King of Bandit Jing

[areaseven]

Ou Dorobou Jing ( 王ドロボウJing（ジン） )

Studio DEEN/Aniplex/NHK/SME Visual Works, 2002

ADV Films, 2003

Directed by Hiroshi Watanabe (Star Ocean EX, Video Girl Ai)

Rated 13+ for violence, slight nudity, mature situations and strong language.

Based on the manga by Yuichi Kumakura (published in the U.S. by TOKYOPOP). Jing may appear to be a young boy, but his remarkable skills make him one of the most feared thieves on the planet. Along with his feathered partner Kir, Jing travels from town to town, stealing anything of value regardless of the amount of security. But when he's in a pinch, he has one more trick up his sleeve: Kir bonds with Jing's right arm to perform the effectively deadly "Kir Royale" attack. And because of all this, Jing is infamously known by many as the "King of Bandits."

Story: B

Starting with the first episode, it's evident that you won't take this title seriously. While there isn't much of a storyline on the series, King of Bandit Jing makes up for it with some good action and a fair amount of comedy.

Animation: B-

The artwork is good and the animation is okay. Nothing else to talk about, though. Character designs by Mariko Oka (Matantei Loki Ragnarok).

Soundtrack: B+

Aside from the catchy opening "Shout it Loud" and the ending theme "Sha La La", rock band Scudelia Electro supplies a decent musical score. Not Trigun material, but still worth a listen.

Sub vs. Dub

King of Bandit Jing features Mitsuki Saiga (Tsukasa in .hack//SIGN, Junior in R.O.D -The TV-) as Jing, Ryusei Nakao (Freeza in Dragon Ball Z) as Kir, Shinichiro Miki (Allen in Escaflowne, Shannon in Scrapped Princess) as Postino, Tomohisa Asou as Cognac, Daisuke Gouri (Mari in Project A-Ko, Edmond Honda in Street Fighter II: The Movie) as Vodka, Reiko Suzuki as the old woman, Sakura Nogawa (Kaorin in Azumanga Daioh, Tsubasa in Angel Tales) as Cidre, Yuko Kato as Cidre's mother, Yukari Tamura (Lu in Miami Guns, Ichigo in Please Teacher!/Please Twins) as Rose, and Yui Horie (Jubei-chan 2, Naru in Love Hina) as Mirabelle.

There's a reason why ADV Films doesn't use Monster Island (GetBackers, Mazinkaiser) so much for their English dubs: the voice acting is awfully flat on this one.

DVD Extras: B

Disc 1 features production sketches and clean opening & ending sequences.

The Bottom Line

For a shonen anime that doesn't offer much, King of Bandit Jing is pretty enjoyable. Go rent it and see for yourself.

Links

Official King of Bandit Jing Homepage (Japanese)

ADV Films' Official King of Bandit Jing Homepage

Reference

Anime News Network