Mahou Shoujo Pretty Sammy (OAV)

Title:Mahou Shoujo Pretty Sammy (OAV)
Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (OVA)
Pretty Sami (OAV)
Pretty Sammy OAV
Pretty Sammy, the Magical Girl
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , , , , ,
Notables: AMANO Yuri
HAYASHI Hiroki
OBAYASHI Ryunosuke
ORIKASA Ai
YOKOYAMA Chisa
Sasami Kawai is a cheerful 4th grader, who one day runs an errand for her mom only to meet a lady named Tsunami. She claims that she is from the Magical Kingdom of Juraihelm, and that she needs Sasami's help to make the Earth a better place with magic. Thus Pretty Sammy is born, and just in time too because another magical girl named Pixy Misa suddenly appears, which makes Sasami's new job even more difficult. Not to mention that Sasami's brother Tenchi seems to get himself into trouble all the time. Can Pretty Sammy make the world a better place or at least save Tenchi from love-love monsters?
[3 OAV episodes.]
[edit] The ↗Tenchi Muyou! franchise (original and still ongoing):

"↗Kajishima original canon" stories: Note: The GXP anime series is trumped by the novels from series creator KAJISHIMA Masaki. The canon GXP novels confirm that "Dual!" is set billions of years ago and why some of the characters are reincarnated in OVA 5. The "Paradise Wars" novels are included in the canon, which are also referenced in Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki OVA 5.

"↗Hasegawa canon" stories: Note: The full Hasegawa spinoff continuity is captured in novel form.

"↗Negishi canon" stories: Non-canon Tenchi remake: Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (spin-off): Sasami (spin-off): Ai Tenchi Muyo (spin-off):
Episode Details 
1, 2, 3
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 8 7 8 6 5 6 Ggultra2764 [series:224#1552]
I had been wanting to get a peek at this OVA series for quite a while considering I've heard of the Pretty Sammy titles of the Tenchi Muyo franchise being a parody of the mahou shoujo genre. The comedy for this was a bit hit-or-miss for me as I did have fun with Ayeka and Ryoko being made into squabbling schoolgirls for Tenchi's affections in this set, Washu being a genius computer hacker and the second episode having a Bill Gates knockoff being the major baddie for Sasami to deal with while characters like Sasami and Tenchi's mother, Pixy Misa and Ramia were more obnoxious with their antics than funny. Beyond that, the plot to the series isn't much to get excited over as the Pretty Sammy OVA resorts to being episodic with its developments and mostly sticks with the typical elements one would find within mahou shoujo anime. The animation used with this anime is on par with what you would find with the first two Tenchi Muyo OVAs, but sporting brighter color tones. Beyond that, not much else for me to say. Considering I also own Magical Project S in my growing Rainy Day Pile, I guess I'll be getting to it at some point to see how that fares as well.

Last updated Friday, November 02 2012. Created Friday, November 02 2012.
Rent Stretch [series:224#628]
Long before I watched all three of these OVAs I had seen the Mihoshi Special (in which Pretty Sammy makes her first appearance), OVA 2 (which, of course, fits in the middle), and Magical Project S, a 26 episode TV series which was made afterwards. Having finally watched all three OVAs, it becomes obvious that they fit like pieces of a puzzle and the evolution of Pretty Sammy becomes crystal clear. All sorts of jokes which I had thought were created during Magical Project S are already present here. Still, there's enough difference between these OVAs and the TV series for each to be watched without spoiling each other. The music is fun, character designs seem a little less refined than they would be in MPS, Sammy's final incarnation. I was surprised how much I enjoyed episode one, since I'd heard it wasn't all that great. Also surprising was that episode two, which is supposed to be the best, seemed distinctly less enjoyable, perhaps because I'd already seen it long ago. Episode three was rather action oriented, which was yet another surprise. Unlike MPS, there is no resolution of the conflict between Sammy and Pixy Misa--perhaps it was decided to forgo any more OVAs and move on to the TV series.

For a long time I had only seen episode two (in dubbed form), which seemed lucky for me since by all accounts it was the most popular one. One of the first things I noticed, after the introductory sequence, was how crisp, sharply focused and colorful the animation frames were--very nice. Chihiro's karaoke obsession seemed more pathetic than amusing to me, but otherwise I found the show's humor to be agreeable and fairly sophisticated. Sometimes Sasami/Pretty Sammy would use words and expressions which you would never expect to hear while watching Anime--like "Mom's gonna have a cow!" (somehow that one just came out of left field and cracked me up). There were a number of computer jokes, since the plot revolves around computer magnate Biff Standard and his attempt to "standardize" the world. The problem is, he may have to destroy the world in order to standardize it. Still, the show's charm comes from a lack of violence and the humorous depiction of just such a global crisis as a little girl might imagine it. Sammy employs her "pretty face" attack (her sheer cuteness dazzles even robots), and Biff responds by luring her into his "tickle trap". Having yet to see either the first Pretty Sammy episode or MPS, I was surprised when Ryo-ohki started talking, and didn't quite understand what sort of power struggle was going on back on the planet Jurai, but that didn't keep me from thoroughly enjoying this particular episode. Having finally seen the others as well, I'd rate these as definite Buys for Tenchi Muyo/Pretty Sammy afficionados, and Rents for anybody else.

7/03 #43

Last updated Saturday, March 01 2008. Created Saturday, July 19 2003.
Rent 8 8 7 6 4 6 AstroNerdBoy [series:224#436]
This series takes the characters of the Tenchi Muyo! OAV series and puts them into new but familar roles. Sasami and Tenchi are brother and sister who's mother has replaced Mihoshi as the most annoying character in any of the Tenchi titles I've seen to date. Speaking of Mihoshi, she and Kiyone work at the CD store owned by Sasami's and Tenchi's mother. Washu is a science teacher at the local high school as well as a scientist. Finally, Ryoko is the school tough-girl while Ayeka is the spoiled rich girl. Both still love Tenchi and provide some of the series funniest moments when they duke it out.

As far as the story goes, it's boring and uninteresting. Suffice to say, Tsunami is the lead canidate for Queen of Jurai and has chosen Sasami as her magic girl rep on Earth to fight evil. Tsunami's rival on Jurai has her own magic girl on Earth named Misa. She seems to enjoy injecting English phrases into her sentences which is weird but funny. It's a parody of the magic girl series like Sailor Moon, so if you are well versed in that genre, you will find this funnier. Be warned though -- sweet Sasami will be COMPLETELY NUDE for her change scenes.

As I mentioned before, the fights between Ryoko and Ayeka were the most entertaining. At only three episodes, there's not much time to do anything major, but episode two is the standout episode. Microsoft and Bill Gates are parodied here which was pretty funny. Washu's computer looks very much like a MAC as does the computer Tenchi's mom buys. Heh!heh!

Bottom line: lovers of parodies who are versed in the magic girl genre will enjoy this. Tenchi fans who have got to have it all will want to buy this. For everyone else, it was worth a rent.

Last updated Tuesday, March 23 2004. Created Wednesday, May 07 2003.
Watch 10 10 7 5 5 7 Joseph Owens [series:224#127]
You will either like Pretty Samy or hate her; I'm closer to the hate part. This series is basically a little Tenchi Muyo and a little Sailor Moon put together. However it is funny to watch how they recasted the characters from Tenchi Muyo into this series. Even though I don't much care for this series, I would tell you to watch the 2nd episode, especial if you are someone that thinks Microsoft is taking over the world.

Last updated Wednesday, January 24 2001. Created Wednesday, January 24 2001.
Rent 10 10 8 5 5 8 Mark Clifton [series:224#126]
Series was created originally as a spoof to the magical girl series that were out on Japanese TV at the time. Originally a spin-off from the Mihoshi Special (from Tenchi Muyo! OVA), it help create it's own TV series spin-off. Fans of Tenchi Muyo! will love this series since it has almost the entire OVA cast.
Worth renting; except for the second episode which is worth buying!

Last updated Tuesday, January 23 2001. Created Monday, January 22 2001.

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