Stealthily creeping onto blu-ray is the anime movie Mirage Queen Prefers Circus courtesy of Sentai Filmworks. Keep your eye on the prize and try not get caught!
Queen is a mysterious thief no one has ever seen. S/he is a master of disguise, can get into the most secure places with ease and has set their eyes on a valuable gem named the Rose of Linden which Queen wishes to return to its rightful owners in Egypt where it was originally stolen from. Unfortunately a devious group of circus performers beats Queen to the punch and steals it first. Queen, with the aid of her compatriot Joker, must now infiltrate the circus to get the gem back while avoiding the eyes of the police and roving reporters. Can Queen pull it off and get away scot-free?
Mirage Queen is what I assume is a pretty popular series of novels in Japan given the first book has been adapted into this OVA with the second adaptation already announced. It’s a little bit of a shame that it only gets the 60-minute OVA treatment as it does feel a little rushed in places. It has the same kind of light, spirited crime antics of Detective Conan and Lupin III with the added Mission Impossible-esque hook of Queen being able to disguise themselves as literally anyone within seemingly a matter of seconds. It’s not clear whether this power is supernatural in nature as it is never really explained. In fact, that’s just one of the many things not really explained in much detail like why is this Joker guy following Queen? Why do they fly around in a giant zeppelin? Where did Queen get this RD AI that also assists? Of course, the intent I’m sure is to build this out more over the future installments. Anyway, taken for what it is, Mirage Queen Prefers Circus is still a pretty entertaining adventure that flies by just a little too quickly to leave a big impact. I did like that it begins with Queen having the jewel stolen out from under them, setting a precedent that they aren’t some kind of infallible super thief who always has the upper hand, which this could have easily teetered into. The character designs aren’t really my cup of tea, leaning a little too hard into a more shoujo style than I prefer with tall, angular characters with pointy features. Still, it’s not a bad way to spend an hour, and I’m sure I’ll watch future releases of it.
The transfer is nice and clean as one would expect of a recent, medium budget direct-to-video feature and the disc includes an unobtrusive Japanese DTS-HD 2.0 stereo track. I actually think this release could’ve use a dub. With proper marketing, Mirage Queen could be another Detective Conan/Case Closed kind of success that could air on the Cartoon Network. Oh well. As for extras, it’s a big fat nada. It’s a very skimpy disc but at least it’s priced reasonably.
While Mirage Queen isn’t what I’d call a masterpiece, and at 60 minutes it feels too rushed, it is still a fun time with potential for more long-term enjoyment in future adaptations.