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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   
      
      MEITANTEI CONAN (a.k.a. DETECTIVE CONAN or CASE CLOSED):  Since early   
   1996, Japanese families in great numbers have been tuning their TVs at   
   7:30 PM on Monday nights to watch a tiny, bespectacled detective solve   
   mysteries in a classical detective story manner.  No matter if you call   
   the show MEITANTEI CONAN, DETECTIVE CONAN, or CASE CLOSED; if you like   
   mysteries of all sorts, but in particular enjoy mysteries revolving   
   around crimes of greed or passion, Edogawa Conan is your "man" of the   
   hour.   
      Brilliant seventeen-year-old rich kid Kudou Shinichi ("Jimmy Kudo" in   
   the dub) is learning to enjoy his fame as a "great detective" as he   
   solves crimes that adult detectives can't solve.  But fate takes a hand   
   in his life as Shinichi runs into more than he can handle one night   
   while he is spying on a mysterious gang.  Shinichi is surprised, knocked   
   out and given a special poison that causes his body to "de-age" to that   
   of a 7 year old boy. With his faculties still intact but his body now   
   that of a small child, Shinichi has to try to hide the knowledge of his   
   survival from that gang in order to protect his family and friends, and   
   takes on the guise of a not-so-ordinary grade school kid, Edogawa Conan.   
      Without revealing his secret, "Conan" convinces his former   
   girlfriend, Mouri Ran ("Rachel Moore" in the dub), to take him in to   
   live with her and her father, the not-very-successful private detective   
   Mouri Kogorou ("Richard Moore").  Armed with some high-tech help from   
   his inventor friend Dr. Agasa, Conan is able to continue his passion for   
   detective work by enabling Kogorou to unknowingly get the credit and   
   fame for solving tough crimes and mysteries that Conan actually solves,   
   all the while hiding the secret of Shinichi/Conan from all but a few   
   people.   
      Over the years MEITANTEI CONAN has been able to maintain its appeal   
   and freshness by having stories that are firmly grounded in the heart of   
   the traditional detective mystery genre by developing a strong cast of   
   characters who all add balance to the show, and by having an ability to   
   alternate smoothly between episodes that are aimed at the youngest   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)