Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai

I have made it onto A, of my alphabetical challenge! Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai is one of those anime that I wish I had first looked up what this was about before diving straight in and being completely confused.

Genre: Comedy, Parody, Ecchi, Fantasy
Type: Series
Episodes: 13
Duration to watch: +/- 4 hours 30 minutes
Age restriction: R+ – Mild Nudity
Release date: April 2002
Animation Studio: Gainax, Madhouse
Does it have a manga: No
Kanji: アベノ橋魔法☆商店街
Alternate title: Abenobashi Magic Shopping District

ABOUT Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai:

Abenobashi Mahou☆Shoutengai follows Sasshi and Arumi’s comedic exploits as they find themselves transported away through bizarre worlds of science fiction, magic, and war. Any attempt to escape only catapults them into another alien land. When the pair unravel a tale spanning generations, they begin to wonder if the cause of their situation is more personal than they thought.

My Thoughts on Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai:

It took a couple attempts for me to watch this one. It is thanks to my alphabetical self-challenge that I sat down and watched all 13 episodes. Honestly, I don’t have much to say about this one other than the ending made this anime worthwhile. The ending knitted together the events of previous episodes and explained why they kept shifting ‘realities’.

Without the final few episodes, the anime had been borderline crude and simply just one crazy randomness after the other. If taken episode by episode, the anime is meh, but as a whole, I think actually well done.

I did enjoy some of the not so subtle sexual related jokes and liners while others kinda missed the mark. The changing artwork style to fit the ‘new reality’ was pretty cool to see and helped set the tone for whatever crazy plot line that reality had in store for the duo. The different realities were also pretty creative and fun to explore.

Would I recommend this anime? I would actually recommend this one, albeit selectively.

What did you think of Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai?