Steel Angel Kurumi: Angel on My Shoulderby Barb Lien-CooperReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 7 This DVD collection is lovingly put together. The extras are quite interesting as a result. We get a revealing behind the scenes interview with the cast, wonderful notes on the historical background of the story, a downloadable Karumi fortune teller, and some authoritative translation notes. And - as its biggest selling point - Claudia Black (Farscape) does some voice work for the anime. Later on in the series, she’ll play a character in the series. I’m looking forward to that happening. I’m hoping that if Karumi is a success, she’ll do more voice work. I’d like her to try something a little less light than Steel Angel Karumi next time. But I am glad that she’s a good sport and wanted to do anime voice work, as she knew the director who worked for ADV Films because she did some Farscape commentary for ADV when the series hit DVD.If you’re expecting some science fiction type, dark future anime because of the Farscape tie, you’d be wrong. This DVD has some science fiction elements, but it’s really just a sweet, comedic story of love and devotion. I call the series “I Dream of Jeannie with a robot”, because it’s really just riffing on the “magical woman devoted to human man” riff of sixties TV shows. Steel Angel Karumi involves a female robot who is accidentally activated by a boy. Karumi, the robot, sees him and that’s all she wrote. She thinks he’s her master and won’t let anything happen to him. She’s in turns, violent, tender, and demanding towards her new master. She also doesn’t quite understand that there are certain proprieties that one observes with a boy who’s just starting to turn into a man. Karumi’s a sweetheart of a character, who has genuine love in her heart for her young master. The action comes from the fact that she’s a prototype and nasty scientists want to kidnap her. It’s very mild situation comedy with some destruction of buildings and fight scenes thrown in for good measure, but it’s very enjoyable viewing for all that. The voice actors are really good in this outing. The voices are a little more low-key than in most anime, which is unusual but, in this case, welcome. The characters are just so darned sympathetic, they sell the series on their own power. Steel Angel Karumi says that it’s for ages 17 and older, but with the exceptions of a few dirty jokes and that almost requisite for anime slightly chaste female nudity, it’s actually pretty wholesome fare (Karumi‘s affection for the boy is a tad risque only insomuch as she‘s naive and doesn‘t quite understand boundaries - heck, she‘d be happy if he‘d just give her a quiet kiss). Frankly, if your kid is a mature thirteen or over, you should consider letting him or her watch it. It’s a lot more modest than most shows for teenagers out there. Adults looking for amusing, likeable fare may also like Steel Angel Karumi. I know I did. Written: May 21, 2002
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