Curiouser and curiouser...

"Miyuki-chan in Wonderland" has long held a place in the hearts of the anime faithful worldwide, although it has been impossible to obtain outside of nth-generation fansubs until recently. Now, popular Japanese manga-ka CLAMP have an American release not only of the original Miyuki-chan short but the follow-up "mirrorland" short, and the sexy, goofy fun can be shared much more widely.

As the name suggests, "Miyuki-chan" is loosely based on Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," and the followup on his "Through the Looking-Glass". However, while some of the characters are the same, the mood and attitude definitely are not. Start with the fact that all of the characters are definitely and unrelentingly feminine. Not just female, but highly sexual as well, and most with an eye toward getting poor Miyuki-chan involved in their play!

This is not to say that "Miyuki-chan" is pornographic - far from it. Nothing detailed is shown, although a great deal is suggested! But if the suggestion of something forbidden can be even more interesting than its depiction, it explains why this film has been of interest to fanboys (and not a few fangirls) for years.

In addition to the thinly veiled sexual content, another point of interest to anime fans is the large number of extremely well known seiyuu (voice actresses) who had major or minor roles in this film. Kikuko Inoue (Ranma 1/2, Aa Megami-sama) is probably the best known in her role as the whips-and-leather toting red queen, but there are many others from Orikasa Ai (Tenchi Muyou, Shoujo Kakumei Utena) as the disturbingly catlike Cheshire Cat, to Nagashima Yuko (Rayearth, St, Tail) as the bunny who started the whole mess, and many others.

Unfortunately, the disc, while fast-paced, does not have much of a plot, basically detailing Miyuki's flight from one set of weird characters to the next. Much of the humor is based on allusions to the original Lews Carroll novel - so if you have never read it, or if your only exposure is to the Walt Disney Film, you might want to take some time to read it or you will miss some of the jokes.

Because of the high amount of sexual humor, this is not a film for children. Adults who have problems with sexual (and specifically with lesbian-oriented) humor might also be well-advised to stay away. However open-minded fans of anime will have a blast with this disc.