In 1987 there was an arcade game called "Wonder Momo". Bandai has decided to refresh the franchise, and will release a new game for PC and Android this spring, or so it is reported.

As part of the intro process for this game, a five-episode ONA was released. Each one is 7 minutes long, and it just got posted on BakaBT.

Momoko is a rather ordinary first-year high school girl who wishes she could be an idol and is actually working to become one. She takes classes and she goes to try-outs but she hasn't pulled it off yet. Anyway, a green space alien shows up and tosses a glowing sphere at her, which goes inside. Then back at the school, a bunch of space aliens attack the gym. Momoko goes there and says something like "And this is where I become a superhero, right?" And much to her surprise, she does, and proceeds to polish off all the aliens.

With Batman-style captions.

Naturally, there's only one person who sees her transform and knows her secret, and it's a love interest. He's third year and is something of a shutterbug.

She gets into trouble in her next fight, and another magical girl shows up.

It turns out it's Akiho, the current favorite idol. When she's fighting she calls herself Amazona.

And in her next fight Momoko gets in trouble again. This time she's rescued by the original Wonder Momo,

Who, it turns out, is her mother.

And that's what she looked like 25 years ago.

Mom eventually decides the three of them should team up.

And in consultation with the friendly aliens, she proposes that they should take the battle to the enemy.

And they do, just as the end of the last episode. Which, presumably, is the final act of the upcoming computer game.

The most noticeable thing about this all is Momoko's voice. The voice actor is a first-timer. And Momoko comes off as brain damaged. It's essentially the same character as Hajime in Gatchaman Crowds except that the latter was a better character and much better acted.

It's possible that this is a case of a superb actress being wasted by an uncaring director in an ill-conceived role, but I doubt it. Fact is, she just isn't very good. I don't anticipate she'll ever get hired again.

This ONA is an extended advertisement for the upcoming computer game and that's all it tries to be. So they could have spiced it up with fan service, but they didn't. They could have developed the love interest, but they didn't. There were a lot of things they could have done and didn't. Their purpose was to show things that will be in the games, either as playable battles or as cut scenes. Unless you're interested in the game, this is a waste of time.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Mystery Meat at 06:21 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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