Phantom Thief Jeanne (1999– ) User Reviews

Loved it but hated the end

[Z-Trifonova · 8/10 · 9 July 2013]

This is one of the first anime that I've watched. The story is interesting and unique - mixing history with fantasy was a really good idea. Involving God was not my favorite part but still his presence was not obvious and not at all annoying. After Sailor Moon where I was disappointed by the obvious lack of difference between the characters and their transformed selves here I was satisfied that this mistake was avoided. The magical aspect of the story was intertwined with the personal qualities of the characters in a way that makes you believe things like this may happen for real. Not only that but the characters were well developed, too...which for such a short series is amazing. They had their story and you could easily understand where they are coming from and why they act the way they do. The only thing I didn't like in the anime was the ending...it wasn't supposed to end this way - for me it's just not finished but still there aren't going to be new seasons. Still I recommend this anime to everybody who like anime.

Interesting take on the "Magical Girl" anime genre.

[JG2001 · 17 November 2001]

Of the few episodes that I've seen, this show is very interesting. Although formulaic, it does certain things better than other series in the "Magical Girl" genre of anime. For instance, there is a conflict in the fact that although the heroine does her duty in destroying the evil forces, the police still come after her for the destroying priceless artifacts they possess in the process.

Another nice touch is the fact that creators actually provided a significant difference in the physical appearances of Kaitou Jeanne and her secret identity. Too often, the heroines in "Magical Girl" shows have followed the Clark Kent/Superman logic in that it should be blatantly obvious that the heroine and secret identity are the same person. However, Kaitou Jeanne and her alter-ego are distinguished by completely different hair styles. Still a minor change, yes, but more significant than most.

A series that would have deserved better

[arina-3 · 2/10 · 18 February 2006]

I first watched this show when it aired on a German channel. I liked the character design in the preview but was very disappointed after the first two episodes. The show had terrible animation and art in some episodes and it really spoiled the feeling. I never really liked the characters either. Chiaki was way too perverted and mean even for my taste, Fin was plain annoying, and Maron always seemed to me as a really stuck-up person (at least in this case it turned out, that she wasn't). The story itself was interesting, though I enjoyed some of the anime-originals better, then the manga-adaptations. The problems started around the second season of the show. They raised a few questions that got me hooked but got disappointed at the end. When I first watched the final episode, I was like "What the... THAT'S IT?" After all the angst and darkness it really came down to a simple ending which wasn't even really original. I didn't like Fin's background story, it was too simple and... corny, Maron had way too much "I'm alone" scenes that got really tiring, specially after she had already been reminded a hundred times, that she is not alone, and the ending was weak. The least they could have done was to give us a kiss or something. The main problem was that they had the monster-of-the-day episodes for too long, and only got down to business in the last 4 or 3 episodes. After watching KKJ some of my friends tried to get me to read the manga, saying, that it's way better, more complex, the characters emotions and background stories are more interesting, and more detailed, not to mention the end. Of course at that time I didn't want to hear about KKJ ever again, but after half a year of convincing, I finally gave in and read the manga... and boy, was I surprised! Maron became my favorite character, Chiaki one of my top favorite male characters and Fin one of my ultimate favorite female manga characters. And yes, Tanemura Arina became my favorite mangaka. So it was worth it. After reading her comments on the anime I can somewhat understand why this show turned out the way it did. This is a kids show. TOEI wanted to make a show that was understandable for kids. Some of the themes of the manga were to complex and/or mature for them so they changed it into a more simple storyline. I still don't like this show and would have been happier with a better adaptation of the manga (or a completely different storyline like in Full Moon wo Sagashite), but TOEI wanted to aim this show at a younger audience, and for them, this show was good enough. I personally would recommend the manga rather then the anime, or watching the anime first, because after the manga, the anime would look really simple and weak. Still, this series isn't a bad show. It's just nothing out of the ordinary. Like I once read in one of the many KKJ reviews, this series manages to stand out of the magical girl crowd for a moment, but only for a moment. It has it's good points, I loved the music, even if it was average, the transformations were lovely. Even if her character and motive changed, Fin looked cool in the last few episodes, and the opening and ending videos were really well done. I also liked some of the anime-originals, specially the one with Romeo and Juliet (even if this episode was one of those which had really bad art). It's not bad, but not really good either. Out of 10 I'd give it a 5.

The reincarnation of Joan of Arc

[supatra · 5 November 2001]

I have to admit that this anime attracts me with its tagline: The reincarnation of Joan of Arc. I discovered this anime last March 2001 (I'm quite slow, no? Given that it came out in 1999). And I'm fasinated because there had been 2 movies about Joan of Arc coming out in 1999. So this Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, or KKJ, is another show that is based on Joan of Arc in 1999.

WARNING: CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS...

This show, especially during the later part, mentions about Joan D'Arc a lot. In fact, the heroine actually TIME-TRAVELS to meet Joan D'Arc on the night of May 29th 1431 in Rouen! And I find that to be quite interesting.

Overall, I think it's a good series. In my opinion, the author of KKJ may have been interested in Joan D'Arc herself. And the notion of reincarnated Joan D'Arc is quite interesting, too.

Jeanne is the best!

[scyllaya · 28 February 2005]

The KKJ is one of the best animes I've ever seen. Marron is not an idiot, she's also cool, not just Jeanne. And all the characters are good. Chiaki/Sinbad, Fin and Axis. Noin also. It's not just an ordinary "Magical Girl" anime. It' something more, much more. The love between Marron and Chiaki. I don't know really why do I like this anime so much, but I think it is one of the bests. It has a really interesting story, I mean Joan d'Arc is a historical character. I think the best characters are Noin and Sinbad, I don't know exactly why. I suppose the anime is good because of the lifelike characters. If you didn't see it until now, then what are you waiting for? Watch it! Now!