Top 100 Anime Addendum #4 - Hajime Ningen Gon

March 29th, 2007 by Brack

Now this showed up in the 89th position in the 2006 broadcast chart, but I’m wondering if it was a combined vote for the 90s series Hajime Ningen Gon AND the 70s series Hajime Ningen Gyators. Both are based on the gag manga by Shunji Sonoyama. Youtube has nothing on the more recent series, so here’s the OP animation for Gyators.


Here’s some blurb about the show from the EXPO 2005 site

GON, THE STONE-AGE BOY (Hajime ningen Gon) : EXPO 2005 AICHI, JAPAN:

Originally broadcast about 30 years ago as Gyatoruzu. NHK (Japan Brodcasting Corp.) began showing a new version of the show, GON, THE STONE-AGE BOY on one of its broadcast satellite stations in 1996. This cartoon is sometimes rebroadcast on NHK Educational Television. Through the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and in the twenty-first century, a wide audience has watched this cartoon show. The setting for this show is the Stone Age in which people and animals live together in peace and harmony. Gon is a curious, mischievous young boy full of energy. He is surrounded by his friends and family, including his mother, father, his girlfriend Piko, and his best friend, a gorilla named Dotechin. Every day is full of adventure and excitement.

And from Studio Pierrot’s English language site:

PIERROT - Animation Production Pierrot:

It is the primitive age. There are people enjoy life in harmony with nature. Although they have no television, cars or personal computers, their world is an open paradise filled with gifts from God. Gon, a little boy, lives with his parents and his best friend, Dotechin, a gorilla. Gon’s family does not have much foods, but they always share what they get. Together with Dotechin, Gon goes on adventures in the wild where mammoths run around and sabertooth tigers swagger. He runs into a child Dragon, finds a poor baby bird with a big appetite, and encounters a fairy from a star. Animals, birds, plants, fish, and everything which exists on earth becomes his friends. This is a heartwarming comedic story. It certainly entertains not only children, but also their parents.

And Ben Ettinger makes with the history over at AniPages Daily.

Pelleas.net | AniPages Daily - Hajime Ningen Gyators:

In October 1974, a new Tokyo Movie TV series begins: Hajime Ningen Gyators, or Early Man Gyators. Working on this series we see a smattering of both ex-Mushi Pro and ex-Toei figures, now working for various small subcontracting studios: First and foremost, Osamu Kobayashi, Tsutomu Shibayama, Yoshio Kabashima, Yoshifumi Kondo, Hiroshi Fukutomi and Yuzo Aoki at A Production, the studio that was the subcontracting backbone of Tokyo Movie’s situation comedies in the early 1970s, and indeed provides the backbone of Gyators; but also Yoshiyuki Momose at Studio Neo Media, run by Keiichi Kimura (Tiger Mask), and Minoru Maeda and Minoru Okazaki at Takao Kosai’s Studio Junio, as well as possibly a few other small studios I’m not aware of.

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Top 100 Anime Addendum #3: Maicching Machiko-sensei

March 24th, 2007 by Brack

This clip is probably Not Safe For Work. OK? OK!



What is this?

Well as I have no idea, beyond that is came out in the early 80s, we’ll have to see what the internet has to say for itself:

No-sword:

For those who came in late, Maicchingu Machiko-sensei is an 80s manga/anime property about a teacher for whom everyone at the school is hot, and her skirts’ unfortunate tendency to flip up and reveal her panties, upon which event she says “iyan!” and/or “maicchingu!”

Well that explains that.

That article also mentions that, as is the trend today for old manga/anime properties, it has a live action version coming out. Twitch is all over that:

Twitch - Trailer for Minoru Kawasaki’s JISSHA-BAN: MAICCHINGU MACHIKO SENSEI: TÔDAI O-JUKEN DAISAKUSEN!!, starring Hanako Nanjô, Hikaru Wakana, Anri Sugihara, et al

That article mentions Kawasaki’s other directing credits. All you need to know: CALAMARI WRESTLER.

Curiously, 12 episodes of the show have appeared recently on torrent sites, apparantly in a raw form. As someone who’s liked other Studio Pierrot shows of that era I hope this is paving the way to a fansub. If Hell Teacher Nube and flamingo pink jacket era Lupin III can get subbed anything’s possible.

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Top 100 Anime Addendum #2: Shonen Ashibe

March 8th, 2007 by Brack

Seals!

Heads up to The Japan Shop for even begining to explain in english what the hell this is. It’s an adaptation of a 4 panel gag manga about a boy and his seal.

Though the Anime Encyclopedia says a boy and his sea lion.

I have to say I don’t know the difference between these two beasts to judge.

Anyway, away from the biology differences of marine animals, what else is there to say? Well it’s a seinen comic rather than a shonen one. And it’s created by Hiromi Morishita, who last year won the Japan Media Award for Excellence in Manga for her strip Osaka Hamlet.

And by 1992, the first six volumes of the manga had sold 5 million copies! Which makes me think it’s like Yawara, a show that was massive in it’s day, but has slipped down the back of history’s sofa.

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Top 100 Anime Addendum #1: Gu-Gu Ganmo

March 1st, 2007 by Brack

More profiles in anime I have never seen. This time picking through the TV Asahi 2006 broadcast anime survey. Which was done by celebrities rather than normal people. Which is a shame. That being said it fair resembled the previous years survey, but with some interesting differences. So I’m going to go through and look at some of these interlopers.

A eighties show from Toei.

I have no idea what it’s about, seems to involve a giant chicken though. It mostly seems to be notable for being an early work of the super talented animator Toshiyuki Inoue, who will be the subject of next Monday’s MAD Monday.

AND, here’s a curiousity gleamed from the Landolt-C: Recommended Music and Anime site, much of crew of this show produced the Pop Chaser episode in the OAV porn series, Cream Lemon.

As any anime trivia buff will tell you, Pop Chaser would go onto to be remade as PROJECT A-KO.

All of which kind of makes me want to see this chicken based comedy show.

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Landolt-C: Recommended Music and Anime site
TOEI’s Gu-Gu Ganmo site

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