Oh! Edo Rocket

During festivals in Japan it is customary to shout "Tamaya!" or "Kagiya!" when the fireworks are lighting up the sky. I knew about this, but I had always wondered why they would shout something like that. Now I know.

Oh! Edo Rocket is about a firework maker named Tamaya Seikichi and his friends in Edo during the mid-1800's. A time that was hard on anyone with a profession that leaned more towards entertainment and suchlike, well to be quite fair it was probably hard on most common people living in Japan during this age.

I normally don't write reviews about animes I have given a high rating, ... I'm not good at praising things, but I felt I need to hype this anime up a bit since it's clear that it's not a very popular anime, atleast not here on MAL.

I'm going to start out by saying that this is a fairly original anime, not just because it's about a firework maker, not just because of the mix of character design and art, but also because of the themes that the anime lean towards. It is common to see comedy and drama mixed together, but it's not common to see the kind of comedy you usually expect to find in parodies and spoof animes such as Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei or Pani Poni Dash! just to name a few mixed with sometimes very serious dramatic scenes. I especially liked the few, subtle, but very funny references to other anime, fairly recently produced anime at that.

There was a story in Oh! Edo Rocket. Initially you don't see it, but after a while you realize there's actually a story that's being told and it actually progresses with one defection at episode 20, but still it's refreshing to see an anime that actually has a story that's not afraid to go in the right direction. I'm getting a bit fed up with all the sidetracking of recent series I've seen. But above all I am getting really pissed off at the fact that most animes have endings that hardly are endings at all, they're either really bad because the manga isn't finished or the money grubbing productions companies might want to make a sequel because they made enough profit so they make cliffhangers that make the movie cliffhanger seem like a good movie (it wasn't, it has Sylvester Stallone in it and I think the director just let him say anything he wanted instead of reading the script). Oh! Edo Rocket has a distinct ending that actually ends the anime. Well to tell you the truth there are two endings, imagine that!

Oh! Edo Rocket is a mix of crazy comedy and serious drama, and like the fireworks that feature so prevelently, it explodes wonderfully.

*Insert synopsis here*

The show doesn't take itself very seriously at all. The show is heavy with humour, and is quite fond of self-reference, as well as some pop culture (Such as the very apt 'Men in Black'). It also has no problems breaking the fourth wall (ie. admitting it's fictional), and you'll regularly see modern conveniences, such as the TVs used to show some flashbacks.
The humour is well executed, and despite the numerous comedy series I've seen, I never really felt this series' ... humour to be rehashed/stale.

When the show isn't being funny, it's likely going through a fight scene. Yes, I said fight scene, and there are a fair few of them, I won't spoil why. The fights felt pretty standard to me. Decent, but nothing special.

Between the humour and fights, there isn't really a lot of space, so you could be forgiven for thinking that's all the show has, but somehow, they managed to sneak in a serious drama amidst all the craziness, and it gradually grows to take a firm place in the series. Saying anything more would probably spoil it, though. The show does start to slow down near the end, but you'll probably have already decided if you're sticking with it by then.

The artwork is quality as far as I can tell, all standard styling though. A few characters are SD (stumpy), but I don't consider that a problem.

As for sound, well, as usual, I didn't notice much. The OP and EDs weren't anything special, but they felt appropriate. The OP DID annoy me though, as the first few 'riffs' sounded nice, but then it just went silly. I felt kinda cheated.

Summary: In my opinion, this is a great comedy series. There IS some good drama in there, but the comedy is the star. If you're not into comedy anime, I can't say this one would change your mind. If you like comedies, then I see no reason to leave this series off your list.

sometimes an anime is all about three things and that is-1-entertaintment
2-entertaintment
... 3-entertaintment and oh my god.... this is one of those few animes that entertained me to the core.this was so great.it is trilling and had mystery,drama,love,action and huge pack of sarcastic dirty comedy that makes me laugh even now after one week of finishing it also this is not stupid comedy its smart comedy so it has more impact on you.normally only the best of the best comedy anime characters will be always in our memory including the sub characters no matter what we do we just cant forget them and you'll remember the plot to the word but this happens only once in while thats why i gave the test to myself "if i remember these characters names for a one week ill write a review for it"i did each and everyone thats how much i love it.i have watched 5 best comedy animes and they are(up until now i hope the list gets longer,im ordering them in the order i watched them)
1-ouran high school host club(hope a another season or ova would come to show tamakis and haruhis love)
2-my bride is a mermaid.(absolutely fantastic can watch more)
3-B gata H Kei(i hope ova or something comes up,i just cant have enough of this anime)
4-the world only god knows season one and two.(hoping for the 3rd season very desperately)
5-OH EDO ROCKET(yeah......and beautiful one of a kind masterpiece of a thriller comedy).
STORY-story is wonderful completely unique and authentic THAT WHY ITS ONE OF A KIND MASTERPIECE.it had more action and fight,bit blood shed and huge mystery to it.a lot of secrets and plot twits are happening so if you miss an episode you will be sorry.its a bit adventurous type anime so no echchi then you have to give comedy to the its fullest right?don't worry it does deliver what is promise and like sugar on top a true love starts to bloom in all this craziness thats happening.the ending was well superb as well just like the beginning you will never guess what can happen in the next episode.
ART-was very different for each and every character this was the fist time it was done...well when you WATCH this anime a lot of THINGS HAPPENS FOR THE FIRST TIME FOR THE HISTORY OF ANIME THE CHARACTER THEM SELF SAID IT :3 it was very humorous using different technique for characters and also for the surroundings.
SOUND-was brilliant very beautiful and catchy i wasn't tried of it at all and kept me upbeat and energized for the episodes to come,i love the both OP theme and two ED theme songs it expressed the anime theme very well to the fullest.
CHARACTERS-they where funny,complicated,in love,suffering,crazy all of this i cant say more i will spoil for sure.i loved all of them each and every one was needed for the plot to unravel and none of them where forgotten even until the last minute,the things they do the things they will be remembered long time and ALSO THEY MAKE FUN AND TALK ABOUT SUPER HIT ANIMES SO WATCH OUT FOR THE DIALOG TO CATCH WHAT ANIMES THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT :3
I ENJOYED IT FULLY 100%.A MASTERPIECE IS BORN NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN EVEN WHEN YOU TRY JUST WATCH IT AND ENJOY :3

One of the best Anime I've seen in a while.

I watched this show with the English Dub. If you watch it in English you will find it generally stays true to the story however, some Japanese references will be lost and put into a reference people in North America can understand. One example is in one episode you will hear them talk about Shows from North America like Dexter and the mentioning of HBO.

The Show takes place in the Edo Period of Japan, it's a time when many forms of entertainment have been outlawed, One of the people affected by this Sekichi Tamaya, a ... fireworks manufacturer tries to put on shows for the entertainment of the people of Edo but he quickly finds himself dodging the authorities who try to arrest him for breaking the law, he comes upon a mysterious girl named Sora who asks Sekichi to build him a rocket to the Moon and that is how Oh Edo Rocket begins.

What I like about this show is that it perfectly balances the Serious and the Not-So-Serious, it knows when to be funny and when to advance the plot. The story is very well-written, High Marks here for originality because i never thought I'd be seeing a story like this.

The Artwork in the story is rich, vibrant and full of color. I still have no idea why Shinza, Santa, Rokube's Wife and Rokube are drawn so radically different from some of the other characters, If I can ever get to ask Mr. Mizushima about that, it will be the first thing I do.

The music in this show is fantastic and it's very memorable, but it will likely appeal to those who enjoy Jazz music like myself.

As for the English Dub performances, this is probably one of the best English Dubs I've heard, Vic Mignogna has a lot of Detractors, there will be people who hate him and people who like him on a personal level. Some people say there were roles he did ruin. I think Vic is a great actor when he is given roles that are very strange or bizarre, his Character in this one, Tetsuju is probably one of the funniest characters ever written for an anime, I can tell you that once you see him in this role you will likely agree with me that this and not Edward Elric is the best role he's done in his career, he pretty much steals the show everytime he's on screen in this one.

Other standout performances include Chris Cason as the tragic figure of Genzo and new-comer Jonathan Brooks as the sly Ginjiro. The Leads are well played by Greg Ayres and Brina Palencia, who in my opinion always gives a great performance. Tyler Walker did a great job with voice-over on this series, but it should come as little surprise because most of his dubs have been fantastic (Even people who don't like Blassreiter overall, have admitted that he did a fantastic job with the actors on that show.)

I would definitely say the one problem with this show may be that it maybe went six episodes too long. A major plot point wraps up on episode 20. However, as I look at the episodes beyond 20, I think there would be a few things that the audience would be clamoring to find out if it ended at 20 that only get resolved in the final couple of Episodes (I.E. Genzo's fate).

Overall, Oh Edo Rocket is worth checking out if you are clamoring for something unique and different. It's not for everybody but if you want to laugh hard, this is the cure!

I have to come out and say this anime IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. But if you are into this type of genre it is one THE best shows. It is based of an amazing and popular play in Tokyo so the funding seems to be top dollar considering universal japan was involved. I really enjoy the bits of random humor and of topic and out of place lines or object thrown in to get a laugh. Even though humor is prevalent the plot is amazing and the music is just plain awesome. The characters actually have levels unlike so many anime out there where everyone ... is typecast. There is some filler and the plot is dragged at some points but not enough to anger anyone it usually lasts maybe a tenth of an episode.
I highly recommend it. I can't shower enough praise on this work.

It's really hard to pull out a fun comedy series since nowadays, shows and sitcoms are full of boring and overuse joke material that were used over the years (shows and sitcoms like Suite Life Of Zack and Cody, Anger Management and The Looney Tunes Show.....*shivers*). So when I bought the 2007 series Oh!-Edo Rocket on Specs, I wasn't expecting much from it, so why even see it? Because of 3 things:

1. It was made by Madhouse and it's their first comedy anime series that they made.
2. It's directed by the guy who worked on Fullmetal Alchemist
3. It's based on a play for the ... Gekidan Shinkansen theater troupe by Kazuki Nakashima, who's the creator of Gurren Lagann.

After finishing the series. I was fairly entertained with series with top notch fourth wall jokes and wacky humor, fun characters and great animation by the great Madhouse but it does fall short in a few things that were overlooked in the show.

Oh! Edo Rocket takes place in Edo in the year 1842, the thirteenth year in the Tenpō era where government reforms banned all luxuries, from plays, performances, inventions and fireworks. Seikichi, a young fireworks maker, is determined to make an amazing firework so that he can bring a possible change to his town but everytime he fails, he's pursued by government officials including Akai, who despises the residents of the Furai Row House because the block is always full of trash and he cleans it up everyday. That is until a girl named Sora (obvious parody of Sora from Kingdom Hearts game series) comes to Seikichi's home and requests him to make a firework that can send her to the moon and his reaction to her request does not go well. Thinking that it might be a good chance to show off his firework skills, he accepts the offer and the quest to send her back to the moon begins.

The story is so non-sensical that it's just hilarious. This is a series that makes tons of crazy forth wall jokes despite being in the year 1842 from residents knowing animation cuts in certain episodes to Shunpei mentioning Madhouse's animation budget in one episode, to a part where helicopters appear out of nowhere, it's a crazy show that relies on some incredibly akward but funny forth wall jokes that surprisingly never drag the story down. Hell, there's a scene where Toyama uses an old TV as a computer to write blogs and there are characters that are not even alike to others. For example, Rokubei has huge teeth, while her wife has a round mouth and strangely, no one seems to care. All in all, the characters are weird, but not terrible. They do develop over the course of the series and to be fair it works. Seikichi may be an arrogant kid at times and bit selfish but he is willing to risk his life to make that rocket for Sora and the others are also well developed but for spoiler's sake, I won't spoil more and just let you know how these characters develop overtime when you see the series.

The animation by Madhouse is excellent. While not one of Madhouse's best works, you can clearly see the animators put some great effort into the series. The backgrounds are full of big and little details to see, the coloring is great and some visual aspects of the show are incredibly chaotic but creative in their own little world. Character models and animations are incredibly good and their animation movements are life-like than other anime shows. The music is also great, giving it a big humorous comedic edge to the shows tone (except the opening and ending theme of the series, there awful) and the dub is simply the best I ever heard. The actors are having a blast with their roles, including Brina Palencia as Sora and Greg Ayres as Seikichi, but Vic Mignogna as the crazy fireworks maker Tetsuju steals the show and it's clearly one of Vic's best underrated voice performances in the show. So what prevents this show from getting a higher rating? Well it's because the show changes the tone from comical to extremely dark and gritty. While it does work in the story and for other characters like Akai and that blue beast, it becomes a fully different thing than the comedic episodes that we watched in the first few minutes in the series and it tries too hard to be a serious plot cause this is a show that makes fun of pop culture references and modern advertising, so why go all dark all of the sudden? But at least it picks up the humorous tone in the last six episodes (despite being unnecessary), so it doesn't ruin the show. Also, everything gets resolved in episode 20, but then it decides to go on to six more episodes and while it does offer some moments of laughter, it runs out of steam in the end of the series.

Oh! Edo Rocket is a fun little gem that's worth the time to experience with friends who want to have a funny good time at home. While it isn't masterpiece material and reviewers complained about this to this series, it's not supposed to be a masterpiece. It's a show that makes fun of history, pop-culture references and they even make fun of their own anime, so really what the hell were they expecting after watching the series? Madhouse's version of Ghost In The Shell?. But either way, It's still a fun show and it deserves to be seen by people who haven't heard of this show.

***This is a spoiler free review***

Over the past few months, I have had my free time occupied by things other than anime such as school, music, and The Old Republic. I at first thought that there just wasn’t any interesting anime left out there to be found. This opinion finally changed when two weeks ago my Netflix decided to recommend Oh! Edo Rocket for me to watch instantly. At first I was very nervous due to the fact that I tend to stay away from English dubbed anime (the exception being Dragon Ball Z and Ouran Host Club) but I was whiling to give the ... show a chance. Once I finished both seasons, I was very, very happy that I gave myself the initial push to watch the show.

Story: 6.5/10

Initially, the show took its time to reveal the entire cast and what the whole plot was going to be revolved around. To sum up the plot, a fireworks maker finds himself head of a very ambitious project to help a friend and with the help of the entire neighborhood, they intend on making the best firework the world has ever seen. What makes the story so interesting is that the show gradually adds characters and plot twists where needed. I only found myself getting a little bored in the final stages of the show. The show can be split into the first major story arc, two or three filerish episodes, then the final couple episodes to finish it off. Overall, the plot is interesting and the characters never get boring.

Animation: 8/10

Another very strong point for the show is its animation. A lot of the character models are very well done and are nice to see every episode. Some of the cast are poorly drawn and have excessive exaggerations to their models on purpose and it doesn’t conflict with the overall look of the show. The color scheme is very appealing as there is an overall emphasis on bright, almost neon colors for the fireworks. Sora, the main character is stunning to look at and this quality never lets up throughout all twenty six episodes. It is a very appealing show to watch.

Sound: 8/10

NOTE: THIS IS REVIEWED ON WATCHING THE ENGLISH DUBBED VERSION OF THE ANIME, NOT THE ORIGINAL JAP. AUDIO.

In the past, English dubs have really ruined the overall experience of some anime for me. Funimation however have really put together some great English dubs including this one. The voice acting is superb and I am almost whiling to say is better than the original Jap. audio. You are not getting any generic sounding lines from these guys; each line is done very well. The music is also very good as it fits in with the show fairly well although I am not a fan of the opening theme which consists of some J-popnonsense.

Characters: 8.5/10

What makes or breaks a show for me is always the cast and how well their interactions play out for my tastes. The animation can be flawless and the musical score can be the best the world has ever heard but if I cannot feel for the characters and what is going on in their lives, the show is a flop in my opinion. The cast here get along very well and you actually feel for each and every one when something good or bad happens. The main character Seikichi can be pretty whiny in some situations but he has goals he wants to accomplish and he won’t let anyone get in his way. The main villain, Akai, really gets beneath your skin and you hate his guts from the moment you meet him. Overall, the cast actually feels like a family and when they are struggling, you want them to succeed.

Overall: 7.8/10

This show was simply like a present you find behind the Christmas tree that you didn’t notice at first. For the first time I can actually thank Netflix for recommending me a show to watch. Its very well written backed by an amazing cast, great music, great English dub, awesome artwork, and a well flowing story. After leaving this show, I have faith that I can once again take a plunge into an anime without the feeling that I will be let down by a half hazard attempt to throw something together. If you like comedies with a very small hint of romance, then this is the show for you.

Enjoyment: 8.5/10

Thanks for reading my review! If you liked my writing style, would like to see some other reviews, or just want to talk, please stop by my page!

Sincerely,
Awesome Drummer

Own, Online Viewing, or Evade
This show is a pretty solid worth Owning.

Overall Rating 8/10
The show is about Tamaya Seikichi, a famous fireworks maker from Japanese history. A rather fictitious account with aliens, ninjas, and a plan to reach the moon with fireworks.

If I remember right, that was the plan… The animation style is a bit odd but don’t let that hold you back. The show has some solid comedy and quite the cast of unusual characters. The old guy in the wheelchair really has a funny surprise. This show seems to have always been available very cheap. Do yourself ... a favor and pick it up.

Theme Songs 8/10
This series has some catchy uniquely odd and good music. I never skipped the opening or ending

Ending 8/10
NO spoilers, the end was well done. When you saw where it was headed, you wondered how they would wrap it up. I liked the ending for this one.