoy, I couldn't stop myself from laughing and eagerly awaiting what would come of Galan and his friends throughout the film. Simply put, Labyrinth of Flames is just a whole lot of fun and I really needed that.

     Send comments and questions about this article to JMinners@ybfree.com.

Return to BANDWIDTH's Main Page