Reviews for Maze: The Mega-Burst Space

Now here is an anime that seems to have came, and went completely un-noticed in both Japan and America. Sure there was a movie in Japan, but no one really remembers this anime.(I think the movie was probally bad too...that might be areason. But I never saw the movie) I will,however, go out on a limb and say it's underated. It is a very good anime. It was probally overshadowed by other anime coming out around the same time. Most people who see this, seem to dislike it, but I think they are completely missing the point. They say "they copyed_____ from _____" when reallythe creators were making a slight nod to that anime...or movie. Yes the creators make some nods to Star Wars, and a few other Live Action movies, but they don't "copy" them :( ...but I digress.

I watched most of this on Comcast's Anime Selects VOD. I recently bought the DVD Box Set, and watched the entire thing again. All in English, but I did watch part of an episode in Japanese to compare voices.

Plot:

I thought the Plot was pretty good. Sure nothing "inspiring" or groundbraking, but critics and veiwers complain about it. They expetced too much from it(though only God knows why). They say it was train wreck of ideas, just trhown together, clearly this is untrue. I thought it was very well thought out. There are some real reasons why, but they are spoilers. Let's just say everything was planned out, and thought out with a grand idea in mind, from the start. Nothing seems forced or thrown together as critics have said. The main focus was the rebelion against Jainai Holy Group and the Creator, and althought on their journey there are some side stories, everything is a build up to the final battle(which is EPIC!!!), and the fight against the Creator. I really LOVED the way Jaina (a religious group) took control of the Kingdom. This entire anime had lots of social comentary about soicety that was easily overlooked by the masses. I won't get into any spoilers but just the way religion took control of the entire country is very interesting. Then it turns out they have no real interest in religion, but just power. VERY deep!! There are tons of "themes, lessons,commentary" and other interesting thoughts this anime raises, sadly ingored by everyone. Stuff like: the conflict of "pacifist" and "fighting to defend someone", "who should govern the people?", "the idea of selling yourself,(life and soul) to destory your enemy", "will revenge make you happy?", "when does a Kingdom (for the people) turn into an Empire(for the people in power)" and questions of "why you should fight", not to mention countless others. . Plus I just loved the whole rebels vs empire thing it had going on. The side stories added to the anime, something very hard to do. In some animes they seem forced, or added on to extend the lenght. While here they did not. Remeber it's all a buildup to the final battle. The war is the main focus, and this is done very well. It uses humur (a lot of it, most times sex jokes) to lighten the mode. I think because of lots of use of humur it's shrugged off a little as a "stupid" anime. I liked the comedy here, but I didn't think thatw as the main point.

Characters: Everyone says the charcaters and mecha are all rip offs from NGE, Pokemon, Ranma 1/2 ,Rayearth, Escaflowne, Slayers, and whatever other anime. However these are all just slight nods to these animes, nothing more. The characters are all original, despite what critics and veiwers say. While none of the characters are very strong, they are all still good.

The Creator -

The Creator (male and female form) was defently my favorite, and the best character overall. Influenced by the Emporer from Star Wars, but still very much his own character. So evil, so heartless, yet I can understand him. You either love him/her, or love to hate him/her. You either want to join his army, or join up with the rebels, after watching him for a minute or two. He is very powerful.

Princess Mill -

She is also very cool, but some could find her anoying. She never bothered me though. Although she can be some what of an airhead, she's not useless, and is very nice. She is not at all a spoiled princess, and one who could be fit to sit at the throne. One problem I had with her, is she didn't really seem too sad her parents were killed (not a spoiler you learn it in the first episode)

Solude-

Solude is very interesting, and her backstory is easily the most developed and just best one overall. By the end of the anime, when she takes more of backseat to the plot, you will feel like you completely understand her. You get right in her head. The writers did a good job, and everything she says or does, there was a reason to it.

Asterote ("Aster") Reighe -

He's a cool "tough" dude, and he totally kicks ass. And Aster's not stupid, but rather pretty smart. He just prefures to fight, rather then use his intelligence and his other skills. You need a guy like this, and he sure pulls his own weight. His past is a mystery, and I think this is intentional.

There are tons of other characters, and they all seem real to me. Not one is a copy of another. Evene non important characters seem real to me, not just "people". They all have their own motives, and loyalties. Some are more obviuse then others. I don't want to talk much about Maze(the lead character), because that would lead to spoilers.

The Mechas -

Every single one looks real. They all look like they fit into that world, and every mecha looks different. Some look evil, some like facotry built, some look speciale. But every mecha looks cool.

Art:

The art and animation was pretty bad, even for it's time, but could have been a lot better. I remember when i first wastched this, thinking it was from the early 80's or mid 80's. I was amazed to see this was made in 1997!! While it gets the job done, shortcuts are very comonly used, and can get ugly. The animation depends on the episode, and I personally think the first and last episodes were the best, and all the others were worse. But even the best, was not that good. It doesn't harm the anime overall too much, but they really gipped this anime of good animation. The designs of the mecha and characters and background were all orignal. But when thrown together, felt very cheap.Evene the fight scenes were horrible animated (sometimes). Compare this to other anime of it's time (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Case Closed, Agent Aika, Vampire Princess Miyu) and you can clearly see it's not up to par. I kind of think the artists and anyone involved with the animation were put in cryogenic freezing sometime around 1983, and thawed out for this anime. Becuase it looks like it's from that time period. If it was, I wouldn't care this much about the art.

Sound:

English and Music -

The Sound was done well. Nothing bad. The dub was very good, and I enjoyed it. It's not Cowboy Bebop of FLCL, but it's still very nice. Dan Green rocks in everything he does (I think he likes his job a little too much). And the 1st ending theme is so funny, so cute, so great, that you have to get up and dance to it! (Also sounds like it's from the 80's another reason why I thought it was, but this was not a bad thing here). Very upbeat and "party" like. I've heard people say "the only thing I liked about the anime was that ending song, and damn it was good!!". People really like the song, and why not when it's supercatchy! I have a theory, that states if you don't like the first ending to this anime, you aren't a human being. The other ending is good, and opening is cool too!

Japanese -

The Japanese was good I guess. But sense I don't speak or understand Japanese, I can't tell if they are good actors or anything like that. NO ONE CAN unless they speak/understand Japanese at a near-native level. And for the record Princess Mill's voice was more anoying in Japanese then English! So glad they toned that down a bit for the dub!

Final Vertic:

Defently an anime for the Fantasy or Mecha fans, but still very deep.Give it a try if you like mechas or fantasy, fictional wars, or the idea of "rebelion" vs "the empire". Not a shallow anime, in fact makes statements about soicety, but you gata look for them. Many people have a problem with this anime, so I warn you be careful before investing time and money in it("Money??" yes buy the DVD's damn it!!) . Probally not going to inspire you, but still it's more deep then something like Naruto or Inuyasha. It has a good story to tell, and underated!

Ah, Maze. I tried watching it once upon a time and couldn’t even find it until recently. Now after just finishing it I’m ready to give in my two cents on this show. I wasn’t particularly expecting much. To be honest I was excepting the illegitimate child of Fushigi Yuugi and Ranma ½. I’m sure most people are after reading the synopsis. But no, this…strange but enjoyable show takes on a whole new twist that pretty much shattered those expectations for me. The story confused me. Not in the sense that I had no clue as to what was going on, more in thesense that it was just not what I expected. I can’t even begin to elaborate beyond the synopsis without giving spoilers, but I can tell you that it was a solid story. All loose ends were wrapped up quite nicely. I found myself unable to stop watching because I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

I was very impressed with the character development. For one Maze (female version) started off to be the type of character that I hate. The perfect, everyone-loves-me, goody two-shoes who refuses to fight and believes all violence can be replaced with kind words and compromise. Gag me. The second she started that I wanted to reach into the screen and kill her. Thankfully she out-grows that, which I find amazing since most characters who start off that way manage to keep it up until the last episode. I did feel some characters got left behind in the whole characterization train, Aster and Mill for starters. I especially wish Mill had gotten more attention, as the thought of her someday becoming a Queen horrifies me. She’s cute, but sheesh.

I’ll be honest, the art was gross. It wasn’t enough to turn me off the show completely but good grief. They were just outright lazy with the animation in this one. A couple of times I found myself stopping to ponder where their cheek bones stopped and their chin began, it was that bad. The animation does get better as the series progresses. It’s almost a bit jarring when that happens because you get so used to seeing their disproportionate faces, but in the end I’m glad for the change. I was impressed with the second to last battle, for the first time really since none of the other battles brought on that “EPIC!” feeling for me.

The music was mediocre. Nothing bad, but nothing to call home about. For the most part you will not notice it, especially since they’re good about not getting obnoxious with the add-in music. The opening song provided me with endless amusement. “MAZE IN YOUR FACE!” (Best or worst lyrics ever? I couldn’t decide) Moving on...

I did enjoy this show immensely. I was a little…wary at first. I had decided to marathon it and through the whole first and second episode I kept thinking, “What have I gotten myself into?” I expected watching this show to be one big chore, but no, I had fun. At one point I found myself all hyped up, partly from sugar and partly because that particular episode was just insane. There was one plot element that just…well I was confused. I refuse to spoil it, but I can’t say the ending fills me with joy. It’s not a bad ending at all. It just wasn’t the one I wanted. Regardless, I feel that I can recommend this show. I really doubt it’s for everyone. It’ll be hit or miss for sure, but try it anyway. You might be pleasantly surprised like I was.

Maze is one of those animes that feels like you've seen it before already. A series that is reminiscent of other works that you've already experienced. That is because Mazze is wholly unique. One of the many, many animes that came from the 90's anime boom, one that disappeared right as it was rushed out of the door. Despite having a movie made for it, Maze has disappeared from the anime consciousness almost entirely. Why is that? Well, the simple fact is Maze has nothing original going for it. Everything has been done better by other anime. But what's interesting about Maze is that it'snot just a carbon copy. The things that it does, it does so strangely that it leaves the viewer baffled at just why the series does what it does. From the plot to the characters, not really makes sense from the viewer's perspective of just why these things are happening.

Story:

The story of Maze is interesting, to say the least. We follow our main protagonist, Maze, a young woman who has been transported to a foreign land along with losing her memories. Maze finds herself embroiled in a holy war after meeting the young princess Mill. Together, the two can combine forces to summon and operate a powerful bio-mecha. With this, along with Mazes' powerful "Phantom light power", the two set off on a journey to stop the Gaina holly empire along with a cast of friends they make along the way.

Oh, and Maze transforms into a man at night.

You may notice just how many elements this plot is throwing at you right from the get-go. Mechs, magic, fantasy party, save the princess, gender-swapping. It's all just so, strange. These elements don't mesh very well right from the get-go and the series feels no need to try and make them work. This is before the elements of time travel and universe jumping are introduced later on.

The thing about all of these elements is they feel lifted directly from other, more successful anime at the time. These plot points were all incredibly popular at the time. And it's obvious that Maze tried to shove all of them into one story. Unfortunately, none of them mesh. The story does not work. It switches from comedy "enemy of the week" type tails to a serious mecha holy war to time travel to, well, you get the point.

Overall, a mixed bag of ideas that do not work together. 3/10

Art & Sound:

Nothing much is to be said about Maze in this area. It is the most generic 90's style you can imagine.

But I do want to give a special mention to the dub.

The dub is everything wrong with 90's anime dubs. Bad voice acting. Annoying high-pitched girl sidekick, awful mixing, horrible fight sounds, Engrish songs.

Overall, I'll give it a 6/10 as it is at least ok for when it came out. But the dub is a special treat that cannot be rated.

Characters:

Now here is where Mazes true problems shine. The characters of Maze are awful.

Maze herself is a flat protagonist who does not develop at all throughout the series. Both the male and female versions stagnate throughout the series. Staying as the reserved confused magic using girl and the brave perverted male.

The rest of the supporting cast as well are nothing more than flat tropes who only exist to fill their role in the "fantasy party".

Well, that is for everyone but Mill.

Mill is one of the most confusing characters too me. She's incredibly annoying and unbearable but painted as the likable younger sister character with everyone wanting to protect her. She orbits Maze and will actively try to mess with her relationships with other characters, yet this is treated as endearing.

Speaking of Maze's relationships.....

Everyone is horny for Maze. That's it. All of Maze's relationships, outside of a few, are others lusting after male or female maze. There is nothing more to say here...

Overall, 2/10.

Enjoyment:

If you think Maze is one of those 90's anime's you can put on with friends and take the shit out of, you're not wrong but you're very not right.

The series starts off as one you can enjoy ironically but quickly becomes nothing more than a slog as it quickly loses whatever 90's charm it had.

As a legitimate offering, Maze is mediocre at best. Everything that it provides is done better by other anime. It's action scenes can be enjoyed if you turn off your brain and can put up with Mill's constant whining.

4/10

In closing:

Maze is an interesting anime. An interesting anime that deserved to be forgotten. It is a time capsule of the 90's anime boom. With all its tropes and problems wrapped up into a single package.

Maze did not stand the test of time well. And unearthing it today is not a recommendable experience.