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SUMMARY

"When so much crap happens that ya wanna die, then your soul belongs to me."

Risky is an apprentice Shinagami, a Japanese death spirit.  He has just arrived at the home of Moe Katsuragi to take her to the "world down below".  Moe has just discovered that her boyfriend (Yuya) is cheating on her.  Her sorrow has brought Risky to her, and now he is ready to claim her soul.  

However, Moe can't bring herself to hate the boy, no matter how bad she feels.  Her outpouring of good feelings causes Risky great pain.  In a puff of smoke, a cute little angel appears.

The angel is Safety, also an apprentice.  Due to Moe's good feelings, she has traded places with the naughty Risky.  Her job is to show Moe the truth about Yuya.

Despite the resolution to her problems, Risky refuses to leave.  He won't go until he collects the required number of souls and become a full fledged Shinigami.  Fortunately, there is Risky to stop his nefarious schemes.

And you thought you had problems.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: For a first release AN Entertainment has done an excellent job.  There are no pixels, color bleeds or edge enhancement.  This is good since the color palette is mostly a variation of gray or brown. 

AUDIO: The Dolby 2.0 for both tracks are so evenly matched, I can't tell which one is better.  There are times where the music on the English track sounds richer than on the Japanese, but those instances are rare.  Fortunately, Risky~Safety is dialogue based so there is not a lot of need for a full sound stage.  Most of the dialoge comes from the center speaker, with some surround sound effects from the sides.

EDITS: Clean closing animation is used.  No other edits have been noted.

EXTRAS: A picture gallery, clean close credits, Japanese credit closing, and some dubbing outtakes are the DVD extras.  You also have a reversible cover (make mine Risky!)

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: Based of the manga by Ray Omishi, Risky~Safety is a cute girls anime, with some slapstick thrown in to keep the boys interested.  It's a little heavy in some parts, with characters talking about suicide and death.  How much Story Composition Supervisor Yosuke Kuroda varied from the source material is unknown.

ACTING:  I prefer the English voices to the Japanese.  For the first time, a company has found a good use for Sandy Fox.  In other shows she has done (Scryed and Argentosoma), her coquettish voice bugs me to no end.  Not here.  She is perfect as Risky.  Her high pitched squeal is exactly what the character needs.  She does better than her Japanese counterpart.

The rest of the cast does a fine job, with Midge Mays really pulling the emotional heart strings in regards to the character Fazzy.  Michelle Ruff is very sweet as the apprentice angel Safety.

While I do prefer the English cast, the Japanese cast does a great job a conveying the rather gloomy nature of some of the characters.  I really like the deep voice of Natsumi Asoka for Ayase, Moe's friend.  It was nice to hear something deeper than the high pitched squeals of the cast.

FAN SERVICE: There is a visual reference to the source comic book, as well as a couple of jabs at the creator, Ray Omishi.  There is even a Golgo 13 reference thrown in.

CONCLUSION

Risky~Safety seemed like an appropriate title for AN Entertainment's first release.  Here they were, releasing an anime few had herd of, based of a manga almost no one knew about.  However, the folks at AN Entertainment really felt that this was the perfect title.  So, now that we have our review copy, let's see how well they did.

Risky~Safety is perhaps the cutest anime you will ever see.  From the sweet and noble Safety, to the crass and crude Risky, this show oozes saccharine.  It also has broad physical humor, which adds to it's cute factor.  The stories range from very silly, to very dramatic, which should help its appeal with a broad range of viewers.   It is decidedly Shojo in its pacing and writing.  While I usually don't like this kind of anime, I will admit, it was so cute, I couldn't stop watching.

What did it for me was Sandy Fox as Risky.  Her timing, sense of humor, and understanding of the character kept me interested.  My favorite segment is right after the warning she exclaims, "Aha, look a toilet!"   I have that phase as a sound on my desktop, every time my computer crashes.

Many of you who have issues with "localization" of English dubs will find that not too many liberties were taken with the script.  The only major variance I noticed was during Episode 3.  I give AN Entertainment credit, for paying attention to both the otaku and dub fans.

On the technical side, the video and audio are well done, with no discrepancies.  The limited extras are a little disappointing.  Unfortunately, the deal with the Japanese company prevented AN Entertainment from getting a lot of the extras we take for granted.  John Oppliger and Connie Field of AN-Entertainment have assured me that "Miami Guns" will have a lot more!

I really enjoy the antics of Risky and Safety.  However, I was quite bored with the story of Fazzy and the dolls that knock over chairs.

Okay, you may be asking "Who is Fazzy?" and "Is dolls that knock over chairs some weird Monty Python skit?"

Unfortunately, no.  The story of Fazzy is about a young girl who lives in some sort of 19th century European country.  Her father builds animated wooden dolls that can clean, cook, and provide comfort.  Dad spends all his time working on the dolls and has no time for his daughter.  So sad is Fazzy, that her tears bring forth a Shinagami called Risky.

You can figure out the rest.

For such a short series, would not the time have been better spent advancing the plot, instead of telling this little side story?  I really hate it when a story changes in mid stream. Not a very "Magical Theater".

My other major problem is with the rather drab color scheme.  Anime is supposed to be full of vibrant and exciting colors, not 10 variations of Gray, and 20 variations of brown.  Whether it's intentional or a by-product of the budget, I don't know.

Parents, despite it's "ALL" rating on the cover, there are some rather serious topics in Risky~Safety.  Suicide, neglect and anger are just a few of the topics covered.  Parents should watch this show with their kids, just in case they have some questions.

All in all, Risky~Safety is an entertaining little anime that everyone can enjoy.  It's cute, funny, and sweeter than a broken cookie.

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