I assume Spirit of Wonder was intended to be a series of shorts based on an anthology manga.  Unfortunately, it was not meant to be, as Spirit of Wonder only ran for one OVA episode, Miss China’s Ring.  AKA Miss China no Yuutsu, or The Melancholy of Miss China.  FYI, Miss China is not God, but… well, you’ll find out.

We open with Dr. Breckenridge sneaking into his room, trying to avoid main character and stickler landlord Miss China.  I promise she’s not at all related to Master Asia.

As you can imagine, he doesn’t do a great job of it.

We soon learn just enough backstory to get by.  Miss China runs a Chinese restaurant (that serves English food…) and Dr. Breckenridge lives on the second floor (and owes rent money).

Breckenridge is sure his financial woes are behind him once he impresses some investors with his new invention.  Apparently, an old man in a beat-up looking room claiming to be able to travel to the moon doesn’t sound like a solid investment opportunity.

Hopefully by now you’ll have realized how mousey Miss China looks.  I don’t want to say she isn’t sexy, but… well, let’s just say she’s disappointingly average for an often-sexualized fetish fuel archetype.  Modern anime has spoiled us, I suppose.

The doctor has a young assistant named Jim, who China obviously has a crush on, since she clearly gets jealous after seeing him get friendly with the girl at the flower stand.

While the doc works on building his current project to get everyone on Earth to take him seriously, Jim tries to get on China’s good side and gives her a birthday gift, which isn’t all that great an idea when she’s drunk.

China gets all emotional and throws Tim’s gift right back at him before passing out.

Jim and Breckenridge put their plan into motion while China continues moping over Jim’s alleged flirting.  It’s amazing how long this plot point drags on.

Are you ready?  Here’s the kicker regarding the Doc and Jim.  Their problem is that no one is willing to back their inventions because no one is taking them seriously.  So they plan to force everyone to take them seriously AND cheer China up at the same time because… f it, there’s no reason not for those two to mysteriously overlap.  What’s their master stroke?

By carving a message into the freaking moon.

It’s a major surprise to China, who isn’t sure how the hell they managed such a feat.  But the rest of the world?  No one has the courage to admit such a ridiculous message is actually on the moon, and it’s dismissed as an optical illusion.

Let’s not even start on what the country of China likely thought of it.

Oh, and the Doc let slip that Jim’s gift was a ring crafted out of moonstone.  So now, instead of being emotional about thinking Jim’s with the flower girl, she’s emotional because she broke Jim’s gift.

Miss China’s ass-kicking prowess suffers as a result of her lowered demeanor, and she fails to beat up a purse thief.  Tragic.

Once more we’re hit by the fact that the public isn’t willing to accept that some crazed fools defaced the moon.

THIS CAN ONLY END WELL.

The duo once again plot a two-fer to fix both their problems.  That’s right, they’re going to once again try to get the respect of the world AND cheer up Miss China.  How?

I mean, they can’t just deface the moon again, right?  Nope.  Jim tells China he’s going to make a new ring for her and tells her to meet up the next night.

And he confesses that the reason he spent so much time with Lily the flower girl is because he’s been buying illegal parts from her.  Oooookay….

Oh, that’s right!  The reveal about how they’ve been traveling to the moon!

Actually, it’s not technically travel as much as it is creating a miniature double of the moon, which they can manipulate, and the effects are exactly the same on the actual moon.  It’s actually pretty brilliant in its ridiculousness.

And with this technology under their belt, what will they do?

They plan to BLOW UP THE MOON AND TURN IT INTO EARTH’S RING.

After Miss China berates them because it can’t possibly work, they convince her they absolutely can and point out the scribbles she herself wrote on the duplicate moon appearing on the real moon.

At this point, any sane person would say, no, don’t do that because the gesture should be good enough.  But we’re not dealing with sane people.  She gives them the OK to blow up the freaking moon.

When their special moon-busting machine fails to succeed, they beg Miss China to finish it off with her ass-kicking powers, and she happily obliges.

She.  Freaking.  Kicks.  The Moon.  Into Dust.

And from that day on, the Earth had a ring around it named Miss China’s Ring.

Also, Jim started helping Miss China out in the restaurant while Dr. Breckenridge continues to owe her money.  Because, who would’ve thunk it, there’s no profit to be made in destroying the moon.

Comedy: 3
I have to say, it’s pretty freaking hilarious.  Not quite up to modern standards, but as the premise unfolds, the sheer ridiculousness of it can’t help but make you laugh.  Aside from that, it has some overdone gags sprinkled here and there, so it really isn’t great for much else than that premise.

Pleasure Rating: No Regrets
It’s actually pretty disappointing considering I was so sure I stumbled across a real gem when I picked it up.  It’s no long-forgotten masterpiece, but hey… it’s entertaining enough.

Rewatchability: 2
It’s a fun and short story.  I certainly wouldn’t mind watching it again if for nothing else but to show it to someone else.

Music: Vaguely Sonic 1-ish
The music is only MOSTLY forgettable, but what few tracks stood out were pretty damn good listens.

Marketability: 2
Like I said, none of the characters are particularly cute or have any striking designs.  I mean, they have some unique looks, but they clearly lack that manufactured mainstream appeal look.  Which isn’t a bad thing at all, and it has its own charm, but… well, you see the result.  Just one episode.  It’s about now where I should point out that the “Marketability” rating isn’t necessarily an indicator of quality.  There’s actually a decent chance I could be sickened by an anime with a Marketability rating of 5, especially if it’s blatant otaku bait trash.

FYI, there’s a newer (2001) Spirit of Wonder anime out there, even including a couple of new Miss China episodes.  From what few clips I’ve seen of it, it’s a lot more polished and Miss China is a great deal more sexualized… which is sadly a necessity if Spirit of Wonder has any chance at success.  If you look at scans of the original manga, you would see it’s actually overflowing in charm and so incredibly beautiful… so while the sexualization makes it more accessible, it also vastly cheapens it.  The cheap CG doesn’t help either.  The newer anime also has a whole moon in the sky, which disappoints me for some reason.  But even so, some of the original’s charm seeps through.  While I try to find some way to acquire the DVD, I urge you to watch the same short I watched just now while typing this review up.  It’s called “Sake Cup of Miss China.”

 

 

I have to say, I’m surprised that an anime this new has some callbacks that only people who watched the original would get, which I honestly don’t think is all that many.  It gives me some hope for a successful Ruin Explorers reboot.

One day, Ihrie.  One day we’ll find some way to bring you back.