Anime: Mahoujin Guru Guru

This series is quite an interesting one. Being a pure parody of early versions of role-playing games out there, I don't see how the six categories would reflect the value of this series, although I will try:

# Animation 7/10

Do not expect much quality from this 1994 television anime compared to that of the 21st century. However, the character design closer to "chibi", as adopted directly from the original manga, is cute and spirited, showing the borderline between today's vision of cuteness and the older vision of one. Not much details in the background and drawn completely two-dimensional, but it is unnecessary, as this story is set in a RPG world, not a real one. The animation is surprisingly good at recreating the RPG world on screen (take the captions and steady movements, for example) that makes animation serve its purpose well. Overall good.

# Sound 7/10

The opening and closing themes get across the atmosphere of "high-spirited adventure" quite well. Background music are simple and again made to resemble that of early RPGs, appropriate in most places. The narrator is humorous, and Nike and Kukuri's voice actors are at their best. Don't forget the Kita Kita old man. Overall good.

# Story and Character 6/10

There cannot be much of a clever story here because it is recreation of an archetypal RPG. To not give out a 2, instead I would rate the series based on the flow and cleverness for which it proves decent. They are certainly not sophiscated but as a kids' watch the humor is excellent; this adds to the enjoyment factor. The series nevertheless falls short on the characters, as they largely take formulaic actions in their one-dimensional personalities that the creators could have improved on. No much background is there to be explained because we all know what RPGs are like. Decent overall.

# Value 9/10
Concerning the value of this series: this is a must watch if (1) you play/have played RPGS or (2) you often look into pardodies of anime. It is often parodied on the web as well as the model for most chibi characters. The series is rewatchable since the story arcs are quite plain and the focus is on the humor.

# Enjoyment 8/10
This is a personal rating.