Jashin-chan Dropkick "Seikimatsu-hen"

This special is pretty good. It's basically a normal municipality-promoting episode of Jashin-chan, plus a Fist of the North Star parody. The animation is a bit worse than that of X (as is directly pointed out by Jashin-chan at the start of the episode), but the art direction is still attractive. It looks worse than the show, but it's not enough of a downgrade to make the special bad. We get two new songs for the opening and ending, both of which are good, but lack proper visuals.

We get plenty of Jashin-chan’s typical fourth wall breaking humor, with some references to the Furano situation thrown ... in. If you're unaware, a few episodes of X raised funds by advertising municipalities, the idea being that fans might send those municipalities money through the hometown tax system. One of these cities, Furano, refused to hand over the money they'd agreed upon (after their episode had already aired), claiming its content was unacceptable. The City Council cited a joke about selling organs, confirming that they have the weakest sensibilities on the planet. It was a real shitty move, and it's nice to see the staff poking fun at it.

The special follows a meandering travel plot, where Jashin-chan goes on a wacky adventure, meeting every character in the process. This time the city being promoted is Takamori, and they push the local specialties less than they did in previous promotional episodes. It's still not compelling on its own, but provides ample opportunity for entertaining character interactions. If you're still here after three seasons, that should be enough. Moderate your expectations if the plot synopsis misled you into thinking this was an alternate timeline.

This is as much a status update as a new episode. The dialogue at the end implies we’re getting another season, I just hope the crowdfunding makes enough money that they can chill on the hometown tax episodes. I would sell my organs if it meant getting less of those.

Watch this special. And if you're a true Jashin-chaner, don't send your taxes to Furano.