Ranked #3831

Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

"IN YOUR FACE ISHIHARA" is what Nagai Gou probably thought when he decided to reboot this old franchise of his. Just last year, he expressed his opposition to the youth bill and said that he got to be known in the manga industry with Harenchi Gakuen and something like that wouldn't get made today if the bill was ever passed. He's right, Harenchi Gakuen was targeted to kids, and sure was raunchy for its time. Is this one targeted to kids too? Let's find out.

Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera is the very latest entry in the Dororon Enma-kun franchise created by Go Nagai in 1973. As with most Go Nagai reboots, the anime is most specifically aimed at the older fans who grew up with the original in Japan rather than people who are new to anime. But make no mistake, the original manga that this show is based on ran in Weekly Shonen Sunday and it was just as raunchy meaning that it should be okay for you to grab this title even if you're a kid (in Japan of course). Anyway, the difference with this Go Nagai reboot compared to the rest (Mazinger Z) is that the original Dororon Enma-kun anime or manga never got out of Japan and for one good reason, it's a very Japanese franchise that doesn't have much of an international appeal like other Nagai Gou classics.

In Meeramera, everything is reminiscent of the Shouwa era in Japan. The setting is full of old buildings, cars, streets. The music is entirely composed of old album covers from the 70s. The character designs while modernized still look very much like something from the past. Old anime/manga are referenced, such as Golgo 13, Attack no.1, Majokko Tickle, Mazinger Z, Devilman, Ashita no Joe, Alps no Shoujo Heidi and Captain Tsubasa. Every episode starts out with an obligatory old toku reference.(Rainbowman for example) In episode 1, one of the characters even reference the 1973 oil crisis that was threatening Japan's supply of toilet paper. Even old Japanese phrases that aren't probably used anymore like "Wakkaru~kana wakanne~ darouna~" are thrown out just like that hoping that the old viewers would get it. Like I said, some anime knowledge is needed to actually understand some of the jokes. For example, in episode 4, Kappaeru ends up with the face of Duke Togo from Golgo 13. While this might be funny on its own, the very fact that it's Duke Togo's face makes the whole scene even more hilarious and rewarding to the viewer.

The big problem here is that as a western viewer, I wouldn't have gotten these references without a little research by myself and neither would anyone outside of Japan either. But of course, you can't really blame the Japanese for making a show that's entirely targeted to themselves.

Story: Because it's an adaptation of a gag manga, there is a lack of a bigger overarching plot which might shy away modern viewers. Just like the original anime, the show takes a monster of the week approach (as this was the norm back then) with each monster getting sillier and sillier by the episode. However, the plot of each one of them is very creative with its humour and ecchi thanks to the source material and Yoshitomo Yonetani's direction who's mostly known for his work on GaoGaiGar.

Art: Kimura Takahiro best known for his work on Code Geass did an excellent job with Go Nagai's original character designs.

Sound: The old Japanese music is rather excellent. The opening song by MoonRiders and Masaaki Endoh is very energetic and hot blooded. In my opinion, it sounds even better than some of the newer JAM Project offerings.

Characters: They're as 70s as they can get and this might be a turn off for some viewers, but Harumi is decidedly a very entertaining character that adds a lot to the show.

Enjoyment: Despite the cultural barrier, I enjoy this show a lot.

Overall: Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera is especially great if you're Japanese and over 40 years old and while I'm neither, I'm still quite fond of it. If you're looking for something different this season, do check it out. It's the biggest tribute to an era long past in only 12 episodes. But don't get me wrong, this is a very silly slapstick comedy from the beginning to the end and makes no attempt to make you smarter or tell a a complex plot. It's stupid, offensive and inappropriate and most importantly, self aware of how ridiculous the whole thing is. If you're perfectly fine with the modern touches of the season, then stick with them instead as this may not be your cup of tea.
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Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera is a mostly nonsensical and perverted romp involving Enma-kun and the Youkai Patrol dealing with random demons dealing silly and sometimes perverted hijinks on humanity. The plot is pretty bare-bones where throughout much of the first half, Enma and his group deal with a random demon each episode and the second half explores the group discovering who is behind the string of demons being let loose from hell. If you are expecting consistent plot and character development throughout this series, then you will be quite disappointed as Dororon Enma-kun is more focused on its crazy and perverse comedy than giving you a serious plot to stick with.

However if you are looking for a comedy title, Enma-kun does more than enough to deliver on its laughs for the most part. The show is quite manic in its pacing with the over-the-top behavior delivered from main character Enma-kun and various other characters that the demon kid encounters. Enma doesn't come off as your typical hero as he is impulsive, dense, perverted to the point where he attempts to molest fellow Youkai Patrol member Yukiko any chance he gets and has no qualms at inflicting overkill on his foes. And rather than inflict fear and pain upon the human populace, the demons encountered by the Youkai Patrol in most instances are more focused on having the populace be in various embarrassing predicaments such as making them brainless or fat. The show was also not afraid to make nods to aspects of popular culture and breaking the fourth wall as there are parodies of creator Go Nagai's earlier works like Cutey Honey and Mazinger Z. However, the comedy does miss its mark on some occasions as some episodes have the annoying habit of focusing on a running gag throughout in response to whichever threat the Youkai Patrol faces in an episode.

The major aspect of the series that will make or break your enjoyment for it if you dig comedy would be the heavy emphasis on perverted humor. From what I understand, a number of Go Nagai's works are quite infamous for pushing the envelope when it comes to violent and sexual content. In the case of Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera, it has a great amount of the former. The perversion of the series appears to be a blatant "take that" in response to Tokyo Prefecture's recent passing of its controversial Bill 156. Examples of what you can expect out of the show's perversion include Yukiko regularly being just about nude as her clothes are shredded apart from demon attacks, Enma-kun trying to sneak in opportunities to molest Yukiko and a demon in the first episode who attacks the Youkai Patrol literally with um... a certain body part that will remain nameless. If you can't dig rampant sexual humor in your anime, then this isn't a show you will be willing to see.

In terms of presentation, Dororon Enma-kun does come across as rather average. The show's animation style takes on an older look as a number of character designs look simple and have ridiculously-proportioned body parts (Enma's father being of great example) seeming to be a clear homage to older Go Nagai works. It appears the animation budget to this series wasn't too big judging from the number of reused animation frames and shortcuts used within action scenes, a low point compared to better-looking titles of the Spring 2011 anime season like Hanasaku Iroha and C. In terms of the show's soundtrack, only the show's intense rock OP stuck out for me with other musical tracks serving their part in accompanying the show's manic and perverse humor yet not being too memorable.

Overall, Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera's manic and perverse humor was surprisingly effective at most points of getting laughs out of me thanks to the antics of its characters, parodies of Go Nagai early works and other crazy elements. The perverse humor won't be for everyone and it does have its moments of its humor losing effect thanks to relying on running gags. But this did well as my comedy title of choice for the Spring 2011 anime season despite its shortcomings.
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