Theme Mini-Spotlight: Thief Double Feature!
It's a double-header this time! These are two themes with a lot of similarities, probably because the second one was heavily influenced by the first. What are they? They are THIEVES. But heroic thieves! Who fight evil! Through thievery! On behalf of God! (No, really.)
Saint Tail: Meimi Haneoka lives a double life. By day, she's an ordinary girl at a Catholic school, the daughter of a stage magician. By night, she's the infamous thief Saint Tail, a burglar whose face no one has ever seen, not even the cops! Saint Tail isn't greedy, however; quite the opposite. She hears from her best friend Seira, a nun-in-training, about poor lost souls who have had their dearest possessions taken from them in ways the police can't help. Sometimes it takes someone outside the law to solve these problems, and that's what Saint Tail does, stealing from lawful thieves and giving to the deserving. Too bad she can't explain this to the police, especially not her classmate, young detective-wannabe Conan Asuka Jr.
This is a fairly low-magic theme, but it is a genuine magical girl show. Saint Tail is agile, sneaky and a master of stage magic, which has helped her elude capture for a long time. Hard to spot her on a security camera when all you can see is balloons and ribbons. Saint Tail is the young, female Catwoman to Asuka Jr.'s mini-Batman, or perhaps the Lupin to his Zenigata?!
It's an older series as you can probably tell from the opening, and completely lightweight, but it sure is fun. But say you want something a little more contemporary, and more plot-heavy? Have I got a theme for you!
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne: Maron Kusakabe is an independent teenage girl who lives on her own due to a rough family situation. She's cool-headed and confident, or at least she doesn't let others see her moments of vulnerability. She is also on a mission from God, given to her by the tiny, cheerful angel Finn Fish. As the actual reincarnation of Jeanne D'arc, (yes, I know Catholicism does not work that way,) she has the power to turn into a magical girl thief known only as Jeanne.
Jeanne's duty is to find artifacts, pieces of art and other valuables which have been possessed by demons and exorcise them, which unfortunately causes the object in question to disappear. As a result, she has a reputation as a fearsome thief who has never been thought and whose heists have never been stopped. Jeanne relishes the chase; in fact, she notifies the cops of just when she'll be showing up through signed notecards, just so she'll have more of a challenge. She's incredibly agile and skilled with a ribbon. Unfortunately, life is about to get a lot more complicated for her; not only is Maron's best friend determined to catch Jeanne, but a rival with a black-winged angel friend has shown up. His name is Kaitou Sinbad, and she doesn't trust him one bit, even if he IS cute.
If that sounds pretty complex, I haven't even started going into the family drama, love polygons, past life enemies, Heavenly politics, dramatic betrayals, plot twists and sacrifices involved in the manga. And here I interject with personal opinion: I would very strongly recommend reading the manga over watching the anime, even if you aren't thinking of apping from the theme. The anime is alright, but it's full of filler and omits a lot of the manga's plot. The manga is one of my all-time favorites; it's fun, cute, tense and dramatic, and Arina Tanemura's art is lovely. It's right here. A little word of warning: Tanemura will tear your heart out. She always does.
Just wait until I spotlight Full Moon o Sagashite.
Saint Tail: Meimi Haneoka lives a double life. By day, she's an ordinary girl at a Catholic school, the daughter of a stage magician. By night, she's the infamous thief Saint Tail, a burglar whose face no one has ever seen, not even the cops! Saint Tail isn't greedy, however; quite the opposite. She hears from her best friend Seira, a nun-in-training, about poor lost souls who have had their dearest possessions taken from them in ways the police can't help. Sometimes it takes someone outside the law to solve these problems, and that's what Saint Tail does, stealing from lawful thieves and giving to the deserving. Too bad she can't explain this to the police, especially not her classmate, young detective-wannabe Conan Asuka Jr.
This is a fairly low-magic theme, but it is a genuine magical girl show. Saint Tail is agile, sneaky and a master of stage magic, which has helped her elude capture for a long time. Hard to spot her on a security camera when all you can see is balloons and ribbons. Saint Tail is the young, female Catwoman to Asuka Jr.'s mini-Batman, or perhaps the Lupin to his Zenigata?!
It's an older series as you can probably tell from the opening, and completely lightweight, but it sure is fun. But say you want something a little more contemporary, and more plot-heavy? Have I got a theme for you!
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne: Maron Kusakabe is an independent teenage girl who lives on her own due to a rough family situation. She's cool-headed and confident, or at least she doesn't let others see her moments of vulnerability. She is also on a mission from God, given to her by the tiny, cheerful angel Finn Fish. As the actual reincarnation of Jeanne D'arc, (yes, I know Catholicism does not work that way,) she has the power to turn into a magical girl thief known only as Jeanne.
Jeanne's duty is to find artifacts, pieces of art and other valuables which have been possessed by demons and exorcise them, which unfortunately causes the object in question to disappear. As a result, she has a reputation as a fearsome thief who has never been thought and whose heists have never been stopped. Jeanne relishes the chase; in fact, she notifies the cops of just when she'll be showing up through signed notecards, just so she'll have more of a challenge. She's incredibly agile and skilled with a ribbon. Unfortunately, life is about to get a lot more complicated for her; not only is Maron's best friend determined to catch Jeanne, but a rival with a black-winged angel friend has shown up. His name is Kaitou Sinbad, and she doesn't trust him one bit, even if he IS cute.
If that sounds pretty complex, I haven't even started going into the family drama, love polygons, past life enemies, Heavenly politics, dramatic betrayals, plot twists and sacrifices involved in the manga. And here I interject with personal opinion: I would very strongly recommend reading the manga over watching the anime, even if you aren't thinking of apping from the theme. The anime is alright, but it's full of filler and omits a lot of the manga's plot. The manga is one of my all-time favorites; it's fun, cute, tense and dramatic, and Arina Tanemura's art is lovely. It's right here. A little word of warning: Tanemura will tear your heart out. She always does.
Just wait until I spotlight Full Moon o Sagashite.