King of Bandit Jing Vol. #3

By Dani Moure     June 12, 2004
Release Date: May 17, 2004



What They Say
No priceless bauble or exquisite jewel is safe from the leering eyes and stealthy hands of Jing, the King of Bandits. With a heart of gold and girl-crazy albatross sidekick Kir, Jing steals his way through one exciting adventure after another!

Don't Drop The Por Vora! Our heroes are on a quest to find the Systema Solari, but first they must deliver a dangerous cargo of two Por Vora. Trouble is waiting for them around every turn, but that won't stop Jin from doing his best to come out on top!

The Musical Island Of Coco Oco: Tag along with Jing and Kir as they hop aboard a train to a strange island that holds a treasure claiming to 'tremble the hearts of lovers. After a disagreement, Jing and Kir go their separate ways to explore, but are re-united once they rescue a new friend. Will they leave with the treasure they came for or something even more valuable?

The Lullaby Of The Por Vora: Jing and Kir find themselves in Bluwari, home of the Por Vora and their guardian Elixir, whose life is dedicated to the protection of her charges. Seems idyllic, but when the sanctuary is violated by evil-doers, can even the King of Bandits save this poor girl by literally stealing her doomed fate?

The Review!
Jing and Kir are back with three more fun adventures.

Audio:
Continuing from the last volume, I listened to the Japanese stereo track for my review. I noticed no technical problems during regular playback, though it's not the most exciting sounding stereo mix. Spot-checking the English 5.1 track revealed a slightly more immersive feel, and no technical problems.

Video:
There's really little more to say about the transfer. Of the same caliber as the last two volumes, the transfer here is fantastic. The picture is very crisp and clean, and colours are reproduced excellently, and given the fantastic look of the series and its style, it looks great on DVD. There was no noticeable artifacting or cross colouration as I watched the episodes, and even cross colouration was non-existent. This is as good a transfer as you could hope for.

Packaging:
Another strong cover, this one showcases Jing holding the Por Vora that takes a liking to him in episode 10, with the remainder of the critters in dancing poses on a keyboard (a nice amalgamation of the episode themselves). Kir is just behind Jing, while monochrome versions of Mimosa and Izarra take up the top left. The covers really stand out among the crowd, and the art style used in the series comes through them nicely. My only gripe is the lack of any volume distinction at all on the covers, but there is numbering on the spine. The back cover contains the usual disc and episode summaries, clearly laid out with a clear feature listing. The bottom third of the cover is taken over by the technical information boxes that ADV use, and I certainly have no complaints about that.

Menu:
The menu system is perhaps the most plain part of the package. Once again the main menu is a static image, with the options sprawled over zoomed in cover art. Episode selections from this menu take you straight to the start of the episode (there's no scene selection facility), while the two sub-menus have different static images. Access times are fast, but there's a distinct lack of variety considering each of the menu pages also plays the same music.

Extras:
Easily the most disappointing part of these releases, we get another disappointingly small art gallery here, and a textless opening and closing. It's a shame this series didn't get any love in terms of extras (which could quite easily be because there was little for ADV to go on), but ultimately it doesn't reduce my view of the disc overall.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Jing continues to be a series that I just can't help but enjoy once a disc is popped in the player. There's no real over-arching plot, and yet each episode manages to be great fun and a pleasure to watch as the minutes fly by, and the three here are no exception.

Our first outing, "Don't Drop the Por Vora!" is one of the most amusing episodes yet, as Jing and Kir are going after a treasure called the Systema Solari. To complete it, they need the Mercury Stone and the Sun Stone, having the Jupiter Stone already. On their journey, though, to get into the town where these reside, they have to deliver two creatures called Por Vora to a mine run by the town's self-imposed leader, Goblet. As you would expect, this doesn't go quite as planned since the Por Vora are creatures that explode when subjected to vibrations and such. Couple that with the arrival of Izarra, a young lady with a huge grudge against Goblet who also wants to take hold of the Por Vora and get revenge, you have mishaps aplenty just waiting to happen.

Izarra is definitely a well-rounded supporting character, and she's very well-written in this episode. She plays off of Jing extremely well while Kir does his usual gawking at the latest Jing girl, and watching the three of them travel together makes for some very entertaining viewing. Then there are the Por Vora themselves, who are the sweetest, and strangest, creatures I've seen in a long time. They do nothing but make silly noises (rather like a Pokemon), but strangely enough the expressions on their faces never really change much. While it's sad watching one of them sacrifice itself, it's quite odd (and eerie, I might add) watching it with what is almost a grin on its face. The story plays out really nicely in the end with some solid backstory tying in the grudge that drives the ending, making this is an easy favourite.

The following episode takes a completely different approach, by leaving Jing out of most of the proceedings and focussing on Kir. In search of the Treasure of the Trembling Heart, the pair travel to the island of Coco Oco, a town that's renowned for creating musical instruments, so much so that even stepping onto the train platform is like stepping onto the keys of a piano. A short time after arriving, Jing and Kir have a trivial disagreement and Kir flies off to have fun on the beach... only to almost drown while surfing. He's "rescued" by the most unlikely Jing girl yet, a single young lady called Mimosa who's as clumsy as can be. Kir spends a lot of time with her, and gradually they become quite affectionate towards each other. But her heart lies with Russian, who just happens to get himself into trouble, leaving the rescue up to our heroes.

Another fun outing, the highlight of this episode is seeing the more caring side of Jing as he cooks, cleans and really looks after Mimosa. It's hard not to feel for the little bird as he falls for her but knows she's in love with Russian, and it's really sweet seeing him try to get them together despite the fact that they argue every time they meet. While the plot is certainly contrived at times (such as the reason for Jing and Kir separating being rather stupid, and the two not talking when they see each other really being a little too childish), the characters make up for it here, with another nicely rounded supporting cast and some good work with Jing and Kir when they're not at each other's throats.

In comparison to the first two, the final episode, "The Lullaby of the Por Vora" pales slightly. Jing and Kir go to Bluwari, which just happens to be the essential "home" of the Por Vora, where a young girl called Elixir plays their guardian. She does everything in her power to ensure they're kept safe, but when a group of villains invades, well, it's all left up to Jing and Kir (isn't it always?).

It's not that this episode is anything bad, it just plays out quite slowly and over the course of the twenty-odd minutes, not really all that much happens. While the presence of Jing and Kir is enough to lift any episode above some other series, it's a disappointment in Jing when the main supporting character, Elixir, isn't really all that interesting. It's also a shame that the villains don't really get much fleshing out at all, and end up pretty much as your standard plot device. The presence of the Por Vora is always welcome though, as they can never fail to amuse in certain situations (witness the young female who takes a liking to Jing), and help raise the episode above something that wouldn't otherwise be quite as much fun.

One of the interesting things I found across these episodes is that a couple of famous Japanese voice actresses make an appearance as the Jing girls on the Japanese track. Fan favourite Maaya Sakamato (RahXephon, Escaflowne) appears in episode nine as Mimosa, while Kotono Mitsuishi (Noir, Utena) plays Izarra in episode eight. It might not be a seller for some but it's something that certainly caught my eye as the credits rolled.

In Summary:
As a series, Jing has firmly slipped into something of its own formula, but it rarely fails to entertain. You always get the Kir Royale, a supporting character or two (at least one female) who gets the focus, little overall plot, and yet I can't help but find the series compelling. The episodes here are great fun, and the disc is of the top quality you've come to expect from ADV, so it's a "highly recommended" from me.

Features
Japanese Language,English Language,English Subtitles,Clean Opening,Clean Closing,Production Sketches

Review Equipment
Philips 28" Pure Flat Widescreen TV, Pioneer DV-464 code free DVD player, JVC gold-plated RGB SCART cable, standard stereo sound.