Anime Review: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

Score: 9

    I'll say this up front: I am a fan of Gainax productions. To me, their special brand of bizarre yet curiously heartfelt storytelling and outrageous art/animation form a style that is quintessentially "anime" and wholly unique. To me, Gainax's productions represent an apex of modern animation and stretch the limitations of what is expected from an anime series. That being said, while Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi is certainly not the best Gainax series, it is a hugely entertaining series that conveys everything that makes the studio so special.
    Right off the bat, the most notable thing about Abenobashi is that it is freaking HILARIOUS. By far the funniest anime series I have seen. The humor will definitely appeal most to those with a knowledge of film, the anime genre, and video games. The story follows two kids who, in each episode, are transported to a different universe based on a piece of popular culture. There is a film noir universe, an adventure game universe, a kung fu universe and many more. A big part of the fun of the series is seeing where they will go next. The jokes in the episodes heavily riff off of the established conventions of the genre and it makes for some very entertaining stuff, provided you have an at least partial appreciation of what is being parodied.
    This is truly a series for anime aficionados, as many of the parodies are targeted at various staples of the anime genre. There is even obvious spoofing on the "Gainax style". The show does not take itself seriously at all. There is rampant fan service, slapstick comedy, and goofy nonsensical plot devices at every turn. Plain and simple, if you are looking for something serious, this will not be your cup of tea. If you can enjoy the goofiness, which is easy to do because it is so well written, then you will have a great time. I literally had a huge grin on my face about 90% of the time watching this show and laughed out loud frequently.
    As far as actual plot goes, it is sort of just a pretext for the parodying. Two kids get trapped in a inter-dimensional vortex and attempt to get back home. There is a bit more to it than that, but honestly not a whole lot. The tone of the series switches between two distinct settings- dramatic slice of life in the beginning, middle, and end episodes, with all out silliness the rest of the time. The dramatic sections move the plot along and in the rest, the plot is completely thrown out the window to make room for bizarre scenarios starring the same characters that appear in the serious bits. This actually sounds a lot more jarring than it is. Once again, if you just go with it and not to find logic, you will have a great time. The shift of tone can be compared in many ways to another Gainax series, FLCL. In many ways, Abenobashi can be seen as the spiritual successor to FLCL. Honestly, if you haven't watched FLCL by now, then you should be slapped in the face. It is a shame that this series does not get anywhere near the same amount of love, but it makes sense, as it is much more geared toward the anime fan where as FLCL can be enjoyed, if not really understood, by anyone. Anyway, like FLCL, the plot itself is not the real draw. Instead, it is the style and energy that the series exudes that keeps you watching.
    Technically speaking, this is the fastest and loosest you will see Gainax play a series outside of the very recent Panty and Stocking (which I have yet to see). When the series morphs into full on comedy, the animation follows suit and can range in everything to super-deformed miniature characters to caricature-like faces of iconic film stars. The animation itself also ranges from comically under-animated to ultra-fluid and high quality. I really like when a series is willing to alter the style of art and animation to fit the mood of a scene instead of picking a baseline and sticking with it. This is another quality that this series and FLCL both have. In summation, the art and animation are highly entertaining, frenetic and oozing with character.
    Speaking of character, I would,t usually make special note of this but the English voice cast is off-the-charts amazing. Be warned- they speak in southern accents, which is supposed to roughly translate to an Osaka accent in Japan. At first, I was extremely leery of this. However, after the second episode I realized that this was an excellent decision on the part of the English translation staff. The two main characters, Sashi and Arumi's funny southern twang perfectly suits the content of the series and enforces the idea that they are from a bit of a backwater place in Japan. Special props to the English dub folks in general, really. It must have been a daunting job to convert the quick fire Japanese jokes into English and make them not only understandable but even funny! I feel like they must have taken some liberties with the original dialogue to make it work but they did an outstanding job of it. Unfortunately, the music is mostly forgettable despite being composed by Shiro Sigisu, who's body of work includes the End of Evangelion, probably one of the very best film soundtracks ever. He just didn't really seem to take this project very seriously. He even reuses a track from Eva in an early episode. Whatever. The end theme is nice at least.
    Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi is pretty inconsequential stuff. It is to anime as "Airplane!" is to the disaster-film genre. It's a parody, but a hugely entertaining one that may just be considered essential viewing in it's own right. It's just really nice to see an anime that is not afraid to acknowledge that in many ways, anime can be completely stupid. Yet it is more of a celebration of this stupidity as opposed to a ridicule. All good parodies share this fundamental understanding. And aside from that, It's just a good series. The characters are likable, the plot is easy to follow (aside from a trademark Gainax ending which I won't spoil), there is just enough actual substance to support all of the silly non-sequiturs, and the art direction gives the impression of a highly skilled and talented studio cutting loose and just having fun. It's a love letter to anime, film, video games and nerd culture in general. While Gainax has certainly produced better and more important work (Eva, FLCL, Gurren Laggan), it has never been this freewheeling and outright hilarious. I absolutely, wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who is a bit tired of stodgy, self important anime and just wants to laugh. Isn't that everyone?