 King of Bandit Jing gets the OVA treatment - and leaves me wondering what the creative folk were on when they came up with this one...
1 - Lost in Seventh Heaven
Horror of horrors - Jing's been caught (apparently - although he claims
he's just studying the society). For criminals of Jing's stature,
there's only one place to go - the prison known as Seventh Heaven,
which all criminals fear. Prison Director Maraski's proud of his
reputation as the man no prisoner dares disobey, but he's never had to
deal with a prisoner like Jing before... Even here, there's something
for the King of Bandits to steal, too - the Dream Stone, keeper of
mens' dreams - and also nightmares, it seems. While running from some
nightmare rats, Jing and Kir (along with dreamgirl Benedictine) find
themselves lost in a maze unlike any other...
2 - Dream in Seventh Heaven
Jing & Kir are in isolation following their adventures last ep
(although is it still isolation when they're together?) - although
somehow, the effects of the Dream Stone have followed them, bringing
them a dream of a young Jing & how he came to have Kir as a
sidekick. There's been a string of kidnappings in the town - all the
girls have been taken, until there's only one left, Jing's childhood
friend Kashisu. Jing & Kir's first job together comes when Kashisu
is taken herself...
3 - Awake in Seventh Heaven
Back in isolation, and Campari is still running the show - but is his
manipulation of Jing & Kir happening in reality or in their dreams?
Seems it's the latter, as the world outside their cell has suddenly
become a giant funfair. Once again it falls to Benedictine to be their
guide through unreality, all the while pursued by a man of two halves.
Will they ever find their way back to the real world & out of
Seventh Heaven?
And I thought the Jing TV series was surreal. The OVA takes
the strangeness of the TV series, cranks it up a few notches, and
allows the creators' imagination to really get carried away. There's
also very little in the way of story here, with most of the effort
apparently being put into ways to confuse the viewer.
In short, Jing is after the most valuable of Campari's dreamstones,
and Campari is determined to use any trick in the book to protect his
valuables. His use of the stones to confuse, mislead, trick &
divert Jing make up the 'story', with Benedictine being the key to
solving the mystery.
While OVA production values make this the best-looking Jing
outing, I couldn't help but feel that it tried too hard to be surreal,
and just ended up leaving me scratching my head & wondering what
I'd just watched. The TV series always had a certain level of the
'unusual' about it, but never to the point where it made things hard to
follow - the OVA tries to push the envelope, and doesn't quite succeed.
That said, I'm a completist, and there are parts here that are well
worth watching - the second episode dealing with Kir's introduction is
especially good. Overall, it's worth getting if you enjoyed the TV
series, but if you haven't seen any of Jing before, this is not the place to start. |
