Because that's what all the commotion is about; a desert formerly known as Japan and the enigmatic titular character who is anything but. It's shallow, hedonistic, and immature. But in doing so, subtly reflects how low people can go in the most casual way possible.
STORY - 8
Japan, once a sprawling mecca of quirky culture and steadfast ethics, has been reduced to the Kantou desert; an unforgiving wasteland of extreme temperature changes, scarce resources, and roaming guns-for-hire. Resulting from years of deterioration after a presumed nuclear holocaust, only scattered villages, a government stronghold and buried ruins of yesterday's civilization remain. Pre-war technology is steadily recovered and reverse engineered as the current standard for firearms and armor. All the more for mercenaries and marauders, who don special environmental suits with built-in air conditioning units and targeting systems to combat both the intense heat and competition.
Starting to sound familiar? The premise falls so close to the Fallout series with the inclusion of mutants, splinter factions, and mercenary companies offering jobs from simple waste disposal to high-priority escort missions. The only thing missing is a Pip-Boy. And along the lines of an open-world survival, anything can go wrong for anyone. Guns jam, equipment fails, water is a godsend, terrain is unpredictable, and everyone is racking up on karma.
Story-wise, Desert Punk is episodic with the main plot centered on the various jobs of the punk and his companions. Oftentimes, the show pulls off a schmuck-ton of bitching and bickering, which it exercises to great effect to create an accessibly immoral atmosphere. With a show dealing with acts from human trade, arson, and mass murder to masturbation, crap-slinging, and bare bottom stripping, I appreciate Desert Punk for being so playful in its delivery. Combined with an obnoxious sense of high-school and toilet humor, the show's execution proves that the post-apocalypse isn't necessarily filled with hardened badasses. In fact, most of them are garden-variety thugs and scroungers with enough experience invested in endurance, charisma, and especially luck.
When they aren't shoving sh*t, piss, and boobs down our senses, sparse interludes of action and sci-fi intrigue get our minds out of the gutter and back into the fray. When the plot gets down to it, there is no great mastermind to face. No big adventure awaits. Nothing but the monotonous desert and its effects on the populace are explored until it comes full circle on how life pretty much sucks yet goes on in a dog-eat-dog world.
ART - 7
Character designs are honestly nothing special. The punk's unmasked face is reminiscent of your typical delinquent's and the same goes for 80% of the cast. Everyone is a plain jane, save for Kosuna and Stryker who look more like main characters than the punk himself. Kosuna's all-out moe cuteness and Stryker's heart-of-gold shounen persona contrasts the desert pigsty in such a way that they feel like they starred in the wrong show; adding to the humor.
But if there's one thing the design team should be proud of, it's the environmental suits that draw influences from oriental, Middle Eastern, and military apparel. The famous getup of the punk consists of an Asian conical flap hat, a fatigue jacket with matching cargo pants, combat boots, a tan cape and a gasmask-like apparatus for speaking and breathing.
Since most people are in their suits or masks, that lessens the burden for mouth movement. Add a hefty amount of panning shots and the result is animation you can get away with. I don't mind because the detail and consistency compensates. Action is smooth and clear where it needs to be. Smart placement of motion blurs as well as mirage effects are a plus. Even the set pieces are always changing to achieve a sense of world despite how desolate the premise appears on paper. The occasional towns and weathered rock formations have a lot of texture going on and the same can be said with the drab indoor scenes. Attention to shadows also follow suit with the amount of lighting the desert sun poses. Neither exemplary, nor pitiful, just being one of Gonzo's more consistent releases in animation quality is a cause for celebration.
SOUND - 7
The music, like the show, doesn’t take itself seriously. Openings and endings are intentionally tacky and cliche superhero themes sounding completely indifferent to the premise. The BGM is varied but for the purpose of fitting the mood, all right. The voice acting though…
I was recommended the dub. And now I recommend it to you because of the more tangible sense of immature vulgarity and the Westernized approach to the series despite its Japanese setting. The script is dirty and cheap, yet liberal and fun. It's nuckin' futs. And at rare moments, even manages to grip you, especially the punk's monologues about desert survival. Then the narrator reminds you time and time again how pathetic everyone is for your entertainment.
While everybody is appropriately casted, I cannot properly express my love for Eric Vale and Luci Christian breathing crazy life to the show's main duo. You just know the voice actors had a hell of a time with their roles and Vale's script.
That's right, Desert Punk (Eric Vale) wrote the script for his own anime. So you see, HE IS THE BALLS.
CHARACTERS - 8
Who knew the biggest, baddest demon of the now-called Kanto desert was just some punk? Nevertheless, the iconic shrimp in the desert suit wielding an array of traps and an outdated buckshot handed down by his old man is an unexpected core to the show.
He's the guy everyone loves to hate and for good reasons. Being annoying, reckless, rude, selfish, manipulative, and ridiculously horny, even his own friends are willing to gun him down should he get out of line. But underneath that stereotypically chauvinist exterior, lies a seasoned, persistent, and down-to-earth byproduct of the fallout who knows how to get real; doing anything to turn a situation to his favor despite the repercussions (even if it means killing himself just to do the deed).
His apprentice, Kosuna, serves as an excellent foil with her cheerful and spunky disposition. Under the tutelage of the punk (regardless of his perverse ulterior motives), she receives the most development; starting from a stubborn idealist to an independent realist who is every bit as capable as her peers. The chemistry the unlikely pair share shines in their hilarious back-and-forth, unorthodox teamwork, and deep-seated respect they have for one another.
The recurring characters that join the arid frenzy are mostly supplementary but nonetheless memorable just by getting screwed up in the punk's plans. The highlights are Junko as the fickle femme fatale, Rain Spider as the seemingly menacing yet cowardly troll, the Machine Gun brothers as the rowdy comic relief, and Stryker as the token paragon of justice who, in a cruel twist of fate, was even sold to a homosexual at some point just because the show can.
ENJOYMENT - 9
Desert Punk is a self-indulgent but self-aware sci-fi gag with hints of the human condition presented in a toony light. In an action-filled premise, we'd feel excited because the anime would show something flashy or fast-paced to suck us in. Desert Punk presents itself as crude and banal because survival isn't anything new and desirable in the show's perspective. Desperation devoids man of rationality and ethics so survival actually brings more contempt than relief. The light execution is just the show making the best out of a worst case scenario because even a mushroom cloud can have a sliver of silver somewhere.
Neither overglorifying violence nor downplaying morals, the series plays like a messed up Saturday morning cartoon that makes the profane watchable to portray that there is no good or evil; only people choosing the side that pays more.
You can also see it as a crass course of blatant fun where the joke is on the hopeless bunch stranded in the Kantou desert. Watch it for the sh*ts and giggles. And maybe you might feel something oddly real about it as you go on.
OVERALL - 8
Whimsical animation and music come together with an unrestrained dub and bipolar plot to make a show that wallows in mediocrity to give us a f*cking good time and to prove a good point.
“It’s a vicious cycle but… oh well. That’s the way it goes, I guess. And these people sure aren’t changing. Dumbasses…” - Narrator
