Onara Gorou

Overview:

I have a number of serious and quite lengthy reviews in the works right now, so here is something quick and easy. The motherfuckers behind the much beloved President Trap Kun have struck again!

Plot?:

The plot is about a sentient, talking fart that sometimes solves problems. Everyone seems to know and absolutely adores the talking fart. The humor though "at least for the Japanese audience" actually doesn't revolve around the concept. Nope! Instead it's all about puns and comic wordplay that doesn't translate outside of Japanese. This is Vampire Holmes all over again!

Animation:

This was drawn entirely by one person. I mean...yeah it sucks, but it's ... pretty hard to animate something entirely by yourself on a tight schedule and zero budget.

Soundtrack: A live action band of cute women sing about "eating junkfood and farting without humanity or mercy".

Overall:

Having a cartoon about a talking fart (or shit) isn't what makes this uniquely Japanese. That's the kind of joke White Americans in the 1990s would make. Ren and Stimpy and South Park for example. No, what makes this distinctly Japanese is that a show about a talking fart quickly turns into a bad Manzai routine. Come back next year, when this director inevitably makes a show about a queef that recites Rakugo poetry.

Don’t be fooled by appearances! Onara Gorou is high art; a masterful, deeply deconstructive analysis of a long-held social taboo! It alters one’s perspective on its cultural significance, exploring such themes as fart romance and the meaning of life for digestive gases, and using these themes to demonstrate poignant, thought-provoking truths…

…What’s that? You think I’m talking out of my ass? Pffffft!

From the creator of such marvels as “Mr. Andou of the Forest” and “Salaryman Man” comes anime’s latest avant-garde classic! It follows the adventures of troubled individuals, who see their lives turned around as they get lectured by an old fart and his heroic inanimate ... smiling sidekick – the true unsung hero, perhaps, for enabling such great deeds to happen while asking for no praise or even name recognition in return! This character is so deep, he contains another entire character that still seems like hot air by comparison! To top it all off, there's even a farewell catchphrase to go with it all!

“Defart!” (“Sayo-onara!”)

I’ll admit, I got some chuckles out of this one, and one or two were legitimate, un-ironic laughs. Regretful, dumb and embarrassed laughs, maybe, but then I came to realize this only amplifies the show’s greatest message. Perhaps our obsession with insisting on higher-than-thou highbrow-over-lowbrow entertainment is all missing the point; why treat our silly little human senses of humour as somehow subhuman? Why downplay the easy comedic options simply because they aren't "refined” or “sophisticated” enough? If one finds them amusing, then maybe there’s no sense feeling embarrassed, or holding it in.

If I really must criticize anything, the only issues I can come up with are pacing problems and slow points, repetition, predictable punchlines, lazy writing, lazier presentation, overly-deadpan delivery to ever-diminishing effect, a soundtrack that's either cheesy or nonexistent, unremarkable sound design, ridiculous logic, and one-dimensional characters with instant and artificial development.

Go watch it, seriously. Experiencing this modern classic requires mere minutes of your time!

This is the anime equivalent of "The Room". Just because it gets a poor rating, doesn't mean I don't recommend it. I highly recommend it simply for its sheer stupidity.

Pros:

- Short (only about 40 minutes to watch the entire series)
- Great sense of humor
- Extremely catchy ending song
- Great for anybody who loves extremely bad "so bad they're good" shows and movies

Cons:
...
- Artwork and animation are unexcusable
- The choice they went for for the final episode was an odd choice
- Requires an immature sense of humor for the viewer fully enjoy it

Concluding thoughts:

I highly recommend this. It's lighthearted and often quite hilarious. Definitely not your typical anime, but still good for a good laugh.