Ranked #1381

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan is a moderately clever anime disguised as a magnificently stupid one.

It is primarily an exercise in hammerspace and a parody of nearly everything under the sun. If I were to define it in terms of comedy, I would say that it's a little smarter than just clown humour, but not as smart as stand-up comedy.

The story follows a young boy named Sakura who lives with an extremely violent, vindictive but "sweet-natured" angel named Dokuro-chan. There is a mind-numbingly idiotic reason for their relationship: Sakura grows up to be the inventor of a lolicon machine that stops female bodies from developing at the age of twelve, and Dokuro-chan has been sent through time to ensure that his "paedophile ways" don't ruin mankind's future. Let that ferment a little in your head. No anime that is honestly serious could have a plot that is purely ridiculous garbage, hence it is intentionally comical. The one problem and also one of the major jokes in Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan is the delivery of the violence. It does eventually get a little old that 75% of the anime is spent looking at Sakura's entrails after Dokuro-chan beats the life out of him. While it is rather humorous as a parody for the 'rough tsundere hits the protagonist constantly' theme, eventually seeing Sakura ripped to shreds becomes a tad tiring. But it does win points for parodying the magical girl and gore-fest genres. Instead of a wand, Dokuro-chan's weapon is a giant spiked bat. There is no real plot in any way, just a lot of hijinks and crude humour, which also sort of leads to the story's downfall. It does absolutely nothing. It pokes its fun but never really get into the meat of the jokes.

Most of the artwork is spent detailing the blood and guts that appear as much as any other regular character. For the most part, it is good but it isn't great. There are a lot of super-deformed moments and various art styles are used, such as making the characters look realistic at moments or the incorporation of actual live pictures into the mix.

The sound is a little more commendable than the art. The OP theme song alone is comic genius. It's a very light and poppy song that can easily be miscontrued as the theme song for another harem anime or some school comedy, but if you pay attention to the lyrics (or lack thereof), the OP is utilised as a satirical joke. Half the lyrics consist of Dokuro-chan's catch phrase, and the rest are utterly ridiculous. It even pokes fun of her being a parody of a tsundere, with lines describing over-the-top torture followed by lines saying, 'But that's the way I show my feelings for you.' Surely. The music is a dead giveaway that this entire series is not meant to be taken seriously. The background music suits the anime for the most part. Poppy, comical. And there have even been times where it becomes excessively dramatic for scenes where Sakura's life is being threatened. Again, another sign that this is a parody of those scores for the sweeping, power ballad, synth-driven anime.

As for the characters, well, I can't say they were any good. Nobody changes at all, nobody develops, nobody has an original personality. I've seen comedies with excellent characters who are the butt of jokes, so it doesn't really excuse the characters from Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan from simply being plot devices. Sakura is a typical ecchi/harem anime protagonist--he's extremely perverted and everything is misinterpreted as sexuality concerning him. Dokuro-chan is supposed to be a parody of a mahou shoujo/tsundere. On a surface level, she does work, but there is no real sympathising with her as a character with a personality. She isn't a nice person, she pretty much has a one-track mind, there is no depth to her at all. While a truly good comedy understands that the characters are just as valuable as any slapstick joke, Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan seems to ignore them and use them solely to get the job done.

Let's see, laughably awful storyline, mindless violence, tremendous amounts of gore and service, parodies that rarely manage to be satirical, stagnant characters--I should hate this anime, right? However, I don't. Sometimes you don't need the extremely heavy, very smart jokes to make you laugh. A guy getting smashed in the head a lot could suffice. It just depends what you're in the mood for. Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan is the anime version of a stand-up comedian ironically getting pie thrown in their face by a clown.

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan is anime pie, it may not be that good for you, but how can you not like pie? read more

Bizarre, violent, mostly nonsensical...but incredibly funny. I liked this for the same reason I liked FLCL and Azumanga Daioh. FLCL had a deeper story (yes, there was one...watch it again) and Azumanga Daioh had greater character development, but Dokuro-chan has a charm all it's own...not to mention lots of blood. The parody of the "magical girl" element really adds something. I never cared for those types (Sailor Moon annoys me, no matter what language it's in), but here, it's funny.

The visuals and sound were really well done considering how short the series is, but then, that's just how series like this work. Short, but high-quality (well, the good ones, anyway). The premise alone is what got me to watch it and I wasn't disappointed. You have to take this series for what it is: brainless fun.

Look, I really enjoy stuff like Cowboy Bebop, Kanon (2006), and Gundam Wing...but sometimes you just gotta let off some steam. You can't always be serious and this really hit the spot for me. Especially since my last 3 series were Air, Black Lagoon, and Kanon (2006). Talk about heavy...I really needed this!

The first episode alone was almost too much...the appearance of the "monkey" left me almost in tears, I was laughing so hard. I'm sure my neighbors were wondering if I'd cracked! It wasn't some cerebral joke, it was just so completely unexpected, it really caught me off-guard. That, and I happen to find monkeys funny in general. Nothing afterwards hit my funnybone THAT hard, but it was still worthwhile.

Kick back, let go of your rational mind for a bit, and enjoy this blood-soaked comedy for what it is and don't try to analyze it too deeply. It's just plain fun.

"Pipiru piru piru pipiru pi!!!!!!!!" -Dokuro-chan read more