![]() ![]() He returned with a double-whammy of TV shows seguing from the lightweight SF comedy of Mahromatic (2001) into the more ambitious genre-bending madness of Abenobashi. Sasshi's unrestrained glee when he realizes he is in a pastiche of Seventies anime space operas, tokkusatsu and giant robot shows is priceless as he struggles to come up with cool-sounding, hyperbolic names for robot combat moves!Īlong with co-founding Studio Gainax with fellow anime nerd Hideaki Anno, who makes a vocal cameo here as an alien, Yamaga directed one of the greatest science fiction anime of all time: The Wings of Honneamise (1987), scripted the charming semi-autobiographical fantasy Otaku No Video (1991) then vanished from creative duties for fifteen years. Thereafter Sasshi and an increasingly exasperated Arumi end up on a space station under an Ultraman-shaped dome full of Time Bokan-style steampunk mecha flying a giant robot in battle against an overgrown Pokemon clone. Hence world number one sends up fantasy role-playing games, complete with power bars, multiple levels, pop-up screens, hidden magical items and rambling, pointless conversations with annoying 'non-player' characters. With the television serial Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi Gainax co-founder Hiroyuki Yamaga revives this conceit as each alternate reality explored by Sasshi and Arumi parodies a different aspect of geek culture. Studio Gainax, Japan's most innovative anime studio, started out as a collective of anime, manga and science fiction geeks whose breakthrough work, the exuberant short film Daicon IV (1983), was a giddy animated thrill-ride through the entire history of fantasy and SF. Repeatedly harassed by busty, bespectacled Mune ( Aya Hisakawa), the hyper-manic adolescents struggle to figure out what the heck is going on and find their way home. At which point Sasshi suddenly notices dragons flying in the sky and giant mushrooms disco dancing in the street! In a madcap adventure, Sasshi and Arumi are catapulted into a medieval fantasy realm and then one alternate reality after another: a space opera world, a world based on Hong Kong kung fu films, the prehistoric past and other parallel Earths drawn from Sasshi's wildest fan-boy dreams. Intrigued by a shared family secret Sasshi and Arumi learn the restaurant forms one point in mystical pentagram harking back to Osaka's supernatural past. Everyone else has abandoned their street markets and shops but Arumi's grandfather stubbornly clings onto his teriyaki restaurant until a freak accident lands him in hospital. Twelve year old Sasshi (voiced by Tomoko Saeki) returns from summer camp to rejoin his lifelong friend Arumi ( Yuko Matsuoka) in Osaka where he finds his family's bath-house torn down and the once-thriving Abenobashi Shopping Arcade fast fading away. Tomoko Saeki, Yuko Matsuoka, Aya Hisakawa, Rikiya Koyama, Akemi Okamura, Akira Kajiwara, Hideaki Anno, Jun Shikano, Junko Noda, Katsuyoshi Konishi, Keiji Fujiwara, Keisuke Baba, Kenichi Suzumura, Kiyomitsu Mizuchi, Koji Ishii, Kyoko Hikami, Mami KingetsuĬomedy, Animated, Science Fiction, Fantasy, TV Series ![]() What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray ![]() Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on ArrowĪ Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray on 4K UHDĪ Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVDĬhaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-rayĭC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD 3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby ![]()
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