"I'm Sam Coin, I'm here to rescue you!"
While watching Ozuma E1, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was watching Saturday morning cartoons. Which in no way is a bad thing. When you become an old bastard like me, there’s nothing better than some solid reminiscing. I’m watching and reviewing this mostly because of its science fiction premise.
Worst. Title Screen. Ever.
The story is pretty simple, or at least the set up is–Ozuma is set in the future where the sun has gone haywire. The entire planet is covered in sand. It’s the perfect environment for the first ever beach volleyball anime. We’re introduced to the protagonist, Sam Coin, early as we see him riding across the sand on his land speeder. He comes across a blue haired chick, Maya being chased by some military people, including a guy with a mask. He could have been wearing a full helmet I suppose, but then we’d miss out on his cool anime hair.
During the high-speed hover chase, a giant f’n sand monster shoots out of the sand, which Sam uses as a diversion to save his new blue-haired lady friend. We learn that the sandy-haired lead wants to catch the sand whale called Ozuma. Good luck with that kid. The two head back Oaze Port, a town with some rice paddies and wind turbines.
Captain Bainasu. She made the Oaze run in less than twelve parsecs.
We’re also introduced to some of the characters revolving around Sam–such as the alcoholic doctor and Mimay, the bitchy love interest. The military shows up to reclaim Maya, now revealed to be of some importance. Her new friends help her out when the badass captain orders their ship submerged beneath the sand. That was a pretty cool exit.
Ok, well the first thing I thought was that this is obviously a Dune inspired world, or perhaps just elements of Dune. If you’re gonna’ borrow ideas, why not from classic science fiction? The world itself seems interesting, and alone could warrant a download of episode two. A port town on the edge of the desert is pretty neat. The contrast in technology seems a bit off and I was dismayed by all the laser guns. I don’t know why though, I like lasers.
Like I mentioned in the opening, this does feel like an old school cartoon. The characters look somewhat diverse and their design surely retro, if not a bit childish looking. Characters have noses.
Crew--Pretty indicative of the retro character design.
The background music also adds a bit to the retro feeling, with a fun adventurous quality. The opening and endings are pretty standard. While the world is interesting, the characters seem pretty simple. Besides playing some beach volleyball, I kind of wish there would be sand pirates. Perhaps in one episode they drop their cargo with the first sign of a Theseus cruiser.
Captain Bainasu is my early favorite. I didn’t dislike this episode enough to completely wipe its existence from my mind, but I don’t have any hopes for it either.
I’ll try to throw in more Star Wars references in the episode 2′s review.