The Qwaser of Stigmata: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		1.5

The Qwaser of Stigmata: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Booby trap.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 27, 2014

An old joke used to go something like “I only read Playboy for the articles,” when of course “reading” and what really was being scanned by the eyes were two totally different things. There might be something analogous to be said for The Qwaser of Stigmata, where some anime fans might insist they only watch the show for its incredibly complex and arcane verbiage and quasi- mythological and religious subtexts, when what they’re really trying to distract from is that this anime virtually wallows in some of the most over the top fan service imaginable. This is a show where boobs don’t just jiggle in almost 3D splendor aimed directly at the viewer, they burst from their blouses in full frontal nudity, with an almost fetishistic emphasis on nipples. In fact breast milk and suckling are a major part of this series, as are nonstop panty shots which are—how to phrase this delicately for a family site?—rather explicitly molded around the female anatomy. There is in other words a lot going on in The Qwaser of Stigmata, for better or worse, and the curious mash up of elements like Christian iconography with (okay, let’s toss delicacy aside) rampant cameltoe is certainly provocative, to say the least. In fact for all the noise and fury in any given The Qwaser of Stigmata episode, it’s this rather outrageous combination of ideas and images that gives the series whatever shock value it attains. On one level, The Qwaser of Stigmata is “just” another battle themed anime, with various combatants calling out “spells” of a sort (in this case related to chemical elements). On another level, there is (as incredible as this may sound, given the foregoing descriptions) a shōnen aspect to the series, with the trials and tribulations of two picked upon girls in a hoity toity academic institution providing grist for the anime mill. But suffused through all of this is an almost insanely complex level of terms and even ideas, all filtered through at times positively unbelievable levels of fan service.

The two main female characters in The Qwaser of Stigmata are auburn haired Mafuyu Oribe and the beyond buxom Tomo Yamanobe, a girl whose blood supply is evidently so busy feeding her bust that it hasn’t provided much energy to her brain. Mafuyu was adopted more or less by Tomo’s father, the former Dean of the school the two attend and who has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Mafuyu is Tomo’s protector and guardian since Tomo can barely put together a comprehensible sentence. The two girls are social outcasts at their academy, and seem to be special objects of derision by the current Dean’s daughter, Miyuri Tsujidō.

Things begin to change for the girls when they literally stumble across a body on their way home from school one day. Tomo falls directly on the inert person, completing burying the poor individual with her ample bosom. It’s typical of The Qwaser of Stigmata’s general approach that this scene offers both a “point of view” shot of Tomo’s humongous boobs dangling toward the screen and almost suffocating the person underneath, not to mention a completely gratuitous shot of Tomo’s panties that offer a hint of that aspect of her anatomy. In traditional ecchi fashion, when the person underneath Tomo tries to get up, thereby becoming even more ensconced in Tomo’s boobs, the girls cry “Pervert!”

The girls take their “victim” home, initially confused as to whether the unconscious individual is a boy or a girl (something that plays into the plot quite a bit a later). It turns out to be a kind of small, elfish silver haired boy named Alexander Hell, who is often called (against his wishes) Sasha. Alexander turns out to have a few secrets of his own, as is soon detailed in one of the series’ requisite (and ultimately redundant) battle scenes, where he shows up to save the day when Mafuyu is taken prisoner in a chapel where Tomo’s father’s paintings (religious icons) are housed and which is mysteriously on fire. In order for Alexander to completely vanquish his foe, however, he needs to suckle so-called soma from the breast of a young woman, and so the whole breastfeeding angle is introduced, another aspect which becomes a recurrent motif in the series.

Though The Qwaser of Stigmata simply tosses terms out into the universe expecting the viewer to somehow divine what they mean, it finally becomes clear that the villains of the show are attempting to locate a religious icon called the Theotokos of Tsaritsyn, an illumination depicting Mary (guess what?) breastfeeding Jesus. There’s a whole lot of needlessly arcane terminology bandied about as this plot point unfolds, very little of which is overtly explained, which raises a salient question: why even bother? The series seems to be intent on provoking reactions with its ubiquitously brazen fan service and outright fetishism, which then begs the question as to why The Qwaser of Stigmata needs all the messy (and overly convoluted) plot points to begin with.

There’s obviously an audience for this sort of intentionally provocative material, though it’s notable that The Qwaser of Stigmata’s original broadcast run was evidently highly censored in Japan, a country that hasn’t been overly shy about anime which don’t just push the envelope, they rip it to shreds and throw it in the viewer’s face. There are so many odd elements in this series that some are frankly going to be absolutely repulsed by, though, that one ultimately has to wonder if the creative staff behind the show (which admittedly has its roots in a pre-existing manga) wanted not to just provoke, but to offend.

The major thing that personally gives me pause is there is the glimmer of an interesting concept buried underneath the unceasing pulchritude. Traditional amounts of fan service don’t really bother me (though frankly they also don’t titillate me, either), but this show is so relentlessly outrageous in its depictions of everything from bondage (and other S&M elements) to various sexual acts (including some surprisingly graphic scenes) that any “analysis” of the underlying plot almost becomes laughable. Shock value is one thing, but The Qwaser of Stigmata evidently has pretensions to offer something more. Ultimately, it doesn’t.

The Qwaser of Stigmata: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Qwaser of Stigmata is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The anime is rather pretty at times, though it exploits somewhat hackneyed approaches like contrast boosted, overly brightened and softened looking sequences to delineate flashbacks. The palette employed is extremely wide, with deep purples and reds contrasting nicely with subtler, almost pastel tinged hues in the pink and green range. Line detail is generally precise and character designs are decent (though those who come to the show for its fan service will probably find them excellent). There are a couple of recurrent issues, including the seemingly unavoidable banding that has continually afflicted a lot of anime releases (not just by Sentai Filmworks). The biggest issue here is with image instability—there's very noticeable judder at times when, for example, the camera pans across a scene.

The Qwaser of Stigmata: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Qwaser of Stigmata lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track (in Japanese only—no English dub is included) is quite forceful at times, offering a good range of frequencies in battle scenes which typically include a lot of sound effects. Dialogue is cleanly presented as well, and dynamic range is extremely wide. Fidelity remains excellent throughout the series, and there are no problems to report.

Note: Probably because this release only includes a Japanese track, subtitles are forced. I prefer my screenshots not to have subtitles in them if at all possible, so fans of the series may note that the screenshots included with this review don't feature all of the prominent main characters. It was simply impossible to find discrete moments with some of these characters on screen when there weren't subtitles on the screen at the same time.

The Qwaser of Stigmata: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc Two:

• Clean Opening Animations (1080p; 1:32 and 1:32)


• Clean Closing Animations (1080p; 1:42, 1:42 and 2:12)

Disc Three:

• Clean Opening Animation (1080p; 1:32)


• Clean Closing Animation (1080p; 1:42)

The Qwaser of Stigmata: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

To anyone who may love The Qwaser of Stigmata and is shocked—shocked!—that I haven't given it a rave review, blame it on my curmudgeonly old age. Frankly, fan service is not that big of a deal to me, but this show goes so totally beyond the norm in terms of what is typically thought of as fan service that I frankly wouldn't even call it traditional ecchi. This show contains some unbelievably graphic and disturbing elements that seem to be there only to offend. I'd say "mission accomplished," but I'm actually not offended—just kind of perplexed and, ultimately, bored. For those who do love the series, this release gives you both seasons in generally decent (if occasionally problematic) quality.