Back to Hirudan's Profile Hirudan's Profile

By the time you've given this OVA the three episode test, you've already finished it, so why not try it? This one's fun for what it is -- a brief, style-over-substance genre-blender that doesn't overstay its welcome.

Chou Kousoku Gran Doll's charm is in its presentation; it exudes 90s charm on multiple levels from its catchy ED "Sotto chikau shunkan -toki-" to its character designs (both the mecha and the everyday stylings) to its noteworthy leading seiyuu known for their work in 90s standouts like Evangelion and Cardcaptor Sakura. In which vein, its fusion of mecha tropes with magical girl tropes is enjoyable, though not unique ... to this show.

Interestingly, the show goes deeper than just the 3-episode OVA -- there was also a Japan-only PS1 game with Mega Man-style gameplay released based on the show with extensive FMV animations, voice acting, and expansions on the show's universe.

The story is nothing to write home about, but it's about what you'd expect for a show with only three episodes to establish and conclude a plot. It has its share of goofy moments that keep it consistently entertaining, and the character of Sigil especially suggests a greater depth than the show has time to explore.

Overall, this OVA was a fascinating time capsule of a different era in anime production, a one-entry "franchise" that received more investment than might have been expected, but not enough to gain much of a following or follow-up. I'd imagine there are dozens of OVAs like it out there from the same era, but I'm glad I found this one. If you give it a try, maybe you will be too.

Since many of the reviews for these shorts bring a railing judgment against them, I thought I'd offer a modest defense for them and why they aren't (completely) terrible.

Ultimately, I evaluate any anime series, including chibi short spinoffs like this one, based on how well it meets the objective that it sets for itself. The main Sword Art series attempts to tell a sweeping story about how players hold on to their humanity in a virtual world, and while we can debate the efficacy of its attempt to meet that objective, Sword Art Offline sets no such lofty goal for itself and thus shouldn't ... be held to the same kind of standard.

This series is, in every sense, bonus material: it's meant simply to offer a few laughs and smiles to fans of the series who have already watched all there is to see, but want to see more of their favorite characters. So, painting with broad brush strokes, this miniseries gives us just that: a series of comedy sketches featuring most of the prominent SAO cast members, the humor of which is primarily slapstick, but for what it is, that sort of approach *works*. Is it high-quality entertainment? Perhaps not, but it's certainly good for a few laughs, and some of the visual gags are indeed pretty funny. The show maintains a decent sense of comedic timing, and for what it may lack in subtlety, it delivers in exuberance.

If you enjoy hearing seiyuu clowning around a bit, you'll probably enjoy this series. It's the kind of show you probably have to be in the right mood to enjoy, and for better or for worse, I found myself laughing my head off at it, even though I knew that the humor wasn't particularly well-developed. The humor may get a bit stale if you watch everything in one sitting, so perhaps try breaking it up and watching an episode or two during a lunch break when you need a quick anime pick-me-up. Overall, if you come in without too many expectations, I think you'll find this eager-to-please miniseries entertaining. If you find it's not your thing, well, that's what the "dropped" category is for on our lists.

Oh, and the episode in which Heathcliff is a guest contains some foreshadowing for the Ordinal Scale movie. That combined with the trivia sections is probably the only plot-relevant reason to watch this series. Most of it is just for fun.