Overview:
Kenya Boy, along with being one of the more polite things Trump calls Obama, is also the name of a 1984 kids movie considered "one of the worst ever" by older otaku. The founder of animenewsnetwork listed it among his anime Hall of Shame and that guy has seen about 5,000 anime!
Background:
Kenya Boy was based on a 1950s manga that never really gained fame or popularity outside Japan. The manga is basically a Japanese Tarzan ripoff that hasn't aged particularly well. The movie tries to adapt the entire manga and crams WAY too much plot into a 100 minute run time, making the last
...
30 minutes an absolute blitz of insanity.
Plot:
The plot is basically what you get when you mix Tarzan with a cocaine induced fever dream. Our hero Wataru is a young Japanese boy whose father is a merchant in 1941 Kenya. Since Kenya was a British colony and Japan declared war on Great Britain, Wataru's father decides to give his son a last tour of the country before fleeing back to Japan. Unfortunately, a rhino attacks and Wataru becomes separated from his father. The next day, Wataru finds a sick man named Zega who is actually the chief of the Masai tribe. Wataru offers to retrieve a rare healing herb to cure Zega, because he is Japanese and the Japanese are a brave and noble people. Seriously, this manga's patriotism is off the charts. Every other line is "I am not afraid for I am Japanese!" "Wow! You're Japanese! You must be very strong!".
Wataru manages to escape a monster frog the size of an elephant and retrieve the herb. In exchange, Zega leaves his son in charge of the tribe and travels with Wataru to help him find his father. 3 years later, Wataru has become a spear wielding, elephant riding badass that can summon a Godzilla sized purple snake...because Zega is appararently the African Orochimaru. Wataru and Zega soon come across a young blonde girl who is being manipulated by an evil shaman. The shaman claims the blonde girl is a goddess and the entire village believes him, for some reason. Wataru and Zega manage to defeat the evil shaman and free the girl, whose name is Kate. We get a quick scene of Wataru and Kate bonding and becoming friends, but then she is immediately kidnapped by the lizard people! They are a subterranean tribe with idiotic Barney the Dinosaur costumes who worship a giant lizard. Fortunately, they flee in terror if you damage their costumes. Why? Who knows! With Kate rescued, we enter the final act and HOLY SHIT is it ridiculous!
A full 3/4 through the movie we are introduced to the villain...some Nazi with a monocle! This guy named "Von Goering" has found Wataru's father and convinced him that he is a nice guy. In reality, Goering wants Wataru's father to convince a German scientist to complete Nazi Germany's secret atom bomb. The scientist, who I guess is supposed to be Heisenberg, refuses on moral grounds to allow the Nazis to have the bomb. However, Goering captures Wataru, Kate, and Zega. He then threatens to kill them if Heisenberg doesn't create the bomb. Heisenberg demands the hostages are released first, then detonates the bomb inside the testing faciliy sacrificing himself to destroy the Nazis and the research notes. Fortunately for our heroes, the bomb tears open a portal to Mesozoic Era. Yes...this fucking happens. Our heroes are attacked by a T-Rex, but the giant purple snake also traveled back in time! The snake kills the T-Rex which causes it and all other dinosaurs to immediately turn into skeletons. Why? Who the fuck knows! Our heroes then ride the snake back to the present and into safety. Wataru bids farewell to Zega and rides a train with his father and Kate because the war has apparently just ended.
Art:
The art during the beginning is actually quite good. This film actually had a decent budget for a 1984 anime. Then the art gets...weird. If this weren't such a crappy movie it could get away with claiming "Avant Garde" but instead it just feels like it wasn't finished. Sometimes it randomly cuts to black and white. Sometimes the lines aren't drawn in. Sometimes the bottom half of the screen becomes pixelated or looks like 8-bit graphics. Sometimes characters change skin color for absolutely no reason and then turn back again in the same scene. I have no idea why any of this is happening!
Music:
The music is a full orchestral soundtrack that is FAR better than this clusterfuck of a movie deserves.
Audio:
Many veterans of old school anime are in this, but Wataru is played by a child actor who never voiced anything again. Even non-Japanese speakers can pick up on how flat and emotionless his performance is. This kid is the Japanese Jake Lloyd!
Overall:
Kenya Boy is a VERY flawed film with a plot that's total nonsense and art that is inconsistent at best. However, it is quite entertaining and definitely worth a watch! You will never see another anime quite like this one!
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Shounen Keniya, Jungle Boy
Japanese: 少年ケニヤ
More titlesInformation
Type:
Movie
Episodes:
1
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Mar 10, 1984
Producers:
None found, add some
Licensors:
None found, add some
Studios:
Toei Animation
Source:
Unknown
Genre:
Adventure
Duration:
1 hr. 55 min.
Rating:
PG - Children
Statistics
Ranked:
#123172
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#10268
Members:
2,678
Favorites:
3
Resources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 4 / 4
Sort
Your Feelings Categories Mar 21, 2017
Overview:
Kenya Boy, along with being one of the more polite things Trump calls Obama, is also the name of a 1984 kids movie considered "one of the worst ever" by older otaku. The founder of animenewsnetwork listed it among his anime Hall of Shame and that guy has seen about 5,000 anime! Background: Kenya Boy was based on a 1950s manga that never really gained fame or popularity outside Japan. The manga is basically a Japanese Tarzan ripoff that hasn't aged particularly well. The movie tries to adapt the entire manga and crams WAY too much plot into a 100 minute run time, making the last ... May 16, 2017
An odd film based on a manga by Yamakawa Souji, Shonen Kenya (or, "Kenya Boy"), tells the story of 11-year old Wataru Murakami, who gets separated from his father as they are travelling through Kenya. He must then survive the perils that he encounters, with the help of a few allies he meets along the way.
The story is pretty standard when it comes to adventure films, and it seems to have taken much inspiration from classic black & white jungle adventure films of the 30s and 40s such as King Kong, Gunga Din, or the many others that were released during that era. However, the ... Dec 16, 2014
Shounen Kenya, or "Kenya Boy", is certainly different when placed alongside other things anime. However, one thing should be made clear before going in to view this. Kenya Boy is not a culturally-accurate representation of the country Kenya, and the story doesn't really revolve around surviving in the country. What the story really is, is actually a bit similar to anime with a unique coat of paint. It's a fantasy, action adventure while also not only a shounen by its title, but also by the story. It was a bit of a shame that the story elements made the experience feel less genuine and more
...
Dec 28, 2018
There's this concept of a show that is "So Bad It's Good" - as in, it is recognized to be a terrible movie/show, but its terrible-ness is so over the top that it is actually entertaining to watch. In fact, MST3K was founded on this principle.
Kenya Boy is definitely one of those "So Bad It's Good" movies. As it started, I thought I was in for a standard Coming Of Age story, as a young boy is separated from his father in the heart of Africa at the start of war, and has to fend ... |