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Here are a couple links to my friend MSbooths HK movie reviews.  To see more of MSbooths reviews visit the Hong Kong Movie database

• Review of Sword, The (1980) on 2001-06-02
• Review of Swordsman (1990) on 2001-05-27
• Review of Vampire Combat, The (2001) on 2001-06-12
• Review of Once Upon a Time in China V (1994) on 2001-05-
• Review of Mr. Vampire Saga Four (1988) on 2001-06-13
• Review of Fatal Flying Guillotines, The (1977) on 2001-06-13
• Review of Fearless Hyena, The (1979) on 2001-09-26
• Review of She Shoots Straight (1990) on 2001-12-19
• Review of Wicked City, The (1992) on 2002-02-25

Magical Dynasty Girl

PAI PAI  

    Three young teens without a mother, need to find a housekeeper, as their adventurer father is about to leave for an expedition! They place a classified ad and come up empty handed. As they return home discouraged, they notice a pair of woman’s shoes at their front door. Who could they belong to? Could this be their new housekeeper? Just as they are about to introduce themselves to the young lady in their living room, their father is out the door! She introduces herself as Pai Pai. Can she take care of these teens and keep her identity a secret? Will they find out that she really is a chinese fairy? Can she defeat the evil forces chasing her from beyond the grave? She must battle demons and wizards, not to mention, laundry and house chores! This delightful series will warm your heart and make you laugh till it hurts!

Starring the lovely Natsuki Ozawa, fresh from her role as Miko on “Hana no Asukagumi”, this fresh look at the magical girl genre sent rockets flying from the instant I saw it. It’s simple premise; Pai Pai, daughter of the King Xiao Lon Bao, is betrothed since birth to the evil and cunning Master Chu. On her wedding night, she finally declares her hatred for her fiance, after all, she is only 16. She escapes to Earth and disguises herself as a transfer student. With no place to go, she decides to take a job as a nanny for the three young boys of a widowed archaeologist. Nothing goes smoothly at first. The boys do not trust her, she is not able to cook well at all, and hiding her secret identity from the little twerps is a job in itself. Of course when no one is looking she uses her magic pendant and gets any job done.

The boys’ aunt, Yoshiko, a cut-rate witch herself, constantly interferes with Pai Pai and the boys. She has an immediate dislike for Pai Pai and she knows it. She is always trying to prove that Pai Pai is a devil and messing things up for her. In one episode,Yoshiko is used as a pawn by the dastardly Master Chu in a plan to defeat and capture Pai Pai once and for all. She is possessed, well, she appears with white face make-up, crazy lipstick & eye make-up, sporting a metallic coated cape and even having the power to control lightning! In the end Pai Pai defeats Yoshiko, unharmed, and makes her escape just in time to reappear in the civillian clothes and save the boys. In the end Yoshiko and Pai Pai declare a truce not to give up each others secrets.

Knowing full well that his daughter could be in danger on the Earth, King Xiao Lon Bao send two of his loyal yet bumbling servants down to Earth to help Pai Pai. Shumai, a short wizard from Xiao Lon Bao’s court, is a comedian with a bad sense of humor, with more than an affluence for toilet humor. Harumaki, is a tall warrior of the court who is genuine in his heart to save the king’s daughter. He is the quieter of the two, but they both yap alot. They always seem to interfere with Pai Pai’s spells and end up helpingher with her Earthly tasks rather than haul her ass off back to China’s Underworld.

Will they ever discover her secret you ask? They do indeed. In the final episode, Master Chu has finally gained enough magical power to manifest himself on Earth. He chases her allover Tokyo until She breaks the protective seal on her wand and conjures an electromagnetic storm sending him to a parallel universe. Even Yoshiko helps her to save the day by constantly beating and bopping Chu’s henchmen on the head with any of the archaeologists rare antiquities she can get her hands on. After defeating Chu, Pai Pai realizes that she can no longer stay here on Earth, as her secret identity has been discovered by the boys. She leaves the heartbroken group with tears in her eyes.

Being a children’s show aimed at young girls, the special effects are used sparingly and are not too good., but they suffice. On the other hand, the costumes and sets used in the program are top notch, as are the opening and ending themes. They are light hearted and catchy, you WILL find yourself humming them afetr a few episodes.

This show proved popular enough to warrant a sequel, Magical Girl Chinese Ipanema. This time around, Ipanema, another daughter of the chinese underworld court, lands on Earth in order to locate her parents, tricked into being turned into animals by Chu’s relative Man Fu.

 STUPID GAMES . ARCADE . CONSOLE . FILM&ANIME . WHO R THE JIVE? . ALBERT'S CORNER . FOR SALE . DOWNLOADS . LINKS

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COOL!  picture made by the BOMB!