
<MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thearmchairem-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com">	From ADV Films Number of Episodes 3 Special Features - AD Vid-Notes - Commentary with voice actresses Luci Christian and Jessica Boone - Clean opening and closing animations
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Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi Volume 2 (DVD)

The first Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi ended with Arumi and Sasshi in a prehistoric world populated with dinosaurs and the second volume picks up from there.

Arumi and Sasshi get into the thick of things straight away as they stumble upon a baby triceratops then get caught up with a local band of cavemen. The leader of the caveman deems the baby an extremely bad omen and orders it killed. Arumi makes it her duty to return the baby dino to its mother and escapes with it. Sasshi and Arumi are aided by the super-endowed Mune-Mune, have a few near-death experiences, then discover a meteor on a collision course with the planet.

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With the help of the mysterious stranger (that had appeared in each of the dimensions Arumi and Sasshi have visited), they mount a defensive effort to stop the meteor. Successful or not, you just know they’ll scrape through okay – with some laughs along the way – and wind up in a new Shopping Arcade.

Of the three episodes included on this disc, the second one is probably the funniest.

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Sasshi and Arumi wind up in film noir universe filled with snail-smuggling mobsters and a police force out to stop them. The pair get split up – Arumi joins with the police and Sasshi is mistaken for a ruthless hitman, “The Legendary Sniper” and is accepted into the mobster family. This situation and subject matter could have led to a more serious episode, but once again Magical Shopping Arcade comes through with some good laughs, particularly when the real Legendary Sniper shows up to complicate Sasshi’s life.

In this dimension, bullets don’t kill people. Being hit with a bullet just shrinks you down to about the size (and cuteness) of a large Smurf. The police raid at the end of the episode is friggin’ strange to watch.

The episode ends with much introspection (relative to the previous episodes), which sets up the last episode on the disc perfectly.

The third episode explores the origins of the Shopping Arcade and the shared pasts of some of its older residents, and features a love triangle. (Arumi and Sasshi barely have cameos in this episode.) Strangely enough, the mysterious stranger encountered by Sasshi and Arumi had his hand in the earliest development of the Shopping Arcade, in terms of design and funds (which seem unlimited). The episode is actually a bit of downer, even if it does provide some clues as to what is happening to Arumi and Sasshi, and the Shopping Arcade’s residents. (Sasshi and Arumi hilariously acknowledge this down note in the preview of the next disc.)

Like with Volume 1, ADV has included a copy of “AbenoSpoiler” to add further color to each episode and explain some cultural aspects to the uninformed so that some of jokes don’t fly over their heads. (I’d love more Anime DVDs to ship with these!)

This second disc isn’t as strong as the first disc, but that’s because there’s only three episodes (instead of the four in Volume 1) and one of them concentrates on the history of the Shopping Arcade. I can't help but feel this is the setup for greater things.

- Omni

(June 27, 2004)