The OVA, "Master Mosquiton," is one of my favorites. It combines great animation, wonderful music, interesting characters, adult humor, nudity, and an ability to draw you in. It was a light-hearted tale of a vampire (Mosquiton) and his mistress (Inaho).
The series takes all of that, dilutes it and stretches it so thin that you end up feeling like NOTHING happened after 26 episodes! I realize that the sex and adult content was removed so it would be seen by all ages on TV, but it was a mistake to do so: Mosquiton was originally an adult dark comedy, and it worked.
[ STORY ]
The story starts very interesting and intriguing but it falls flat after repetitive episodes. The backstory later within the last 5 episodes almost saves the day but ultimately fails to make up for the series earlier shortcomings.
Also, this story is a "re-imagining" from the OVA, which is fine, but it wasn't as strong a choice. ( OVA: 1920s, Mosquiton '99:1999) 6/10
[ ART ]
The animation goes from TERRIBLE to fair and back again within the same scene. So disappointing since "Master Mosquiton" had excellent visuals. 4/10
[ SOUND ]
The music is pretty good. The 1920's big band music that trickled over from the OVA is tops and I very much enjoyed the opening theme and background music. Solid. 7/10
[ CHARACTER ]
Inaho is 100% annoying and vile, which is hard when she's the main character. Don't get me wrong, it's okay that she has many less-than-stellar traits, but she should have at least ONE redeeming quality. Mosquiton is also MUCH more of a wimp and lapdog this time around. He's still an adorable Bishounen (^_^). Yuki and Hoono, the two demons, are one-dimensional but are given more depth when you see their back story in their final episodes. There are also two main characters that are unique to the TV series and not the OVA: Wolf Lady and Frankie. The wolf lady proves to have a great backstory, (She cannot TOUCH a member of the opposite sex without lashing out violently/becoming more "wolf-like") which includes a great deal of heart breaking backstory. Frankie is boring and has no reason to be in this series.
Camille, Mosquiton's first wife, who had a HUGE role in the OVA has no pull in the TV series. In the TV series they never establish her as Mosquiton's ex-wife she's just a henchman. Totally stupid for them to pass up her interesting story.
The characters would be rated much higher, but the only good moments in their arc are their backstories, which only appear very late in the series. 5/10
[ ENJOYMENT ]
The first 20 episodes (give or take the few that stand out) are boring a strung out. When you get to the last 5 or so, your enjoyment goes up immensely. 6/10
[ OVERALL ]
Final verdict? WATCH THE OVA. It is truly fun, unique and interesting. If you have seen the OVA, and you want more Mosquiton goodness, you may want to watch this anime. It will at least give you some Mosquiton to savor. If you are NEW to this franchise, I would say pass the TV series up. You won't have the love of the characters already like I did- that's the only way I got through it. 6/10
Thanks for reading. Hope this gives a good insight as to whether or not to see this show.
~ Musashi
