Cheap King of Bandit Jing (Vol. 1) (DVD) (Hiroshi Watanabe (II)) Price

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Customer Reviews of King of Bandit Jing (Vol. 1)

The King of Anime (and Bandit)
Take a helping of The Nightmare Before Chritmas, add a dash of Charles Dodgeson's Alice in Wonderland, and throw in anything by Hayao Miyazaki, bring to a boil and distill. The resultant delicacy is King of Bandit Jing (that's right without the "s". Why? I have no idea, but it's cool either way). Having salivated over the manga, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the anime (don't even begin to ask about the boxes and packaging that it came in, there's not much left...). I had taken on a gamble on the manga when it came out (hey, it was shiney and it was just sitting there all alone, so how could I not fork over ten bucks and read it?) and ended up loving it. The art direction is fantastic and the elaborate, completely unique, stories Yuichi Kumakura spins are a joy to be in the presence of. So, the anime was a must. While Jing receives a slight makeover in the hair, he is still the unmistakable orange-coat-wearing-bandit-king who steals the show (and a street, or anything else fantastical that most bandits would snub their noses at, either because of difficulty, or uselessness). The episodes play out nicely, leaving out not as much as one would expect (one review had mentioned the battle in the City of Bandits at the top of the tower with the ogre (of sorts)was rushed and much more drawn out in the manga, but, frankly, in the manga we see a few frames of action (albeit cool action) nothing to indicate a long scenario. Heck, most manga is fast-paced as it is to help focus solely on the story (hence, as well, the grayscale pages as color is believed to draw the focus away from the story). Also, most episodes are their own stories from Jing's travels so there is not need to say the previous story happened in another episode. The animation is simply top-notched and highly detailed (take a good look at those backgrounds) as well, very fluid. The voice acting is very well done as all the actors seem to fit their character (thank the heavens a girl wasn't used to voice Jing, I hate that...). The sound is superb, and if the opening credits, don't immediately get you excited (for both the animation and song are stellar), then go home son, go home. Entracing stories, amazing animation, and freaking-cool characters make Jing King of Bandit a stellar anime (if you're cursing me for saying Charles Dodgeson wrote Alice in Wondeland, allow me to say that Lewis Carroll was merely a pen name).

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Not bad, but the manga's better.
If you've read the manga (Like me.) you should have a good idea of what to expect from this series. It's about a teenage boy & his talking bird named Kir (That can shoot out bursts of energy.) as they go from place to place trying to find different treasures to steal. In each of those places they alway encounter some cute or beautiful girl. And though Jing never really seems to be interested in them, Kir is always trying to put the moves on them. Which is where a lot of the humor comes from. Though sometimes it can get annoying.
One other thing that will probably annoy some people is that this series doesn't really have any kind of continuity to it. And as far you can tell none the previous stories ever even happened.

And like I said before about the manga, it's no so much about the action, as it is about the intrigue (Even though in the last few episodes there is some really good action.) leading to finding the next treasure, although no as much so as in the manga, because at times things feel more rushed than in the anime.

One reviewer complained about the fact that Jing used Kir for everything, and I can kind of agree with him on that because when I first read the manga I felt the same way. Not only that, but the way the first story comes off in the anime it gives you the feel that the rest of the series is going to be like that, because compared to the manga, the first story feels TOTALLY rushed. Because when Jing busts into the place to steal the "Double Mermaid" we see this huge many armed creature, then Jing busts outs the Kir Royale and blows it away and that's it. And having read the manga prior to that it got me pretty angry, because That whole encounter is a lot more drawn out because of complications with Kir.

But after that intial first episode things go pretty well, and you'll actually see Jing use the Kir Royale in some cool ways. And there are only 2 other parts in the whole series that I can really say felt rushed.

One thing I noticed right off about the anime was that the animation is excellent.
That and just how AWESOME Jing looks compared to how he does in the anime. In the manga he looks like some just some punk kid, But in the anime Jing looks very slick. Which is good because that's the kind of character Jing is.

As far as music goes it's hard to say if I really liked it or not, but I can defintely say that I loved the opening theme. Probably one of my all time favorites.

One other thing I want to mention is that this series is only 13 episodes and for some reason not even all the episodes are pulled from the manga. Out of the 13 episodes, 3 of them are only in the anime. And while I thought this was cool, only one of those stories is really any good.

If after buying the first DVD you aren't sold on the series, then chances are the 2nd DVD wont change youre mind, though the 2nd DVD does have my favorite story in it. But I'll get more into that in a later review.

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One of the greatest shows ever!
This is one of the best shows I have ever seen! Jing the Bandit King and his trusty bird sidekick Kir set off on journeys to find the best treasure. With awsome action, weird comedy, and even some girls this is a great anime and I suggest that you look in to geeting it!..............Ben Lankford