Warau Salesman New

The reboot/remake/continuation of Waraus Salesman follows the exact same premise from the original series down to a T, but with a modern touch to it. If you liked the original show you will certainly enjoy this one too. The only gripe I have with this new version is that there are very few new and exclusive storys being told. Over half of the stories being told in "New" are reboots of episodes from the original show.

As for the content it is literally the same blueprint as the original Warau Salesman. So here goes my initial review I did on the original series:

Warau Salesman is not ... only one of those "one of a kind anime" but is also heavily underrated and missunderstood.
First of all, Warau Salesman is a Horror-Comedy with pretty heavy social commentary. I don't know why people always deem it as something else. But lets start at the beginning.

The show is about a mysterious salesman, Moguro Fukuzou, who deals in human souls (the literal japanese translation is "kokorou" which means heart, but its symbolic for souls). He offers people a splendid deal that fits their deepest desires perfectly and that they won't possibly refuse. All free of charge of course. However, Moguro has always one condition that he makes clear to his clients. If the client breaks that condition, the whole deal is void and Moguro can collect his soul (visualized by basically fucking up his former clients life). Now here is where the whole horror and also social commentary comes in. Moguro himself is of course not a normal salesman yet alone a normal human being. His true origins are never made really clear throughout the whole series, but its safe to say that he is some sort of a devils advocat if not the devil himself. He always hangs in a bar called "Demon Nest" so that basically covers that. And just like some demons Moguro, in some way, has to be invited by the people. If the client is on the hook and agrees to Mogurus terms, from that point on Moguru is in his life for good watching him at all times without being noticed (except if he wants to be noticed). Now why would anybody break a good deal that last forever as long as one tiny condition won't get violated? Because human beings are selfish, ignorant and greedy scum who always want more! You give them the little pinky and they take the whole hand! And that is the premise of this show and Moguros transactions. He knows of that selfish nature and feasts upon it. He knows eventually every last one of his human clients will turn into a greedy and dishonest pig, so he can collect his souls in peace.

But despite all the deep commentary, Warau Salesman is still a funny comedy show with some great humor in it. Not least due to Moguros crazy monologues and self awareness. The events in each episode make up for great situation comedy as well.

If you want sophisticated and social critical, yet dark, crazy and unpredictable comedy this is the show for you. I definitely recommand it!

“All people in this world – old, young, man, woman – are lonely at heart. I will fill that emptiness in their hearts.”

This line is recited by the so called ‘laughing salesman’ himself at the beginning of the 24 sub-episodes in the series to remind us of the show’s premise. This premise being that there is always a cost that comes with human over-indulgence. Donning a black suit and a smug grin, the salesman approaches people with a ‘problem’ which he offers to solve in a manner which seems too good to be true. Although the salesman is truthful in his words and he does ... “fill the emptiness in their hearts”, they quickly find that there is an ironic catch to each deal.

The anime doesn’t seem to have any connections between the sub-episodes that would make up an overarching plot, meaning the series is entirely episodic and can theoretically be watched in any order. That being said, the sub-episodes are well self-contained, and they quickly set up an introduction and finish with a satisfying punchline in ~10 minutes. They begin by introducing a new protagonist each time and usually reveal some type of problem that they are experiencing. This leads to them meeting Mogoru Fukuzo, the laughing salesman, where he will then offer them a magical solution. He always warns them not to get carried away, but his customers always break their promise and learn a harsh lesson in the end. Despite the strict formula in the anime, it didn’t feel overly repetitive to me personally, although this will differ for each viewer.

Because the protagonist changes in each episode, there are too many to cover in one review. However, I felt like they were satisfying overall, and they each had enough of a backstory to set them apart and keep the show interesting. Not much is revealed about the salesman himself in order to keep him mysterious, but his outward design is memorable to say the least, and he has a shrewd and uncanny demeanour that is uncommon for main characters that make him stound out.

The animation is nothing to write home about, but it is satisfactory and does the job well. The appeal (to me at least) was more the art style, which is a replication of the manga’s creator, Fujiko Fujio’s, iconic style that everyone can recognise at a glance due to the popularity of his other more mainstream series such as Doraemon.

The sound is decent. The music is fitting and relatively well-placed, and the OP and ED are above both above average but nothing too special. Overall, the sound is pretty forgettable and not particularly noteworthy, but it does the job.

I found the series to be decently enjoyable. Some of the stories were fairly thought-provoking and there are some reasonable lessons about greed desire, while others were unfortunately on the superficial side. It’s not hugely philosophical or ‘deep’ (and it’s not exactly trying to be), but it’s meaningful enough to the extent where it is engaging without being overly pretentious.

I would like to say first and foremost - fuck this show. Don't watch it. Its mean spirited, morally empty and without a message.

You know anthology shows like The Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock Presents usually give a scenario where you are waiting for a character to "get theirs" or to see where a single mistake can lead you. The setups and endings are different - you could be following a character you want to see succeed or one you want to see fail, and the supernatural aspects they sometimes encounter vary wildly and the shows make good use of plot twists to throw you ... off the trail.

The issue with The Laughing Salesman is that it does none of that. Let me explain to you every single episode - every single story, of which there are two in each episode - of The Laughing Salesman.

All people in this world - young and old, male and female - are lonely at heart. My name is Moguro, they call me the Laughing Salesman but I'm no ordinary salesman I deal in peoples hearts, oh no I don't need a single yen the best thing is to see the face of a satisfied customer
Introducing our Japanese worker bee who will be ruined for no reason, ****-san
Something goes wrong
Moguro appears and does his shtick then gives them a device that solves the issue, warning them that if they misuse it or use it to much there will be consequences. Or sometimes he causes the issue himself?
Heres where you might see some variation! The customer either misuses it or is led into scenarios where they have to use it.
PUNISHMENT TIME DOOOOOOOOM
Uneven punishments that usually don't fit the scale of the crime or have an ironic Sisyphean nature to them


And thats it. The issue is that the show never bothers to stray from these tight confines. It is usually not a fulfilling show to watch either, as good people - some who Moguro purposefully creates a situation for them to be trapped into so he can punish them for misusing something he gave them to solve the problem he made - get punished through no fault of their own and for no moral reason. There are stories where the person is pretty shitty and gets whats coming, but I can't think of a single one where they would have ended up at that point without Moguro.

So is the issue that its far too depressing, bleak, pessimistic and fatalistic? Yeah a little bit. But I think the issue is more along the lines of the show just being not very good. Aside from the strong visual direction (aside from flashing to pictures of Hell all the time. Stop doing that its the opposite of clever.) I wouldn't classify this as a good show. It has plenty of things about it that seem interesting and I spent the majority of the season trying to decide if it had some deep commentary on Japanese society, fate or Bystander Syndrome locked in there but I really don't think so - its just a mean spirited show with no human soul. This is in no small part due to the series mascot - the ever smiling, fat and mysterious Laughing Salesman, Moguro. Moguro isn't a human, angel, demon or god. He's not anything. He's just a force, I guess. No story in this happens without his direct intervention, and he seems to have reality bending powers that require the viewer to just roll with it. Want a natural story about a fall from grace? Well fuck off because Moguro's only method of tricking people is to design most of the failure from the ground up. These people aren't bad, even the ones with bad tendencies or those who abuse the power because Moguro is always the one behind it all. Nothing happens without Moguro. Since he is essentially the narrator, I would say he is similar to the Cryptkeeper but with more direct impact on the story. But since none of these stories would happen without Moguro its like...whats the point here? Trying to make a statement about fatalism? Why have the direct hand of Moguro unnaturally steer people in the wrong direction then? Free will? None of these outcomes would have come together without Moguro setting them into a situation which causes the things to happen, and one of these people choose this. Moguro just leads them there, by force or foul play if necessary. If someone denies his requests he will just steal their purse or some shit and runaway until they listen and are connived into a scenario of shit. Its just...ugh. Have a message. The message is never "misuse of power is wrong" or "this is the morally wrong thing to do" its "Haha here is Salaryman Takamoto-san, drink this water that makes you feel better about your shitty life. But don't drink too much or else you'll be punished, probably in a way that doesn't reflect the theme of the episode at all BECAUSE WE HAVE NO THEME."

You know whats scarier then the Devil? The fact that there is no Devil, and humans don't need the help of any evil creature to be evil themselves.

I spit on this show.