Kodocha (Kodomo No Omocha) - Child's Toy DVD#1
Kodocha has been often described as Marmalade Boy on acid. It is at once silly and touching, with many a scene of utter chaos interspersed with all the pure emotion of a good melodrama, with jumbled relationships crammed together with zany situations and characters. At the top of the list is Sana herself, who can lay a pretty fair claim to the title of the most hyperactive character of the mid 1990s. No amount of reviewing text can effectively convey exactly how hyper she is, but the fact that she recaps each episode's events with a light-speed rap just might. (No amount of Ritalin can cure this spaz.) Not to mention the purely random appearances of the show's mascot, Babbit. Then there's Rei, "her manager, boyfriend, and pimp" (Sana's definition: he's the man she gives her money to. That's what a pimp is, right?) His idea of defensive driving is a five-mile-an-hour jaunt. Then there's Sana's mercurial mom, wearer of bizarre hats that are home to the family's pet squirrel, Maro-chan. (That's right, Raph, pet *squirrel*.) And we haven't even left the house. The silliness continues at school, with the junior high boys blackmailing the teachers so they can keep the status quo: general chaos, of course. When Sana-chan tries to intervene, the results are clever and hilarious, while at times quite touching, as they learn slowly how to deal with each other as human beings rather than as the "evil" opposite genders. Not to mention the crazy children's show Sana stars in (conveniently named - what else - "Kodomo no Omocha"), complete with Zenjirou, a parody on the too-wacky hosts of real-life Japanese variety shows. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the put upon Hayama Akito, the ultimate straight man surrounded by raving maniacs. Though even he may occasionally instigate a few acts of senseless weirdness to alleviate his boredom, he is everything Sana *doesn't* think he is. When you see the ears and tail pop up though, he's about to do something sneaky. Still, Hayama hardly deserves the label of "devil boy", especially given his home life. This is where the story gets dead serious - the storyline often discusses very hard-hitting themes such as child abuse, divorced parents, teenage pregnancy, homelessness, and adoption. It's not all fun and games for Sana and her friends, and often, Sana's mischief is the only thing keeping the series and its characters from spiraling into depression. Thankfully, it hasn't yet, and probably never will. That's for the best. {above courtesy of Themanime.org} I've been a fan of "Kodocha" for a while, and decided to begin watching it again now that Funimation has licensed it. The main characters Sano and Akito are voiced by a familiar pair, Laura Bailey and Jerry Jewell (Fruits Basket, Tohru and Kyo.......), with Zanjiro being "oddly" voiced by Sonny Straight. Considering the acid induced pacing of the show and Sana's "genki-ness" it's still a series I strongly recommend you view in japanese with subs *first* to get a better idea of what the voice actors were up against in pulling off a not-too-bad english dub. My only complaint with the Funimation dub really stems from the fact Laura Bailey had her work cut out for her trying to keep up with the energy level of Sana. The other complaint comes down to pricing. $20 for 3 episodes, of a 102 episode series....I may never bother getting the whole series in english... Still, this is one of the best series of the 90's, one that many later series owe their existence to. It's very unique, and very good. Highly recommended. note: the one fansub floating around the net uses .srt softsubs, and has some of the worst translations of japanese in the universe. Won't be an issue if your like me and only lean on subs for missing context because your japanese sucks. :P
Kodocha has been often described as Marmalade Boy on acid. It is at once silly and touching, with many a scene of utter chaos interspersed with all the pure emotion of a good melodrama, with jumbled relationships crammed together with zany situations and characters. At the top of the list is Sana herself, who can lay a pretty fair claim to the title of the most hyperactive character of the mid 1990s. No amount of reviewing text can effectively convey exactly how hyper she is, but the fact that she recaps each episode's events with a light-speed rap just might. (No amount of Ritalin can cure this spaz.) Not to mention the purely random appearances of the show's mascot, Babbit. Then there's Rei, "her manager, boyfriend, and pimp" (Sana's definition: he's the man she gives her money to. That's what a pimp is, right?) His idea of defensive driving is a five-mile-an-hour jaunt. Then there's Sana's mercurial mom, wearer of bizarre hats that are home to the family's pet squirrel, Maro-chan. (That's right, Raph, pet *squirrel*.) And we haven't even left the house. The silliness continues at school, with the junior high boys blackmailing the teachers so they can keep the status quo: general chaos, of course. When Sana-chan tries to intervene, the results are clever and hilarious, while at times quite touching, as they learn slowly how to deal with each other as human beings rather than as the "evil" opposite genders. Not to mention the crazy children's show Sana stars in (conveniently named - what else - "Kodomo no Omocha"), complete with Zenjirou, a parody on the too-wacky hosts of real-life Japanese variety shows. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the put upon Hayama Akito, the ultimate straight man surrounded by raving maniacs. Though even he may occasionally instigate a few acts of senseless weirdness to alleviate his boredom, he is everything Sana *doesn't* think he is. When you see the ears and tail pop up though, he's about to do something sneaky. Still, Hayama hardly deserves the label of "devil boy", especially given his home life. This is where the story gets dead serious - the storyline often discusses very hard-hitting themes such as child abuse, divorced parents, teenage pregnancy, homelessness, and adoption. It's not all fun and games for Sana and her friends, and often, Sana's mischief is the only thing keeping the series and its characters from spiraling into depression. Thankfully, it hasn't yet, and probably never will. That's for the best. {above courtesy of Themanime.org} I've been a fan of "Kodocha" for a while, and decided to begin watching it again now that Funimation has licensed it. The main characters Sano and Akito are voiced by a familiar pair, Laura Bailey and Jerry Jewell (Fruits Basket, Tohru and Kyo.......), with Zanjiro being "oddly" voiced by Sonny Straight. Considering the acid induced pacing of the show and Sana's "genki-ness" it's still a series I strongly recommend you view in japanese with subs *first* to get a better idea of what the voice actors were up against in pulling off a not-too-bad english dub. My only complaint with the Funimation dub really stems from the fact Laura Bailey had her work cut out for her trying to keep up with the energy level of Sana. The other complaint comes down to pricing. $20 for 3 episodes, of a 102 episode series....I may never bother getting the whole series in english... Still, this is one of the best series of the 90's, one that many later series owe their existence to. It's very unique, and very good. Highly recommended. note: the one fansub floating around the net uses .srt softsubs, and has some of the worst translations of japanese in the universe. Won't be an issue if your like me and only lean on subs for missing context because your japanese sucks. :P