Ladies and germs, weeaboos and otakus alike, hold onto your butts, you're in for the ride of your life. This is the widget series you weren't looking for let alone have heard of. Actually, you might have heard of it and just hadn't seen it, but don't let your ears hog it all, let your eyes feast as your brain fries. And don't let it just be you, bring your friends, your families, your peers, there's plenty to go around. There's something for everybody. And if they don't like it and think you're a weirdo for watching something that looks like a Saturday morning cartoon small children would sit in front of the TV drooling over for hours, then they clearly don't know the meaning of mindless entertainment, and they probably watch reality TV.
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is the king of mindless entertainment, and it shamelessly boasts it from the rooftops while its nose hairs take you for a spin on your head after you're stuffed into a tutu you never knew you had. But don't worry, you're not the only one dressed up, everyone involved is in a tutu attempting and failing to reenact Swan Lake, it's just that you're the only one spinning on your head. No harm done, unless you're the bad guy.
Oh, I'm supposed to write a review. Sorry, got caught up in the imagery and had to untangle myself. Let's get back on track, shall we?
STORY: Funny, Bo-bobo has no real story. Sort of. It kind of forgets it has a story. It has arcs, I suppose, and like every other shounen series, the arcs span several episodes a-piece, but luckily not to the extent of “They're still on Namek?”. But I'm sure it's parodied somewhere and I just didn't catch it, or the anime never made it that far. The entire show's a parody of Fist of the North Star anyway, although I've yet to really watch it for myself, so that's probably my problem.
But for the set-up, it's the year 300X-and-a-half, and the Margarita Empire's leader sent of a group of Hair Hunters to go around and shave everyone's hair off. A young girl named Beauty was about to lose her head of hair when a tall, muscular man with sunglasses and a blonde afro arrived beating the snot out of them with his Super Fist of the Nose Hair, a fighting style known as “Wiggin”. He's a rebel, and is going around looking for more like him standing up to the tyranny. For the next several episodes, they gather more allies and make new enemies all in the name of hair and insanity. Then it's just insanity the rest of the time like you took a wrong turn on Willy Wonka's boat ride through the tunnel, just with less nightmare fuel and flashing lights. And insanity is both normal and abnormal, depends on which end of the stick you're on.
You'll never get used to it, but it all becomes the norm before you know it. Kind of like with Yellow Submarine, except I don't think Bo-bobo was ever influenced by drugs. At least, nothing official has come out about it. But the show's been described as something Jay Ward (the creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle) would create if he did LSD. So that counts, right?
CHARACTERS: The show has many colorful characters that just grows and they all go bonkers as it continues. What'd you expect from a show that's 76 episodes long? I swear the show bypasses Dragon Ball in terms of its cast, but I'm probably over-exaggerating because there's quite a number of characters that last for an episode or two. So luckily for you, reader, you're going to get acquainted with them right now.
Reader, meet Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Beauty, Don Patch, Jelly Jiggler, Gasser, Softon, Dengakuman, Hatenkou, Don Patch—wait, I already counted him—King Nosehair, Captain Battleship, Suzu, Serviceman, the Narrator, Over, Torpedo Girl, Giga—wait, where're you going? It's not over yet! I didn't say I was done! *throws a protesting Jelly Jiggler at you to stop you in your tracks*
ART/ANIMATION: This is Toei Animation's animation. No, it's not good, but its simplicity works for the type of show it is. Things get wacky and colorful, so the less strain on the animators' part and the viewers' eyes, the better. The character models are some of the more unique seen in anime, it's one-of-a-kind. At least I think they are. The only other (shounen) anime I can think of more weird-looking than Bo-bobo are Zatch Bell and One Piece, but that was at least from a glance. Which is also weird because Toei did those shows as well. They seem have a knack for doing anime with unique art styles. Or maybe it's because such models are simple enough for them to do limited animation and let's them get away with off-model moments. Seems right up their alley, anyway, and so with Bo-bobo, I suppose they used it to their advantage to make the animation go just about anywhere in quality. And indeed, its animation is one of Bo-bobo's keys to its success in its humor next to the dialogue. And so for a show that first aired back in late-2003, Bo-bobo is pretty much a product of its time in the art department. Not that it's a bad thing.
Also, bonus points for Toei to have actually done adaptations of some of the anime being parodied like Fist of the North Star. Not entirely sure if that was just mere coincidence.
SOUND: I don't know what the Japanese is like, I chose to watch it dubbed. The reason I did this is because the show heavily relies on Japanese pop culture and puns, something that's basically untranslatable and the average non-Japanese-born-and-raised viewer is not going to fully understand. This is pretty much 99% of us on the site, maybe 98%. Whatever, Bo-bobo doesn't care.
So the script was pretty much rewritten for the dub while still maintaining the spirit of the show. Like I'm surprised this wasn't done by Saban Entertainment, who had previously done gag dubs in both Samurai Pizza Cats and Digimon. To further back this up, Jeff Nimoy was one of the screenwriters (and also voiced the character Hatenkou), and the dub is pretty much a Digimon reunion (that spans across the first three seasons). But the actual company behind it was Phuuz Entertainment Inc. (now Unbound Creative, Inc.) with Cloverway Inc.
The voice actors were very stellar for their roles. Richard Epcar is the titular character, and he was pretty much Myotismon while channeling Etemon, which was the best thing I could've asked for. In the Japanese, it's Dio himself, Takehito Koyasu, but it was learning that Mr. Epcar was the main character that sold me on watching it dubbed next to the facts previously mentioned. Philece Sampler is Beauty, who I felt was a better fit for her than Mimi (although despite what I've said in my Digimon review, I've actually been beginning to warm up to her role as Mimi), and she did a fantastic job delivering her lines. Others include Kirk Thornton as Don Patch, which fans agree is his best role and it probably always will be his best if only because the character stole the show, Jamieson Price as the butt monkey Jelly Jiggler, Brian Beacock as Dengakuman (who sounds like he's on helium the whole time, but it's better than it sounds), and of course, Michael McConnohie as the Narrator. For the villains, notable voice actors are Paul St. Peter as Captain Battleship, Liam O'Brien as Over, and David Lodge as Giga.
Pretty solid cast, if you ask me.
The first opening, “Wild Challenger”, is a minute long, but it pretty much sums up Bo-bobo. Not that I'm recommending you just skip the entire show and just watch the opening, because I'm not, but if you just want a quick taste before deciding, go for it. Not that “Baka Survivor” doesn't capture Bo-bobo's spirit, but it took a few episodes for the second opening to grow on me, while the first got me sucked in from the start. You might like it more, though, it just depends on your taste. The endings are an entirely different story. I listened to them, but I was never a big fan. They're not bad, except “Shiawase” makes my ears cringe (but it's an earworm), and I don't remember “Kirai Tune” very well. “H.P.S.J.” at least is something and acts pretty much like a dance party ending for every episode, but that's about it.
ENJOYMENT: I've never taken a picture or recorded myself watching this show (although I've had my webcam on once for a friend who was also watching the show, so he at least knew what went on), but I know what my expression was for every single episode. I'll demonstrate:
I'm leaning in my chair, elbows on my laptop, or desk or wherever else I'm sitting at, chin in my hand. I'm transfixed to the screen, watching and listening intently as my jaw slacks in preparation for an outburst of laughter that'll bring tears to my eyes, or just hangs in awe at what's going on on the screen. My brain can't keep up, and goes into hibernation until the episode ends, or I stop watching for the day. I become a couch potato, reminiscent of my childhood days of sitting in front of the tube watching cartoons. And I feel nothing but bliss.
And that's how I enjoyed my time with Bo-bobo. And I'll do it all over again, although I'd like to watch it with someone else.
So despite my ramblings, I definitely recommend this if you're in the mood for some over-the-top wackiness in your search for widget series. Just don't binge-watch this show. You'll die.
Of laughter. Though you might also die of boredom if this isn't your thing. Bo-bobo doesn't care, but at least the laughter isn't canned like the show was. And that's terrible.
The show being canned, I mean. I'm just making myself sad thinking about it. Still doesn't take away from the enjoyment, thankfully, that's what matters in the end.
