Lady Blue is one of those rare occasions when the sequel is actually better than the original series. For one thing, Lady Blue spends more time developing the plot rather than unleashing an endless supply of tentacles on Miko and company. Then there's also the more refined visual style that the series employs.

Lady Blue is about Miko's first love. Miko meets a young man named Hidemasa outside her apartment building, and it's love at first sight... well, for Miko anyway. But before Miko can bask in the warmth of her newly awakened feelings, Fubuki reports that something is very wrong in the Shikima realm. Miko's parents are being tortured by the sound of flutes playing, and nobody knows why. Miko and Fubuki investigate and find out that there's actually a love story behind it, for the flutes belonged to a bethrothed couple (Kyoshiro and Shanahime) 400 years ago... but treachery got in the way, so their love was never realized. The flutes are now cursed, and Miko's dream guy Hidemasa is kidnapped by the vengeful Shanahime in order to resurrect her Kyoshiro.

Lady Blue has a nicely conceptualized plot, but I didn't find it as intriguing as I should have. In fact, I had this irresistible urge to fast-forward through the scenes so that I could see how it was going to end and get it over with. Perhaps it was the incessant shouting and screaming of the female characters, or the overly redundant speeches about getting revenge... but I just could not appreciate Lady Blue fully.

The art and animation have improved a lot over the original series. Miko and Fubuki look a lot more striking in this installment, and I really loved the character design for Shanahime. Sex scenes are depicted graphically, but they are not nearly as hardcore as the original series. I noticed that the tentacle scenes are milder, and the frequency of sexual scenes has been reduced dramatically. Unlike its predecessor, Lady Blue isn't sex-every-five-minutes. The English dubbing is very annoying. All the shrilly female voices made my ears hurt, so you're really better off watching this subtitled.

If you liked La Blue Girl, you'll probably like Lady Blue. But if you only liked La Blue Girl for the sex, you might find Lady Blue a bit lacking.

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