Risky Safety

Ever feel broke, but you just keep finding things to spend money on? I haven't put myself in the poor house just yet, but boy am I tempted. A few recent baseless wants:

• Lately I've been craving all three sets of this out-of-print series: Not available anywhere, might be available, probably available.
  
• I will never be able to justify buying The Complete Glenn Gould, but boy do I want it.
• My skincare line of choice has way too many non-basic items that I want. Maybe next paycheck?
• I could probably afford this 1980's collection, but I need to stop 20-30 dollaring myself to death. Q: Will I ever be able to afford both sets of the 1963 collection? A: No.

Speaking of 20-30 dollaring myself to death, I did put down a moderate sum of money last month at Right Stuf, and picked up the entire series of Omishi Magical Theater! Risky Safety on high recommendation. The 3-disc set, originally $90 for 24 10 min episodes, is about to go out of print and has been reduced to $14 for the entire thing. I'm totally about to full on review this sucker, so bunker down.

This show is about Risky, an apprentice shinigami (angel of death), and Safety the apprentice angel. The twist: they share the same body. Risky appears where there are enough negative feelings around her, and Safety when there's joy, goodness, etc. This could lead to a lot of drama, but it turns out both are pretty mediocre at their jobs. Overzealous Risky is definitely the more resourceful of the two, but Safety usually manages to get better results from sheer good nature. The two come across Moe, a jr. high girl in a fit of depression, one aiming to steal her soul and the other to encourage her not to give up hope.

To avoid mis-representing Risky Safety, let me just frankly say that this is not the kind of show where big, dramatic things happen. The two title characters influence their surroundings, but episodes are generally about things like misunderstandings with boys, resentment among friends, and dogs: a Holy war this is not. But these are only apprentices after all, and the show's small-scale nature turns out to be rather charming. The final story arc is certainly the most dramatic part of the series, but the consequences involved are still limited to a handful of people. This is pretty far removed from the earth-cleaving drama of Clamp's X (which I never really got that into), though some of the elements are the same (we do get a few episodes involving dragons of heaven and hell).

Because the show's time frame is so short, it doesn't attempt to go into depth about much. Weird things that happen just happen - this series contains barely any exposition at all. In some ways this is a relief - the hierarchy of Hell isn't really necessary information when Risky is running around being evilly cute. On the other, at times the fact that you're only skimming the surface makes it a little difficult to really get into the show. I liked the series, but there weren't many moments where I felt real drama or anxiety for what was on screen. I can't even imagine watching this show with my group of friends. I watched most of the first disc a few years ago at some sort of gathering - by the end of episode two I'm pretty sure I was the only one still paying (moderate) attention. It's mildly a comedy and mildly a drama, but overall It's something you'd watch when everyone involved is in a really mellow mood.

That's not to say the show didn't have an impact. It's a series with a considerable aftertaste. Remembering the episodes now I feel very fondly of each mini-plot line and of the characters. It's a unique twist on the shoulder angel/devil motif that admittedly isn't anything grand in and of itself, but that doesn't mean it isn't anything special.

Visually the show is very appealing. Packaging is beautiful, and translation notes are extensive and a really nice touch. The audio has some good moments, but nothing super noticeable. The voices need to be mentioned here though. I began watching the series dubbed. I'm generally a fan of dubbed anime, but I have to admit that the whole thing is a lot easier to swallow subbed. The overall pacing of the show is fairly slow, and the english voices are presented in a very high pitched cutesy manner. For some reason I'm not sure of, this made the slow pacing more noticeable. About halfway through the series I switched to Japanese, and things immediately felt more engaging. Not the say the english voices aren't good - Risky's voice in particular is very fun in the dub, but overall I recommend the original Japanese for this one.

You can actually check out the first episode over at the official website, both subbed or dubbed. It's short and free, and Risky breaks a lot of stuff. Make sure to watch the preview(s) to see part of Safety's angel dance. :)

In short, was the series worth $90? Heavens to Betsy, no. That prices makes this niche title even less accessible. Is the series worth $14? Probably, if you like cute things, short things, and non-action centered things. It's actually gotten it's fair share of really positive reviews. I can't say my opinion is quite as glowing, but I am glad I got it and watched it all the way through.