For the sake of brevity I am could to refer to this series as just Gautaman. The story is as basic as they come. Mari is a devout Christian and a new student to a private school that caters to many different faiths. Unfortunately for her it is also home to an evil cult known as Black Buddha. After her new friend and roommate is captured by the cult to be brainwashed into becoming a worshiper, Mari is given the power of Gautaman to save her. Much to her shame and the delight of everyone else her costume involved a lot of skimpy clothing topped off with a sumo belt that exposes her backside. Stay with me here. Yes its one of if not the most completely ridiculous situations I have ever seen but the thing that this show does so right is that it knows it’s ridiculous, and that’s the whole point.
The parody is quite good, it takes aim at everything from Japanese pop culture to Star Wars. The Star Wars references were very amusing since I was such a fan of it growing up. Having a guy in a sumo suit with a Darth Vader mask on was almost too much to bear. There is a lot of echii comedy mixed in as well but really it is pretty tame from what I was expecting. Besides a few boobs and some sexual humor it’s fairly clean. The main problem people are likely to have is that a good majority of the parody is going to be lost on the current generation. Even something like Star Wars is 30 years old now, and almost everyone is going to not know any of the 70s J-Pop singers or manga writers. Another issue is that it doesn’t end. After doing a little research on this title there seems to be a sequel that will finish things up. The comedy is good enough to carry it that honestly I didn’t really care about that.
There isn’t any real depth to any of the characters which is really to be expected for something this short. That doesn’t mean that they weren’t enjoyable though. Mari and Saori were both charming and likable as the main protagonists. The supporting cast and villains are equally as shallow and mainly rely on their various visual stereotypes to build their characters.
For an anime this old, the artwork really does hold up. The various fight scenes and character designs are very well drawn and animated. Like most series from this era the colors are a bit dull and lifeless however. There is not a lot to comment on the sound, the acting was good but there is little music to critique either.
I was really tempted to go a little higher on my overall rating. Gautaman has a number of flaws, its humor is extremely dated and the lack of an ending. However if you can appreciate the humor and not take it too seriously I think you might enjoy it too.
