Houma Hunter Lime

Before I begin, I must say that this was an unexpected little gem that I just stumbled across via the recommendation of a small YouTuber, Voice Overwolrd (and yes, that is the correct spelling). This is the second time I found myself with the honor of being the first to review an anime on MAL, and as such I want to do it justice and be thorough in the attempt. Without further ado, I hope this review is helpful to whoever stumbles across it next.

Jewel BEM Hunter Lime is a charming little 3-episode game adaptation from the late 90s which really captures the essential character ... of anime in that age. It is campy, flashy, and unrestrained in all the ways the medium was back then, while also rising above the baseline with excellent comedic timing, fun visual language, and a story structure which could have remained interesting for 10 more episodes at least if given the chance. However, there are of course some flaws, which may have contributed to its ultimate fate. Beginning with the story, it sets itself up with a simple yet compelling tale of a magic world beyond the human one, with the moon as a monthly portal between them, and these six power gems which fall to earth during a struggle between our main trio and a demon from the magical world. These power gems can absorb the negative energy that humans can passively give off, becoming cute yet often nefarious versions of nearby inanimate objects. This makes for a simple yet consistently entertaining monster-of-the-week format, and while the dialogue can sometimes be a little stiff, it is more often naturalistic, funny, and well-timed. While not every one landed, most of the jokes had me rolling, and reminded me a lot of Golden Boy in their execution. The ones that failed, however, failed hard, and just felt pretty jarring for a show with a typically great sense of humor. The art is characteristically 90s, maintaining that quintessential look all the way from the often slender and stylish character designs, to the bright color palate, and even the wonderfully emotive faces, evocative of other titles from this era like Sailor Moon. Overall, even for a smaller project like this one, the effort and talent of the people behind the art really shined through from beginning to end. The sound is adequate, with a catchy OP and ED as well as playful synth-heavy music throughout. The voice acting for the dub is fun and energetic, though sometimes pretty clunky and amateurish, which still adds its own kind of charm. The characters are perfect for their setting, even if they're not breaking any records for unique execution. I especially thought that Bass was kind of one-note, which is a shame as he's a pretty funny major character. Hard to say who my favorites are here since there's really only two characters that get any amount of significant attention, and that is Lime and Bass, though Lime wins out as the strongest character here. Of course, I also quite enjoyed their third member, the silent and bizarre Morph Master Poogie, though he feels like more of a weird pet than anything. Overall, while there's not much substance to this anime, it's still a really fun way to spend an hour and change, and I feel it deserves more attention than it has received in the ensuing decades since its release. An easy, fun, watch that most will enjoy, and fans of 90s anime might even love.