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Most anime series can be neatly categorized into some kind of cliche-ridden group or another: magical girls, mecha, sports, slice of life, ecchi. "Magical girl" series, for example, will always have prepubescent girls with colorful wands, long transformation sequences and brains the size of a Chinese dumpling. That, my dear kiddies, is "cliche". It causes cancer.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Brigadoon, I am happy to report, does not suffer the cliches usually associated with certain anime categories or genres. It simply doesn't belong to any. In fact, It will quietly defy all attempts at categorization and will summarily step on your face if you attempt it.

Brigadoon Marin ... to Melan's story revolves around Marin Asagi and a giant humanoid monomakia, Melan Blue. Combining fantasy, sci-fi, action, comedy and drama, it's a happy mix of everything every anime genre has to offer, all packed into 26 episodes.

First and foremost, Brigadoon's story is not something you can appreciate by watching the first 5 or 10 episodes and then jumping to the last episode. Despite all the action and the blood and the killing, Brigadoon is, deep down, a love story, brilliant and intricately built over a span of 26 episodes. Marin and Melan's kiss on episode 26 requires the past 25 episodes to explain; save my keyboard the trouble and just watch all of it.

Second, Brigadoon is not for the faint of heart. Most people will be uncomfortable with a romantic pairing between a 13-year old heroine and a much older-looking hero, and may decide not to even give the series a chance. This is a sad mistake. The most intimate thing that ever happened between Marin and Melan in the entire series was a goddamn kiss, and half the time Melan didn't know what a kiss was to begin with. It DOES have fanservice, but the pantyshots were far in-between and mostly for humor. It shouldn't be a hindrance from enjoying an otherwise brilliant series.

Now that we've got that out of the way, on to the review:

STORY: 8/10. Brigadoon's first few episodes makes it look like your run-of-the-mill, monster-of-the-day anime. Thankfully, it changes its mind and the pace picks up after three episodes. When it finally does, Marin's brattiness stops and Melan's slam-bang kick-assery begins.

Melan's "duty" is heavily fueled by events from Brigadoon's past, but the series manages to avoid too much flashbacks by letting Lolo narrate Brigadoon's backstory little by little. However, there are still some confusing points in the series and even as a fan, I found it hard to follow especially at the last few episodes. A more prominent flaw, however, is the deus ex machina ending. I hate this. It's very abrupt, a little too convenient, and leaves so many unanswered questions that I can't help but wonder if the makers originally had a sequel in mind. Explaining the motives of the Hensu-chi alone should take more episodes, considering that this is not the first time Brigadoon and earth almost ended because of the Hensu-chi.

ART: 7/10. The fighting sequels were superb. The action shots are tense and speedy, with no repeated cells to make a one-minute fight last five minutes. The character designs for the monomakias were excellent, notably Melan's and Kushatohn's. However, I've noticed that most people dislike Marin's character design; She's supposed to be 13 but she looks everything under 9. And her feet. I'm pretty sure something's wrong with them...

Anyway, that doesn't bother me. What DOES bother me is how the animation tended to screw up at the worst possible moments. There were a few bad sequences in the Submaton Color episode [which was the best in the series], and it irritates me to no end that Melan's first smile in the entire series was drawn by a retard. I actually have to cover half of the freaking monitor with my hands to make Melan look normal! [Thankfully, Melan smiles radiantly in another scene in the same episode.]

SOUND: 9/10. I found Brigadoon's soundtrack haunting and enjoyable, but I'd admit it's not for everyone. Most tracks were Celtic-themed acapella singing, balanced by bouncy instrumental tracks and a fun closing theme. The acapella rendition of the opening song, "Kaze no Ao, Umi no Midori" is powerful and heart-wrenching. This provides strong contrast to the catchy ending theme, "Nijiiro no Takaramono", sung by the actress who voices Marin herself.

ENGLISH DUBBING: 0/10. Just think of the English dub as parody dub, then forget it exists and watch the subbed version instead. The English dub made several changes in the character's lines, [e.g. Marin never says "Ahaaa~" in the English dub, even though it's her trademark expression in the series] and altered some scenes altogether [Melan and Marin's kiss in Episode 15 seemed to have NEVER happened in the English dub.]

And Marin. Ahh, let me see... it sounds like a fully grown woman trying to sound like a cute 13-year-old, the kind of voice you hear when you dream of little girls asking if you want to play, and when you turn around you see them holding knives dripping with blood, and when they raise it in the air you wake up in the middle of the night screaming. I hate it with all my heart.

Tony Oliver's voice is decent enough, but for a killing machine like Melan its too soft and low, like a whisper that's JUST barely audible. Somewhat like a commentator for a golf show. I don't know, but when Melan gets into a huge catfight involving guns and swords and his voice suddenly reminds me of golf, it kinda ruins the moment.

But more importantly, it's not worth missing out on Melan's Japanese voice. It's emotionless and solid, with a metallic twinge that fits his alien character unquestionably. It constantly reminds you that Melan is a huge bulk of steel and alien flesh you shouldn't mess with. Unless he's talking to Marin, he's ALWAYS unimpressed.I... it's just... perfect. I want to go on, but I can't think of any other words to describe it.

CHARACTER: 9/10. Though it has more than a dozen characters and only 26 episodes, Brigadoon manages to provide enough 'camera time' for most of them. Not enough time for character development per se, but enough for the viewer to grow familiar with and develop empathy towards them. There's Uncle Onando, who never says anything and just keeps throwing peace signs whenever he's onscreen. But I like him, and I don't know why.

ENJOYMENT: 10/10. I've watched the series over three times already, and although I am aware of the series' flaws, it has not stopped me from enjoying it. It's a pretty obscure anime and it's a pity people have not enjoyed it simply because they don't know the series exists. Highly recommended.