In life, it is not uncommon for people to feel trapped or cursed. Whether it be in a toxic relationship, a stagnant career, or simply feeling stuck in a cycle of negativity, escaping this fate can seem impossible. However, it is important to remember that we have the power to reverse these curses and break free from the chains that bind us. The first step in escaping our fate is to recognize and acknowledge the negative patterns in our lives. We must identify the toxic relationships, the self-destructive habits, and the negative thoughts that hold us back. Accepting responsibility for our situation is crucial, as it empowers us to take control and initiate change.
Oh, I was going to tell you about Grampa. There's an elderly man named Shozo in Komugi who's Komugi's biggest fanboy, and there's a scene early in the series in Komugi's dad's clinic, where her dad has her slap a gauze pad on Shozo-san's bare back, which sends him into ecstasy. It was at this point that Grampa bolted, and I can guess why- he finally understood his own place in the anime audience, and why a 60-year-old man would be watching a show featuring magical teenage girls in the first place. I bet he was horribly embarrassed and ashamed of himself, and - uh, just a minute, I think I hear the door-
Fortunately, Tsukasa s transformed self, Magical Sister, doesn t come with all this baggage, and so she s actually able to talk to Yuto as a girly girl. Unlike her friends and rival idols Cocona and Tsukasa, both of whom are very popular, Komugi can only seem to get small time gigs, such as selling products for her local pharmacy.
Accepting responsibility for our situation is crucial, as it empowers us to take control and initiate change. Once we have identified the curse that plagues us, the next step is to make a conscious decision to reverse it. We must refuse to accept a life of misery and instead, choose to pursue happiness and fulfillment.
Nurse Witch Komugi R
Monsters invading the land of Fanta-C were turned into cards, but Princess Hime carelessly dropped the cards into a pool, and they somehow wound up in our world, where they can return to life by merging with inanimate objects. (Sound familiar?) A trio of guides/mascots from Fanta-C each pick a girl from our world to become a "Tombo-E" girl to defeat the monsters (and collect the cards, of course.)
Review
I sure hope Grampa comes back soon.
It was HIS idea to watch this, you know. With a title like that, which touches on TWO anime clichés at once (and the series will add a few more), you think I would? But he said that since I was so depressed about some of the other titles I've lately reviewed, maybe we should look at something lighter, so we sat down and started this. And then HE started shouting and ran out of the room, and left me to finish the show, and the review, by myself. Well, I can keep my mind occupied best by writing the review, I suppose; I'll get back to what I think drove him berserk a bit later.
As best I can piece this together- with help from the Wiki article- Nurse Witch Komugi originally began as a five-episode OVA in 2002; the original version shared some characters with The Soul Taker, of all things. (The latter was reviewed on our site by Jeremy Beard.) It spawned a manga, a video game, and another OVA, a 2-parter called Nurse Witch Komugi-Chan Magikarte Z, in 2004. The new incarnation under review here seems to represent a radical re-thinking of the original; some characters from the original have been discarded or re-named, new ones have been added, and the whole thing redone as probably the most exact parody of Sailor Moon I've ever seen, though it's actually good enough to stand on its own; I found it genuinely funny, though as I've said somewhere else my taste in humor sometimes runs to the crude, and there's plenty of that here.
As the synopsis notes, instead of a group of girls under the guidance of one character, here each girl has her own guide, and the guides are in pretty fierce competition with each other for the monster cards. The three girls, by contrast, are actually close friends and aspiring "idol stars" working for the same talent agency. Our chief heroine, Komugi Yoshida, is pretty much at the back of the pack when it comes to success. The only music concerts she gives (except in her dreams) are promotions for a drugstore. (During the course of the show all the girls will be shown singing onstage- pretty forgettable J-pop, I admit- and for some reason all these musical numbers will be done in rather awkwardly-executed 3D CG; none of the rest of the show is done this way.) As for Komugi's aspirations as an actress, in the silly TV show she does with her other two girlfriends (and one guy- more on him later), Komugi is always relegated to playing a corpse. Toward the end of the series she does get three lines in a show, and it seems that when you DO give Komugi lines, they turn out to be more universally applicable than you might think. She's morbidly afraid of cockroaches (she can't even say the word.) She and the rest of her family live in part of the clinic that her dad runs, which gives her the medical connection I suppose. Her mascot/guide is a floating, vaguely spherical rabbitlike thing called "Usa-P" (of COURSE), who ends every one of his sentences with "-pyon". Komugi, with Usa-P's help, turns into "Magical Nurse". (We actually have a narrator here who spouts pseudoscientific, nonsensical "explanations" for all the transformations and attacks. I wasn't too thrilled about this device, and to tell the truth the show itself seems a bit ambivalent about it as well.)
Next we have Kokona Saionji, the blue-haired-girl-with-the-sweet-personality that we also might find a bit familiar. (Komugi's kid brother has a crush on Kokona, too, which further enhances the resemblance of course.) Kokona's transformed personality, "Magical Maid", is quite a bit different, though, having a thing for whips and making the bad guys grovel. Her floating, bulbous guide/mascot is "Tanu-P", who is supposed to resemble a tanuki and who ends all his sentences with "-poko".
The third member of our superheroine trio is my personal favorite. Tsukasa Kisaragi presents a public personality like a Sailor Uranus- a tall, short-haired blonde who dresses male- but her true personality is very feminine; she resides in a pink room, which she doesn't let even her friends see, filled with stuffed animals and figurines that she has "conversations" with. Komugi breaks one convention of Sailor Moon, for here it's not leading lady Komugi who has the romantic interest, but it's Tsukasa; she really likes Yuto Tachibana, another aspiring star in her agency. The problem is that thanks to her public persona everyone thinks Tsukasa's yuri, and that she's actually interested in Kokona; Yuto, unfortunately, shares this belief. Fortunately, Tsukasa's "transformed" self, Magical Sister, doesn't come with all this baggage, and so she's actually able to talk to Yuto as a "girly" girl. (The show observes the Sailor Moon convention that none of the girls in their transformations are recognizable as their "street" selves, even though they all look exactly the same to the viewer in both modes, with Tsukasa being the only, minor, exception- Magical Sister has longer hair than Tsukasa does.) I always favor romances for the supporting characters, so I was fairly pleased here. HER guide/mascot is catlike, named "Neko-P" (of course, again), and ends all HIS sentences with "-nyan".
A little more about the monsters, and the girls' battles. The monsters created here by the mergers of the cards with inanimate objects look less human than the Daimons of Sailor Moon S (which I guess would be the nearest equivalent.) Like the Sailor Moon monsters, some mostly just say their own names; some are more articulate than that; but all the Komugi monsters get to make some little quip as they are zapped out of existence, which is better than just shouting "Lovely!" in any case. The names of the attacks the girls use get more and more outrageous as the show progresses- "The No, No, But Actually Yes Beam" is a typical example- and this culminates in a memorably vulgar (and hilarious) attack by Tsukasa that just can't be an authentic translation of the original Japanese- can it. (To be fair to what inspired all this, the attack names in Sailor Moon really didn't get THAT ridiculous until the Stars season, with the Starlights being the worst offenders.)
This show is more vulgar (though cheerfully so) and fanservicey than Sailor Moon in general- the first time we see one of the monsters, it's sitting on a toilet, and there's another episode where some middle-aged men arrange a swim meet with lots of teenage girls just to have "wardrobe malfunctions" occur (and they try to pressure poor Yuto into causing some.) I was somewhat annoyed by a quartet of girls who hang around our principal trio, and who seem to have no particular function except to misinterpret things; one in particular got under my skin- a blonde who affects an "urban" manner (she wears a scarf that's apparently meant to pass as a hoodie, and says "yo" at the end of all her sentences.) And I'm not sure if I'm that thrilled with Komugi's catch phrase- "Komugication!"
Oh, I was going to tell you about Grampa. There's an elderly man named Shozo in Komugi who's Komugi's biggest fanboy, and there's a scene early in the series in Komugi's dad's clinic, where her dad has her slap a gauze pad on Shozo-san's bare back, which sends him into ecstasy. It was at this point that Grampa bolted, and I can guess why- he finally understood his own place in the anime audience, and why a 60-year-old man would be watching a show featuring magical teenage girls in the first place. I bet he was horribly embarrassed and ashamed of himself, and - uh, just a minute, I think I hear the door-
Grampa! I was worried about you! Hey, where's your shirt? And who put all that gauze on you.
OK, I'm reclaiming my italics from Grampa, who clearly doesn't deserve to have them. In any case, I found Nurse Witch Komugi R to be light as a feather, but frequently cleverly written and sometimes pretty damn funny, and while it can be off-color it's not at all in hentai territory (as certain other infamous Sailor Moon parodies have been.) I certainly found the show much more fun overall than Wish Upon The Pleiades, and thought Komugi and Tsukasa each charming in their own way (and was fairly pleased with the latter's personal outcome.) It's as much homage as lampoon. — Allen Moody
Recommended Audience: Some swimmers (including one of the principals) lose their swimsuits, but no explicit nudity. Magical Maid has some tendencies recalling Mio Isurugi's from MM! , though the violence here is really pretty mild; the most violent character here is actually one of the teachers (and you'll cheer her at it, too.) 15 up should be fine.
The OVA was later adapted to an Manga under the same title illustrated by Rei Nakajima and published by Hakusensha in their magazine Young Animal Arashi. The Manga spanned two volumes produced between September 29th, 2003 and August 27th, 2003.
This decision is not an easy one, as it often requires making difficult choices and stepping outside of our comfort zones. However, taking this leap of faith is necessary if we want to escape our fate and create a better future for ourselves. As we embark on this journey of reversing the curse, it is important to surround ourselves with positivity and support. Building a strong support system of friends, family, or even seeking professional help can provide the encouragement and guidance needed to overcome obstacles. Additionally, practicing self-care and focusing on personal growth can help us develop the resilience and strength required to reverse the curse. It is essential to remember that escaping the fate and reversing the curse is a gradual process. It may take time, effort, and patience to see significant changes in our lives. There may be setbacks along the way, but it is crucial to persevere and stay committed to our newfound path. In conclusion, it is possible to escape our fate and reverse the curse that plagues us. By recognizing the negative patterns, making a conscious decision to change, surrounding ourselves with positivity and support, and staying committed to the process, we can break free and create a brighter future. However, it is essential to remember that this journey requires effort, resilience, and a belief in our own ability to create change..
Reviews for "A retrospective analysis of "Escape the Fate: Reverse This Curse" a decade later"
1. John - 2 out of 5 stars - I was really disappointed with Escape the Fate's album "Reverse This Curse". The songs lacked creativity and originality, and it felt like they were trying too hard to fit into the mainstream rock scene. The lyrics were cliché and lacked depth, and the production quality was subpar. Overall, I felt like this was a disappointing effort from a band that I used to enjoy.
2. Emily - 1 out of 5 stars - "Reverse This Curse" by Escape the Fate was a complete letdown. The album lacked any unique sound or style, and it felt like a generic attempt at radio-friendly rock music. The songs all blended together with forgettable melodies and uninspired lyrics. I was expecting something more from this band, but unfortunately, this album fell flat for me.
3. Mike - 2 out of 5 stars - I couldn't get into Escape the Fate's "Reverse This Curse" at all. The album felt repetitive and lacked any memorable hooks or standout tracks. It felt like they were just going through the motions without bringing anything new or exciting to the table. Overall, I found it to be a forgettable and underwhelming listening experience.
4. Sarah - 3 out of 5 stars - "Reverse This Curse" by Escape the Fate didn't quite live up to my expectations. While there were a few decent tracks on the album, overall, it lacked the energy and intensity that I've come to expect from the band. The lyrics felt a bit repetitive, and some of the songs felt formulaic. It was an okay listen, but nothing stood out or made me want to revisit it.
5. Alex - 2 out of 5 stars - Escape the Fate's "Reverse This Curse" didn't do it for me. The album felt disorganized and lacked a cohesive sound. It seemed like they were experimenting with different genres without fully committing to any of them. The end result was an album that felt disjointed and confusing. While I appreciate bands trying new things, this album missed the mark for me.