Jing, King of Bandits: Seventh Heaven is bursting with style and life. The characters and design of the world give Seventh Heaven what could almost be described as an Alice in Wonderland feeling. That is, if it were set in a nightmarish prison. Everything in Seventh Heaven is so varied and versatile in the way it morphs the overall mood when needed. The world changes from dark and brooding to bright and colorful without a care. The music sways back and forth from the insanity of the asylum to the peace and whimsy of a dream world. Even the characters themselves have some wonderfully done transitions from light to dark dispositions during their trials. The dub voice actors do their jobs well, and most people will relate the work done with Kir's voice to a certain famous Disney fowl.
The character of Jing comes off as a sort of a younger mash-up of Vash the Stampede and Spike Spiegel. He's cocky, carefree, cool, collected, and ultimately, curious. He might be a kid, but he always seems to know what he's doing, even when faced with some rather obtuse situations. His loudmouth bird sidekick, Kir, provides a good balance to his mostly relatively calm and quiet role.
There aren't many negative things to say about Jing, King of Bandits: Seventh Heaven. Granted, some of the situations are solved by Jing and Kir's signature move, the Kir Royale, for no reason besides pushing the story forward. Also, there's a small segment of cheesy CGI in one of the episodes; and a couple times where it looks like Jing is running in place and as the world moves around him. However, such lapses almost fit in with the dreamworld aspect of the story. In the end, Seventh Heaven is an incredibly fun ride. Not having to be familiar with the original TV series in order to get what's going on, it's hard to find a reason to pass this one up.
Rating: B+
