The 1985 OVA Leda — The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko, which Steven recently discovered, looked like fun, so I downloaded it. ((According to ANN, it was once licensed by The Right Stuf International, but I found no sign of it on the RightStuf website.)) The story is straightforward anime fantasy: a high school girl is mysteriously transported to an strange world, where she transforms into a warrior in a battle bikini. Screen captures are below the fold.
It’s silly, but it’s not cheesy. The art is detailed, and the animation looks smooth to my non-expert eyes. Although there are characters named “Lingam” (spelled “Ringhum” in the subtitles) and “Yoni” and the girls don’t wear a lot of clothes, there is actually very little that’s off-color. It’s probably tolerable for all but the youngest audiences. If you have any interest in old-school anime, it’s worth checking out.
Update: Here are two sets of six consecutive frames. Each of these whizzes by in a fifth of a second.
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I thought it was quite enjoyable. Not any kind of life-changing experience, but I don’t regret at all watching it. And it didn’t overstay its welcome; they finished it in one movie.
It’s a good example of the weaknesses and strengths of old-school animation techniques, too. It’s not as consistent and tack-sharp as the new digital work, but when effort is made, the fluidity and complexity of movement and the facial expressions can be better than the new stuff.
ISTR that The Sideponytailed Mouthbreather was one of the first OAVs. At least he date is right. They put alot of effort into some of those. It is a decent flick, unpretentious and enteraining.