Originally created by Satoshi Urushihara back in March of 1994, and released on DVD by ADV Films (R.I.P.) back on February 5, 2002, Plastic Little: The Adventures of Captain Tita tells the story of Captain Tita Mu Koshigaya. She and her crew make their living aboard the Cha-Cha Maru as pet shop hunters (people who go out, find animal and whatnot, and sell them) in the cloud sea on the planet Letta. Tita does some shopping for her crew in the streets, when a blonde girl by the name of Elysse Aldo Mordish runs into her. Elysse is on the run from the military, and to tell you more would ruin the story. Suffice it to say, running into Elysse triggers a whole chain of events that draw Tita and her crew into perhaps the greatest adventure of their lives.
As usual, I'm gonna list all the positives & negative, but I have a different kind of positive that, to my knowledge, haven't done yet. What new kind of positive, do you ask? Well, just take a look below and see.
Plastic Little's first positive is Satoshi Urushihara. Satoshi is a very legendary artist and illustrator in Japan, having worked of famous titles like Legend of Lemnear, Another Lady Innocent (a very well-done hentai title), and many others. Mr. Urushihara has a very distinct animation style that is easily recognizable (more on that in a little bit), and is known for his use of fan service (Yuri is common among some of the things he's worked on) when it's needed. In short, Satoshi Urushihara is a saint among anime directors.
Another positive of Plastic Little is it's visuals. About the only thing I can say is that this show is f@#$ing gorgeous! The environments look awesome, the animation looks awesome, and the characters look awesome! In particular, the girls (at least the main character girls) look especially awesome. Mr. Urushihara takes careful steps to make his girls look absolutely lovely. When you see one of his female characters naked, you'll never forget the image of their bodies. Trust me when I say that you'll jump at the screen when uncovered breasts appears. Even the eyes are captivating, as their particular shape & size seem to captivate somehow.
Plastic Little's 3rd positive is the voice acting. The english dub is very good, with staple voice actors such as Amanda Winn-Lee, Marcy Rae, and Tiffany Grant breathing life into the characters. It should be noted that most of Tita's crew speak with a Russian accent, despite their Japanese names. Even the one black character has a Russian accent, and I swear to the anime lords above that he's voiced by the guy that did Keitaro Oe in Goldenboy. The only characters (among the good guys) that don't have a Russian accent is Tita, and Elysse, even though she has a British accent.
The 4th positive of Plastic Little is how long it is. At 50 minutes, it's makes for a great viewing with friends one afternoon. Though normally I tend to criticize shorter shows, for some reason this show's length seems to suit it. It even manages to fit the story (more on that later) into it's entire viewing time without leaving many plotholes. I've watched this in one sitting, and I'm sure that most of you will too.
The final positive of Plastic Little is the price. Despite it's availability (more on that in a bit), you don't necessarily have to pay a pretty penny to enjoy this show. New copies range from a little over 6 dollars, and extend into the 20 dollar range. Used copies are much cheaper, as they usually cost from 2 dollars to 5 dollars. Either way, you're making a good purchase, especially if you buy your copy used.
Now that the positive are out of the way, it's time to see what keeps Plastic Little from rising up to become a full-blown anime legend. There are some pretty significant weights on this show, and the first is the story.
Despite this show being a edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that's enhanced with humor & fan service, the story is rather standard. A lot of what will happen can be easily predicted by observant viewers, and the ending is pretty standard as well. Not to disappoint you, but if you were expecting this one thing to happen, you may cry.
Secondly & final, Plastic Little can be kinda hard to find, and this is one of those rare circumstances that may cause you to look somewhere else besides Amazon. That's where I got my copy, so I'll stick with it.
Anyway, I got my copy in a two-for-one package (the other title was Burn Up, which I'll review soon), but individual copies are a little difficult to find. There's 6 new copies of the 2002 version, and only 2 copies of the 2004 remastered edition. Luckily, there are plenty used copies of the 2002 version, and a handful of the 2004 version. Like I said above, the used copies cost anywhere from 2 dollars to 5 dollars, and a purchase won't punch your wallet in the private area.
Plastic Little: The Adventure of Captain Tita gets a 8 out of 10. Satoshi Urushihara wrote & directed this, it looks absolutely stunning, the voice acting is top notch, the length of time makes for a great way to kill a afternoon, and the cost isn't a burden, but the story is rather weak, and finding a copy can be trouble.
I'll see you later this month, when I'll put up a review for Burn Up. Until then, stay Otaku!
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