Alice & Zoroku: The Complete Series

A premise built on familiar "magical girl" anime tropes receives a boost here via some fresh angles, particularly the substantial inclusion of adult characters (and emotions), instead of the usual high school/junior high milieu. Sana, a little girl (or, precisely, a life form who only outwardly resembles a little girl) with godlike powers, escapes from a joint Japanese/U.S. research lab where such wonders are studied and exploited. She finds an unlikely guardian in Zoroku, a crusty, elderly florist who takes her in and enforces parental discipline and chores. Zoroku is basically unfazed by the child’s awesome abilities and the pursuit of her by various secret-agent factions, one more or less benevolent, the other using similarly paranormal-equipped individuals to ruthlessly retrieve Sana, who is code-named The Red Queen (references to Alice in Wonderland abound). Apocalyptic and occasionally bloody showdowns alternate with more gentle, domestic elements in this engaging and touching anime (albeit one with some reality-bending confusion). Presenting all 12 episodes from 2017 in a dual-language Blu-ray/DVD Combo set, rated TV-14, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)