(6 episodes)
What’s it about ?
Leiji Matsumoto does Dune. Well, kinda.
Characters
Maya, a princess in distress on the run from a generic army of bad guys. Whatever this is all about, she’s not telling yet. (Not that she gets much of a chance, what with getting interrupted all the time.)
Sam Coin, our teenage protagonist, who was originally out to fish for some Ozma (basically, giant sandworms) until he stumbled onto Maya’s chase scene ; he takes advantage of the confusion of an Ozma appearance to rescue Maya and bring her back to his home.
Said home is some sort of vaguely pirate-like sand-ship (that can burrow underground if needed). There are scores of minor characters in the crew, with the most noteworthy being Mimei, Sam’s not-girlfriend (who’s obviously terribly jealous around the new chick) and the Captain, a charismatic and cool-looking woman (until you realize she’s just zoned out).
Oh, and the army of bad guys is led by a Cyclops lookalike who’s obviously important, given his distinctive character design. (Not that they actually do much evil yet ; maybe it’s all a misunderstanding ?)
Production Values
Pretty good on the action side, although the CG elements are a bit too obvious to my liking.
Leiji Matsumoto’s hand in the designs is unmistakable : there are four noteworthy female characters, and they all have the same face ! (It’s all the more grating because some random male members of the crew get very distinctive designs.)
Overall Impression
I’m still not sure what to make of this. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it (my above very minor quibbles aside), it’s got enough energy to carry itself over… But, well, it’s more than a bit on the generic side.
Still, it’s only 6 episodes, and it’s perfectly inoffensive ; I could see myself sticking with it till its end.
