Mouse

This was obviously an attempt to resurrect or at least imitate Lupin III - a comedy series centered around a gentleman thief and the frustrated cop whose job it is to take him in. Even the opening song echoes themes from the Lupin movies. But here, in addition to the robbery angle is a truckload of gratuitous lingerie. A cornucopia of DD-cups, a treasure house of T-backs, a panoply of pantie shots; sometimes the animators track up underneath a female character who is asking a question or making a speech just to get an upskirt angle. It's either distracting or great depending on your viewpoint, but be prepared for enough skimpy lingerie to fill a Victoria's Secret special. The female characters are dressed in what amounts to fetish gear to pull robberies! The heists themselves are pretty good on their own, although they pale when compared to the wackiness and outrageousness of Lupin's exploits. Plus the action animation sometimes leaves a bit to be desired - speed lines and cutaways rather than fully animated chase or fight sequences. So what you have is an okay-nothing-special action comedy with lots and lots of cleavage and thongs. There are worse ways to waste 75 minutes.

This year, I sat down, I saw, and I experienced an ecchi-action-comedy series like none that I've ever seen before: Mouse.

Although not mainstream material, it has some appeal. The animation and character designs, for one, were great. Also, the English dubbing director cast just the right actors/actresses to make the roles believable. Case in point: Mouse's female "assistants". The voices make them utterly likable, to a point where guy viewers begin deciding on which one(s) they like best.

What astounded me the most was the creators ability to cram a generous amount of fan-service within each 15 minute episode. If there were a World Records title for "providing so much of one element in a TV show in such short run time," Mouse would get it hands down.

So if you like a mix of action, comedy, and sexiness, then Mouse is your ticket. But one thing though: Don't take it seriously. It's not epic japanimation like "Princess Mononoke" or "Howl's Moving Castle". It's a fun little series to watch, especially IMO on a Friday or Saturday night.