King of Bandit Jing

Reviewed By: Carla Land

ADV Films DVD

Review based on volume 2 (episodes 5-7)

Rating 13+

What it’s (basically) all about: Jing is still the King of Bandits, and he’s still on the quest to find his mother. Using his quick wit and fine bandit skills he travels around, looking for interesting things to steal and clues as to his mother’s whereabouts. Accompanied by girl crazy bird Kir, he has adventures in a Technicolor town and searches for the city of Revaiva, where the secret of eternal life is hidden. In the end, though, it is Jing’s good sense that keeps him and Kir on the road (and out of jail.)

Nitty Gritty: This volume is much the same as the first. “Hell” is used in the subtitles, but other than that there is no bad language used. There is some stylized nudity in episode 5 and briefly in the closing credits, but no sexual situations or inappropriate situations. There is a female robot that gets repaired, but she stayed covered up except for her back.

There’s some violence in this volume. Two men die in a fire and Kir gets pinned to a wall with a spear. Other than that it’s little more than what you can find on TV after school.

Jing is an intelligent young man who thinks things through before acting. He’s a great character to watch, because he’s got all the moves, but uses his brain before using them. Kir is a funny bird- part girl crazy and part Jing’s ultimate weapon.

Special features include clean opening/ closing animation; a slideshow of production sketches; DVD credits; and previews for Saint Seiya, Najica Blitz Tactics (lots of fan service in this one), Rahxephon, Those Who Hunt Elves, Full Metal Panic! (some stylized nudity) and Sorcerer Hunters (which has some stylized nudity, too.) All of the previews are appropriate for teen audiences, and probably wouldn’t interest younger ones.

Survey says: Wholly appropriate for teen collections.

Personal Ad: This is exactly the sort of anime that all public libraries should have in their teen collections. It’s intelligent, well written storytelling with likeable characters. It’s also mostly episodic, so teens can see volume two before volume one and not be too confused.