Pretear

Publisher
US - ADV /UK - ADV
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
13 episodes x 25 minutes
Year
2001

Pretear volume 1

By otaku_kei
4th Nov 04

Magical Girl anime is in all honesty a foreign country to me! Never as a genre has it really interested me, but I took a look at the blurb on the back of box: mystical knights, battles between good and evil, sorcerers and demons, OK I'll give it a try.

OK so here's the set-up : there are two forces in this world the good force or Leafe, and the bad force called, um, Bad Force! Leafe is the power of life and creation whereas the Bad Force as represented by the Princess of Disaster (always evil royalty isn't it? Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Narnia, Elizabeth II - watch out people) feeds upon the Leafe and destroys life. To try to defend this world from the evil are pledged a cadre of mystical warriors - the Leafe Knights. Each of the knights is imbued with an elemental power to combat the encroachment of the demon larvae of the Princess of Disaster.

Aiding the Leafe Knights is the fabled Pretear, a single girl with the ability to amplify the powers of the knights and take on the demons and evil princess in combat.
Enter our heroine of the story: Himeno Awayuki whose father has recently married into a wealthy family and not only has a new stepmother but two 'evil' stepsisters! (hmmm... which fairytale does this remind you of?) Himeno is completely oblivious to her destiny as the Pretear, but the forces of evil are on the move so the Leafe Knights have to find their savior! Cue a series of episodes where Himeno aids the Leafe Knights in containing and eliminating several demons that threaten the world.

Himeno is very tentative at first in these episodes, she wants to help out the Knights but is still unsure of her powers, and inquisitive about her abilities. On top of all that she is also overwhelmed by the revelations of this separate world that exists alongside our own, populated by magical creatures and demons. But she comes across as a weakly developed character. Maybe it's just me but characters who swing from demure, thoughtful through to homicidally deranged just grate on my nerves. Not that the other characters are particularly original. Only a few of the Leafe Knights start to get developed in this volume, the brooding leader of the Knights, and Sasami the philosophical pretty-boy. The other knights also get screen time but mainly as a 'bond with me Pretear, together we will defeat the evil' battle tactic. Hopefully the Knights will be developed miore across the series, and Himeno become hardened by her experiences as the Pretear.

Well the animation is good, if simple. The soundtracks are fine no complaints there. The story is ok, but not gripping. Based on this volume alone I couldn't really recommend this series to anyone. Personally I think a magical fantasy tale about the conflict between mystical good and evil forces could have been accomplished much better. If you're a fan of magical girl anime than this may appeal much more to you than me, but I think unless the second volume radically changes the pace and tone of this series I cannot see it holding anyone's attention across another 3 volumes.

6/10

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English 5.1; Japanese 2.0; textless opening & closing animation; Productions skethes; Behind the Animation with Luci Christian & Illich Guardiola; ADV previews

Release information: 15th March 2004 - OUT NOW

Notes: OK no real complaints with the disc production. The animation is good, as are the audio tracks. The extras are pretty good for a UK release with the behind the scenes sections being quite interesting.

-- otaku_kei 4th Nov 04

Pretear Images