Master Mosquiton '99

This is a anime from about 10 years ago, so give it a bit of leverage here.

Story:

The story is a re-imagining of the OVA, it places the characters in different places, in different times with slightly different personality changes. It starts with the greedy Inaho and she finds Mosquiton and forces him to make a contract with her. Every episode starts with her looking or searching for a piece of O-part that fits the key she has which is slightly annoying because that was every episode.

EVERY EPISODE, it was fair but it seemed like you could watch a few episodes ... for the light-hearted banter between the Mosquiton & Inaho. It seems the darkness/adult-comedy/romance isn't there anymore, this more of a light-hearted/romance/comedy. Which, even though it IS the same set of characters, the storyline worked a lot better in being a dark comedy rather than a light one.

Some of the character's backstory is different, like Camille. She's not with Mosquiton and Germaine or whatever is his name is isn't just some guy who seemed like the bad guy at the end. I preferred it this way, honestly. Camille in the OVA added something, but her presence here seemed better to me, I don't know.

The ending episodes are the best, I wish they would have spread them out. The Christmas one was especially my favourite because it reminded me so much of how Inaho acted in the OVA and their relationship.

All in all, the story was fair, kind of fun and made you shake your head at Inaho, so I gave it a 6.

Art:

The art was alright for it's day, I believe that because this has been fan-subbed that the quality has been lost on VCRs. A lot of people complain about older anime because of this, but I don't fault the art or animation. I am sad that I couldn't give it a better rating, because the fun use of colour would have been much better and the animation much smoother and less pixelated had there been original dvd releases. So -- 5.

Sound:

Great! They use some of the old OVA music in mixture with some new tunes and some music that makes you feel like "Oh, this is getting good!" I loved the music, I have nothing to complain about! -9

Character:

I believe that in a light-hearted scenario that this is how the characters would act because there was honestly no darkness in this anime. Mosquiton was very light hearted and I see how he became very domesticated during the series. They were all the same basically but with two new characters: Wolf Lady and Frankie.

I liked the character's development here, it's very touching in the ending episodes. Frankie is often funny and I like his persistence. I think they add something to the series.

THE ONLY CHARACTER I DO NOT LIKE is Akito? Inaho's cousin? She is annoying, she acts just like Inaho and she reminds me of Sailor Moon? I don't know, it's just with Inaho being a frustrating ass, Akito comes in and does the same thing. When they are in an episode together, I just skipped one completely because it was just stupid. Even in the end, she was practically useless. There did not need to be a character to try to hog Inaho's spotlight by acting just like her, they show no family ties which makes her appearance more annoying.

Enjoyment: If you like Mosquiton, you'll like this kinda. In my brain, I think of this as a super sequel in my brain where it's a certain way so I don't think of Inaho as the same exact one in 99', because they are different in many ways.

Overall: It's a little better than decent, I found myself almost tearing near the end because I love Inaho/Mosquiton :] I think you would too if you saw the OVA

I was VERY excited to see this anime because of my experience with the OVA.

The OVA, "Master Mosquiton," is one of my favorites. It combines great animation, wonderful music, interesting characters, adult humor, nudity, and an ability to draw you in. It was a light-hearted tale of a vampire (Mosquiton) and his mistress (Inaho).

The series takes all of that, dilutes it and stretches it so thin that you end up feeling like NOTHING happened after 26 episodes! I realize that the sex and adult content was removed so it would be seen by all ages on TV, but it was a mistake to do so: ... Mosquiton was originally an adult dark comedy, and it worked.

[ STORY ]

The story starts very interesting and intriguing but it falls flat after repetitive episodes. The backstory later within the last 5 episodes almost saves the day but ultimately fails to make up for the series earlier shortcomings.

Also, this story is a "re-imagining" from the OVA, which is fine, but it wasn't as strong a choice. ( OVA: 1920s, Mosquiton '99:1999) 6/10

[ ART ]

The animation goes from TERRIBLE to fair and back again within the same scene. So disappointing since "Master Mosquiton" had excellent visuals. 4/10

[ SOUND ]

The music is pretty good. The 1920's big band music that trickled over from the OVA is tops and I very much enjoyed the opening theme and background music. Solid. 7/10

[ CHARACTER ]

Inaho is 100% annoying and vile, which is hard when she's the main character. Don't get me wrong, it's okay that she has many less-than-stellar traits, but she should have at least ONE redeeming quality. Mosquiton is also MUCH more of a wimp and lapdog this time around. He's still an adorable Bishounen (^_^). Yuki and Hoono, the two demons, are one-dimensional but are given more depth when you see their back story in their final episodes. There are also two main characters that are unique to the TV series and not the OVA: Wolf Lady and Frankie. The wolf lady proves to have a great backstory, (She cannot TOUCH a member of the opposite sex without lashing out violently/becoming more "wolf-like") which includes a great deal of heart breaking backstory. Frankie is boring and has no reason to be in this series.

Camille, Mosquiton's first wife, who had a HUGE role in the OVA has no pull in the TV series. In the TV series they never establish her as Mosquiton's ex-wife she's just a henchman. Totally stupid for them to pass up her interesting story.

The characters would be rated much higher, but the only good moments in their arc are their backstories, which only appear very late in the series. 5/10

[ ENJOYMENT ]

The first 20 episodes (give or take the few that stand out) are boring a strung out. When you get to the last 5 or so, your enjoyment goes up immensely. 6/10

[ OVERALL ]

Final verdict? WATCH THE OVA. It is truly fun, unique and interesting. If you have seen the OVA, and you want more Mosquiton goodness, you may want to watch this anime. It will at least give you some Mosquiton to savor. If you are NEW to this franchise, I would say pass the TV series up. You won't have the love of the characters already like I did- that's the only way I got through it. 6/10

Thanks for reading. Hope this gives a good insight as to whether or not to see this show.

~ Musashi