Out of Print Anime #1 - Fantasia (Girl from Phantasia)

Animated by Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell) and directed by Jun Kamiya (Blue Seed). Fantasia (or Girl from Phantasia as it was renamed overseas to stop the House of Mouse from flexing it's legal muscle) is a 25 minute OVA released in 1993 on VHS and Laserdisc to promote the manga of the same name.

The story follows a horny high school student called Akihiro that is eager to get inside the pants of his girlfriend Miyuki. Our protagonist hopes to reach third base by outfitting his bachelor's babe pit with a dirty old rug he finds lying on the street. I guess that explains my single status as a rug doesn't adorn my living room floor.



Upon cleaning his newly acquired rug, a magical girl named Malon emerges from the land of Fantasia Phantasia which is housed inside said rug. Malon is immediately infatuated by Akihiro and sets out to win his heart by showing off her magical abilities. It doesn't take long for the two to become intimate before Akihiro's girlfriend walks in on them.

After being demoted to former boyfriend, Akihiro tells Malon to take a hike and she finds herself being targeted by the malicious Roll who is hell bent on destroying Fantasia Phantasia. But the heart broken Malon is unwilling to fight back as she is pursued through the streets of the unnamed Japanese town.

Reverting back to Akihiro's bedroom, Malon's classmates from Fantasia Phantasia convince him to mend bridges with Malon. This restores her will to live and she immediately sets out to vanquish Roll from the face of the Earth. The following day, Malon has been transferred to Akihiro's school where she continues to express her affection to an unresponsive Akihiro.

Girl from Phantasia is far from being a masterpiece, but the anime's fast paced nature and slap stick humour makes for an entertaining piece when you have nothing else to watch on a lazy Sunday. The animation by Production IG doesn't match the studio's efforts during their later years, but the over the top expressions and visual gags makes up for the lower budget. Voice acting is a mixed bag with Malon's voice being particularly annoying.

As you can guess from the title of this blog entry, the anime has been out of print since the 90s and is unlikely to ever be rescued. Outside of Japan, it received a limited VHS release in the USA courtesy of ADV Films and was most likely the result of a packaged deal. The manga was never localised and seems like Girl from Phantasia will remain lost to time. A sad fate for what seems like a promising property.