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Copyright © Takada Yuzo/Bannou Bunka Neko Musume Project/TV Tokyo
Character design: Kishimoto Seiji
Distributed by: King Records |
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—by Eric "Scanner" Luce
First there was the OVA series, then came the second OVA series, and
in the now-time-honored tradition of repeats, follow-ons and extensions
here is the BANNOU BUNKA NEKO MUSUME TV series. Well, it does appear
that this is the year for re-doing other shows as TV series. We have
the ever continuing TENCHI MUYO! and now EL HAZARD Pioneer titles; there is
the VAMPIRE PRINCESS MIYU TV series, and even THOSE WHO HUNT ELVES II. Will
it never end? Apparently not as long as people show a
fondness for some titles.
Is it worth it? After watching the first two episodes we can at least
be relieved that it does not even try to take itself seriously. It is
even less serious than the original OVA series, if that can be
believed. It appears that the latest incarnation of NUKU NUKU is aiming at
being a parody show. Fortunately this works out in just over half the
story so far.
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The basis for tension in the story tends to revolve around several
pretty much rote plot devices. There are Ryuunosuke, Nuku-Nuku and
their father, Kyusaku. Then enter all of Nuku-Nuku's classmates
who are quite an odd bunch: there is the suave dude with the massive
spiky hair that loves to sing and immediately composes a song (notice
how all of his songs sound identical?) upon almost any occasion, the
moody-dark hero-type who just looks moody and dark, the high-strung
beauty queen that continually acts high-strung and jealous of
Nuku-Nuku. She has the typical two side-kicks—Hidariko and Migiko
(Hidariko always appears on her left, Migiko always appears on her
right, and they are identical, but mirror opposites right down to the
mole on their cheek.) There is the girl who is always gloomy, into
the occult, and always predicting something disastrous or other. There
is the girl with the coke-bottle glasses who is always reading, and
every now and then we see her flip a page. Finally, we get to the
student who wants to be a mad scientist just like his father. Then,
last but not least is Futaba-chan, the class president.
After Nuku-Nuku's classmates there is Mishima Industries, and their
evil underpinning: The Black Industry. Half of Mishima Industries
staff seem to transform whenever they get their "Secret Call" and head
to the secret meeting place where "Hell Mishima" gives out his orders
for their next plan to dominate the world's markets. The Black
Industry seems to be Kyusaku's main rival, even though his wife,
Akiko, is one of Black Industry's foremost operatives. Silly costume
and all.
So the plot either involves some tension between Nuku-Nuku and one or
more of her classmates, getting between one or more of her classmates,
defusing some evil Mishima Industry plot which usually backfires on
its own and Nuku-Nuku just manages to keep her friends from getting
hurt. Too much. Sometimes, an episode is just about something
weird. In the first episode, for instance, Nuku-Nuku defeats a Mishima
Industries automatic washing machine robot that has gone crazy and
tries to wash clothes with the people still in it. Nuku-Nuku chooses
to reveal her abilities to save her friend, despite having promised
Ryuunosuke that she would not use her power. This prompts Ryuunosuke
to make a new rule for Nuku-Nuku stating that she can use her power to
save her friends. It all ends up for the best because her friends
think that she is some sort of olympic trainee as opposed to an
android/robot.
So the first episode ends. Was it worth it? Well, to each viewer
their own. Unless you enjoy the super-silly, super-cute stuff that
attempts to pass itself off as a parody of other such tv series, it is
best to watch this at a friend's house. You could probably make a
pretty good drinking game out of it too. The animation quality is
perhaps average for your middle of the road anime TV show out there
today. The music is also middle of the road; nothing reaches out and
grabs the viewer. The character designers are different from the
original OVA series. Luckily though,
Hayashibara
Megumi voices Nuku-Nuku so we can rely upon the same type of voice we got
from the original series.
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