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   anime around.  There are even some good spoofs on just about every type   
   of fan.  Anime, manga, and even action figure collectors are not spared.   
   Stereotypes are used to enhance the humor and not because the writer was   
   lazy.  A space comedy of the best kind.  Available from ADV Films.   
      [Entry by Shawn Granger, edited by Rob Kelk]   
      
      MASTER OF MOSQUITON:  (OVA, 6 episodes)  This dark comedy set in   
   the 1920s follows the adventures of 17 year old girl named Inaho   
   Hitomebore who continues her now two year search for immortality via a   
   device known as the Opar assisted by the vampire (Alucard von   
   Mosquiton) she has awakened and his two elemental servants Honoo   
   (Fire) and Yuki (Ice).  Complicating her search is Gregoria Rasputin   
   who assisted by Mosquiton's old foe Sangermaine want to use the Opar   
   as a weapon against the Star Lords, and former wife Camille Inaho   
   Camilla who just wants Mosquiton.   
      The OVA is full of little references that fans of 30s' and 40s'   
   horror fans will quickly get (for example Alucard is one of the alias   
   often used by Dracula in films of the period)  The OVA inspired a TV   
   series called MOSQUITON '99 which is set in 1999 and has Inaho after   
   the Opar for monetary gain rather than immortality.   
      The OVA series is available from ADV Films.   
      [Entry by Bruce Grubb]   
      
      MATANTEI LOKI RAGNAROK:  The Enjaku Detective Agency is run by the   
   child-like Loki and his mail-order obsessed servant Yamino - together   
   with the mystery fanatic Mayura Daidouji they solve any paranormal crime   
   they come across.  However, Loki is not what he seems - banished by   
   Odin, Lord of the Gods, to Earth in a childlike form, he is hunted down   
   by his fellow Norse gods, from the maniacal Heimdall to the idiotic   
   Freyr.   
      MATANTEI LOKI (or MaLoki) is an odd blend of random slapstick humour   
   and occasionally dark drama, which never quite gels together.  The   
   episodes (which usually follow a "mystery of the week" format) are   
   frequently very repetitive, although often pretty funny, highlights   
   including an Iron Chef parody and most of Freyr's antics (he rides   
   around on a mechanical pig, Gullinbursti, attempting to woo Mayura on a   
   regular basis).  The show is at its best in its dramatic moments,   
   however, particularly the action-packed confrontations between Loki and   
   the other gods.  Perhaps best described as DETECTIVE CONAN crossed with   
   a magical girl show (Loki summons his magical staff or casts a spell   
   with stock footage in most episodes).   
      MaLoki is licensed by ADV Films for a Region 1 release - the manga is   
   already available from them, but only the second season (the "Ragnarok"   
   season) - ADV were unable to license the preceding 8 volumes, and as   
   such the manga in US release is fairly incoherent.   
      [Entry by Andrew Hollingbury]   
      
      MEGAZONE 23:  MEGAZONE TWO THREE is a three part mecha anime OAV   
   series (with some cyberpunk overtones).  Part One was one of the first   
   anime OAVs ever, and helped spark the OAV trend (in which movies were   
   made directly for video release, instead of first hitting TV or   
   cinema).  Although the MEGAZONE OAVs are numbered Parts One, Two, and   
   Three, they were actually entirely separate productions, related but   
   released several years apart (like the first STAR WARS trilogy).   
      In Part One (aka just plain MEGAZONE 23), a Tokyo teen named Yahagi   
   Shogo (inexplicably changed to "Johnny Winter" in the Carl Macek dub)   
   comes into possession of a huge red motorcycle called variously the   
   Garland, Garand, or Bahamode depending on what source you listen to,   
   and is chased all over town by the military and government agents who   
   want to get it back for their own nefarious purposes.  In the   
   meantime, there is a war going on with a hostile alien force, and the   
   city of Tokyo is not all that it appears to be...   
      This OAV was redubbed and edited into part of the spectacularly   
   unsuccessful ROBOTECH cinematic movie.   
      Part Two picks up where the first part left off, but with character   
   designs and animation style so dramatically altered that it is   
   difficult to believe they are the same characters.  This OAV follows   
   the decline and final fall of the Tokyo Megazone as an ancient weapon   
   of last resort comes into play.   
      Part Three, the most cyberpunk-influenced, picks up decades or   
   centuries later, with a new generation of rebellious teenagers and new   
   Garland battle bikes piloted by virtual reality.  It seems that mankind   
   did not learn its lesson from the Megazones' past.   
      The third MEGAZONE 23 was not very successful, and no further   
   episodes have been made to date.   
      [Entry by Chris Meadows]   
      
      MELLOWLINK:  See the entry for VOTOMS.   
      
      MERMAID FOREST and MERMAID SCAR:  Horror stories released in Japan   
   as part of the "Rumik World" series by Rumiko Takahashi.  Most people   
   who eat the flesh of a mermaid die.  The unlucky ones live forever,   
   most becoming horrendously malformed in the process of gaining   
   immortality.  Two people were lucky enough to gain immortality without   
   being changed.  Now they wander through Japan, searching for others   
   who might eat the flesh of a mermaid...   
      USMC and Viz have released the OAVs, and Viz has collected the   
   translated manga into three volumes.   
      [Entry by Rob Kelk]   
      
      METAL ANGEL MARIE:  see MY DEAR MARIE   
      
      MIAMI GUNS:  In a city that barely resembles a particular metropolis   
   in the USA, police officers Yao Sakurakoji and Lu Amano work to keep the   
   peace.  Too bad Yao's no good at the job, except for the gunfights and   
   car chases, but that's okay - she's rich!   
      MIAMI GUNS is very much in the EXCEL SAGA style of comedy, but not   
   nearly so manic or profane; it's safe to show this title to people in   
   their mid-teens (but not to younger folks).  They parody practically   
   everything, including but not limited to 2001, FRIDAY THE 13TH, DIE   
   HARD, INITIAL D, NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, COWBOY BEBOP, professional   
   wrestling, beauty pageants, and themselves, so there's something for   
   practically everyone to enjoy.   
      13 episodes, released on 4 DVDs in North America by AN Entertainment.   
      [Entry by Rob Kelk]   
      
      MIGHTY ATOM:  see ASTRO BOY   
      
      MOBILE BATTLESHIP NADESICO:  see MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO   
      
      MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM:  see GUNDAM   
      
      MOLDIVER:  He has an overdeveloped Sense Of Right And Wrong, an   
   incredible brain, and not much else to recommend him.  So he invents a   
   superhero suit!  Too bad his sister found out and accidentally changed   
   the design...  Now they share the identity of "Moldiver" (although she   
   gets to use it more often than he does) in battle against their   
   arch-enemy - but is the arch-enemy evil, or just misunderstood?   
   Starts as a comedy, but becomes more serious near the end.  A six-OAV   
   series available from Geneon.   
      [Entry by Rob Kelk]   
      
      MONONOKE-HIME: see PRINCESS MONONOKE   
      
      MONSTER RANCHER:  Another POKEMON-motivated "monster" kids show.   
   Energetic young kid Genki is transported to a world populated by   
   humans and intelligent monsters, where he joins Holly, a young girl   
   with a mysterious pendant, and a small band of monsters on their quest   
   to stop Mu by finding the Phoenix, the only monster capable of   
   fighting him.   
      English dubbed episodes televised, and available on video from ADV.   
      [Entry by "Royal Orange"]   
      
      MOSQUITON:  see MASTER OF MOSQUITON   
      
      MS TEAM 08:  see GUNDAM   
      
      MY DEAR MARIE (a.k.a. METAL ANGEL MARIE):  Brilliant, nerdy Hiroshi   
   creates an android replica of his dream girl, but finds things a   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)