skysenshi (08.25.2002)
Gawd, how I wished for censorship!
Perhaps it's time for me to admit that this is not my lucky month. It must be because of the Chinese belief that August is the month of souls and the dead. How else would you explain the barrage of sickening H themes that I've been burdened with lately? I almost want to wring my fiancé's neck for choosing hentai titles based solely on art. Darn those deceptive covers and well-written plot summary!

To understand what I am ranting about, it's as simple as this: E'L ("Air" in the original Japanese version that I've seen) has a decent storyline ala The Matrix, but you have to have a strong stomach to last through the hentai scenes. My biggest regret was that I did not watch it via my computer's DVD-ROM drive so that I can easily skip scenes without having to look out for the time to stop skipping. Watching it through a regular player, pressing the fast forward button didn't do much as I was still able to get a glimpse of the blood that came out of a poor victim as she was pierced in various parts of her body. The torture sequences were long and drawn-out and I believe that they were totally unnecessary. The worst part of it is that every volume has at least 2 different torture scenarios, featuring different girls subjected to various methods of punishment. What person who isn't a loser would want to see someone so soft and helpless being treated to enema while getting herself pierced with various electrically charged pins and other devices? It's enough to kill any hot-blooded viewer's sexual appetite. If my fiancé hadn't been such a nice and gentle person both in words and deed, I swear E'L would probably make me think that all men are nothing but brutes—lacking in sexual skills, and clueless about how to handle the creatures who gave birth to them.

The art is fine. It would have been better had the colors not been too bright and shiny. The music is cute, but as expected of many anime (even the regular ones), one can do away with listening to bubblegum pop. Listeners, beware! The "I Love You Forever" theme song has a nasty habit of lingering in your head and making you sing it out loud.

The plot has a lot of potential, as every volume offers a different story while presenting the same set of characters. If you have played Emi's Fantasies, you will probably get my meaning. The events make me think of playing RPGs, where you, the player, choose your characters and determine their paths.