MISC. MANGA, *Amethyst: Princess Of Gemworld

Before Sailor Moon or She-Ra, Amethyst was the original magical princess/superhero! Premiering in 1983, Amethyst: Princess Of Gemworld would have made for an amazing Saturday morning cartoon series rivaling any 80s toy franchise. Usually taking place in the DC Comics Universe, the character would regularly meet up with characters like Superman, or as a member of Justice League Dark and Young Justice, although her adventures regularly happened in their own separate reality. She even had her own anime-styled mini-series screened on DC Nation. Hoping to appeal to a more modern audience without the decades of backstory, DC decided to release a one-shot graphic novel retelling the character's origin but geared towards younger readers.

Princess Amaya resides in the fairyland of Amethyst on the enchanted planet of Gemworld. After an accident involving her kingdom's keystone results in her younger brother Quartz getting into trouble, resulting in Amaya getting a time out as a regular girl on Earth with her guardian Citrina. Although her punishment was only supposed to last a week, the two end up getting stuck on Earth for three years, completely forgetting their lives on Gemworld. One day, Amaya uses a pendant containing a piece of the keystone to fend off some pesky bullies, which leads Prince Topaz from Gemworld to open a portal which brings the wayward princess and her schoolmate Autumn back to the magical realm. Amaya's memories come back upon her return, and discovers her family has gone missing, all while an indestructible monster known as Flaw rampages throughout the lands. The princess heads off to resolve this mystery along with her newfound powers and fighting skills.

Where most of the original interpretations of Princess Amethyst usually had the character in Arthurian or Tolkienesque fantasy adventure, but while focusing on her duality as a magical girl living a civilian identity on Earth, this new paperback is a self-contained story with a more diversified cast trying to lure fans of Amphibia or The Owl House. It makes for a great all-ages publication, which will hopefully add some new blood to the fan-favorite franchise.

OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Doomed Megalopolis

Hiroshi Aramata created the popular fictional novel series in Japan, Teito Monogatari, which was later adapted into two live-action movies. The twelve-volume epic blends in Japanese history with dark fantasy to create a story taking place in an alternate timeline, similar to steampunk. Studio Madhouse turned the first third of the original source material into a 4-episode OVA series, although it takes a pervy turn trying to appeal to the more ecchi fans. Streamline Pictures licensed it for English on VHS releases, and then later collected on DVD by ADV Films.

Set in 1908, the evil sorcerer Yasunori Kato, of whom the character of M. Bison was largely modeled after, plots to destroy Tokyo by attempting to rise the spirit of the city's founder Masakado which has been resting in the middle of town. He tries to do this by using the latent psychic powers of the traumatized girl Yukari. After failing to get her power to awaken Masakado, he waits until 1923 when her daughter Yukiko becomes the instrument of his new plan to use her power to once again being unable to wrangle Masakado's spirit into his service, leading to the Great Kanto earthquake. Fast forwarding to 1927, Kato shifts his scheme by awaking a feng shui dragon lying beneath Tokyo. The local heroic scientists and psychics counterattack with everything from an excavating robot to a powerful miko named Keiko who is blessed by Masakado's spirit to finally stop Kato.

The original source material has the story continue in a parallel history all the way into the 1990s where the villain of Kato constantly returns to torment Tokyo like some kind of recurring comic book supervillain, of which movies like The Great Yokai War carry on the character's diabolical crusade. Madhouse did a premium job in their attention to detail, although their diverting into a mature horror with scenes replicating Legend Of The Overfiend make this an anime not intended for young viewers in any way. Experienced otaku can see how anime like Tokyo Babylon and Sakura Wars were inspired by this from mixing in Japanese folklore with urban fantasy.

ANI-MOVIES, *The Princess And The Pilot

Koroku Inumura's light novel series was transformed into a manga, and then this 2011 anime feature film. It was a joint effort with Madhouse and TMS Entertainment, which most of their works Americans should be familiar with. The story is firmly established as a love letter to the works of Hiyao Miyazaki mixing in 20th Century aerial adventures with a parallel universe.

Set in an alternative reality, the kingdom of Levamme is at war with an enemy empire, prompting their princess Juana to be promised as a bride for the prince of an allied nation. After Levamme's king is killed in an attack, Juana has a mission to be married to her fiance still fighting in the war on another side of the world. Charles is a lower class citizen whose mother was a maid in Juana's service as a child, and now he is the most skilled fighter in the Levamme air force. The underprivileged pilot is assigned to fly Princess Juana to rendezvous with her future husband, although their secret mission is compromised as they are constantly hunted by enemy airships. Juana and Charles and learn of each other's past on their journey and grow closer after seeking cover on a small island. Ultimately, they realize their responsibilities outweigh their personal feelings as they part ways going to their chosen destinies.

This dieselpunk fantasy is ripe with anime cliches, although the relationship between the titular princess and pilot is so charming that it makes you forget a majority of the movie tropes. There is no English dub available at this time, which might be a turnoff for watchers not comfortable with subtitles. The original light novel also had a spinoff set in the same universe titled The Pilot's Love Song which was eventually adapted into a limited anime TV series that you might also want to check out.

R.I.P., Larry Storch