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Ah My Buddha!!
Score: 88%
Rating: 16+
Publisher: Right Stuf, Inc.
Region: 1
Media: DVD/6
Running Time: 650 Mins.
Genre: Anime
Audio: English, Japanese
Subtitles: English

Features:
  • Clean Openings
  • Clean Closings
  • Promotional Videos
  • U.S. Trailer

Ah My Buddha!! is an amusing story that features a young man training at his grandmother's Buddhist temple. The twist that tips this anime into the "crazy Japanese" category is the fact that our hero, Ikkou, has hidden magic that allows him to transform into the ultimate Buddhist monk. The only problem is that the trigger for unleashing this power is that he has to become aroused. It's a good thing that the temple also has six young teenage girls training to become nuns.

While Ikkou and the rest of the temple inhabitants know of his strange power, as well as the just-as-strange trigger, they all try their hardest to handle the various hauntings and ceremonies without having to access it. For one, no one really wants to be the object of Ikkou's trigger (understandably enough), but Ikkou also has a lot of trouble controlling that power, and a major aspect of this series is Ikkou learning the source of his powers and attempting to gain control over them.

The temple's nuns in training are comprised of Chitose, a busty girl who is the primary focus of Ikkou's attention, the athletic and tomboyish Yuuko, the older and beautiful Haruka, Sumi, a quiet girl that has a fondness for animals, Sakura, a controlling over-achiever and her sister, Hinata, the youngest of the group, but also the introverted and soft-spoken one. Oh, and she also has a fire-spitting demon for a pet.

What Ikkou doesn't realize at first is that these six girls aren't just any students. Each one is linked to one of the six realms and also has hidden power. While most of the show is about Ikkou and his abilities, each of the future nuns get some focus as we see just how their different source-realms help them in their temple duties.

At first, Ah My Buddha!! is a series of one-off stories where Ikkou and the girls have some task to perform. These range from taking part in a festival, to calming down local ghosts, and quite a few exorcisms. In pretty much every one of these early episodes, the group finds themselves in over their heads and they have to awaken Ikkou in one manner or another, typically by ripping the top off of Chitose, Haruka or Sumi - the bustier of the bunch. In fact, there is more than one joke about the other girls exposing themselves to Ikkou, but it not awakening him.

Eventually though, the deeper plot of Ah My Buddha!! starts to reveal itself. It seems that a rival Buddhist temple is throwing difficult tasks in the group's way in order to force Ikkou to awaken, but exactly why and what they want is veiled in mystery until the show's last few episodes.

The series is broken up into two 12 episode seasons, with a bonus episode previously released as a separate DVD, and after the first half of the show, a new character enters the scene. A young future nun named Kazuki starts showing up at all of Ikkou's jobs, and it quickly becomes apparent that she is developing some feelings for the monk-in-training. While Ikkou and Chitose aren't actually involved by the time Kazuki shows up, the new girl's presence starts making Chitose realize her feelings more and more. Of course, Kazuki isn't all she seems to be, but her very forward nature might be just what Ikkou needs to finally gain full control over his powers.

As for special features, Ah My Buddha!! doesn't have a lot. It contains a few promotional videos and trailers, but the rest of the show is good enough that it really doesn't need anything more. A word of warning though - as you might have guessed from the show's set up, this isn't really an anime for kids. The series is rated 16+, and that seems to be appropriate. While the show focuses a lot on young girls suddenly becoming topless, nothing naughty is ever seen except in the two extra episodes, "Don't Take a Break!!" and "Don't Be Fooled!!" which show just a little bit more.



-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer
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