Rating: **
Review Date: 8/22/99
Super sorceress Lina Inverse hits the big screen in this somewhat long-winded epic tale of magic and demons. It seems a bit out of continuity, as Lina has a new travelling companion named Nahga, a busty dim-witted sorceress babe with an insane piercing laugh. She considers herself to be Lina's greatest rival, although Lina finds her to be annoying and everyone refers to her as a sidekick. It's strange to see all of the air-head bimbo humor passed off from Lina to Nahga, but it works out okay. Nahga drags Lina off to the mysterious island of Mipross to indulge in its magical hot springs, but they soon learn that the resort is just a tourist trap scam run by a bunch of demons. Lina is troubled by strange dreams, and a mysterious sage begs her to help free the island from its demonic oppressors. They finally battle every nasty creature on the island and even go back in time to thwart the initial demon attack on the island. The animation is slick, the music score is moving, and Megumi Hayashibara's enthusiastic performance (some might call it yelling) is quite enjoyable. It's generally fun and entertaining, but it suffers from too much silliness, a somewhat slow pace, and Nahga's laugh gets a bit irritating after a while. What really annoys me about the film is how everyone pokes fun at Lina's "small chest" and refers to her as the "sorceress without cleavage", when in fact she's quite nicely built and more endowed than most women I know. Nahga's proportions, on the other hand, are ridiculous, and the filmmakers make sure the audience takes note of them. I think the Japanese have been watching too much American television...