Oh! Edo Rocket, Part 1

This anime series takes place in mid-19th-century Edo (now Tokyo), where a government ban on all luxuries and public forms of entertainment (including fireworks) provides the impetus for illegal experiments by teen rebel Seikichi. With enforcers on his trail, Seikichi is hired by the beautiful Sora to build a rocket that can take her to the moon—her home, since she's actually the legendary Princess Moonbeam. Sora also has another wacky secret: she occasionally turns into a large white creature whose job it is to track down and capture a huge blue beast that is killing people in the woods. Other characters include a martial artist/locksmith hunting the animal on the part of an organization called the Men in Black, and a corrupt cop who's aiding and abetting the monster. Packed with crazy scenarios and offbeat plot twists, Oh! Edo Rocket nicely combines science fiction and slapstick to produce a genuinely charming and hilarious comedy. Compiling 13 episodes originally aired in 2007 in a dual-language, two-disc set, rated TV-MA, this is highly recommended. [Note: Oh! Edo Rocket, Part 2 is also newly available.] (P. Hall)