TV in Japan SPECIAL REPORT: The Top Ten Weirdest Japanese Anime
Welcome to what will be the first of many (I hope) special reports on TV in Japan.
After spending ten months of watching this culture from a distance (and almost entirely from YouTube save a three week span in September), I now feel ready to make some calls of extreme judgment upon it.
First and foremost, I shall judge upon the topic on Anime. But not just regular stuff. We’re talking the odd, tell your friends, WTF-kind-of-way anime.
Yes, it’s a TV in Japan SPECIAL REPORT: The Top Ten Weirdest Japanese Anime!
On TV. In Japan.
Number 10: Ebichu the Housekeeping Hamster (aka Oruchuban Ebichu)
When an anime about a preachy hamster who spends her time cleaning the home of an abusive, not-so-nice owner comes in at number ten you can bet we’re in for a bumpy ride.
Ebichu is an R-rated take on the whole Hamtoro phenomenon of cute Hamster anime. There’s a lot cute on the surface here but as you watch Ebichu start to rail on her owner’s boyfriend or even go into ‘heat’, it veers strange and weird extremely fast.
NOTE: This is not one for the kiddies. But it’s also not like really crazy either. Imagine it as Sex In The City with a Hamster.
My original post on TV in Japan.
Number 9: Popee The Performer
Imagine a 3-D Salvador Dali painting crossed with Miyazaki and you might just end up with Popee the Performer. Strange and vaguely Jungian (or is it Freudian?) this anime lets the viewer figure it out themselves.
Truthfully, Popee was a kids show made in 2001 by Kids Station, one of the all-anime satellite stations in Japan. That, however, does not make it any less weird.
Number 8: Serial Experiments Lain
Serial Experiments Lain is one of those creepy weird anime rather an obnoxiously odd and/or noisy one.
It is exceptionally well crafted, very moving and, at times, disturbing. Watching it reminded me of when I first saw The Maxx on MTV when I was a kid.
It deals with the internet & reality and our connections to it. This is one of those animes that I imagine the Wachowski’s having watched when they came up with The Matrix.
Part Two of this episode is here.
Part Three of this episode is here.
Click the link below for the rest of the list!
Number 7: Panda-Z: The Robonimation
Pandas that control giant robot pandas. With amazing music to accompany the awesome robot panda action. Totally unbeatable.
The original TV in Japan post.
Number 6: Excel Saga
Excel Saga was new to me but I shall watch it as quickly as I can from here on out. It’s essentially slapstick, and while it suffers from exceptional plot confusion, it is I find it totally fun to watch.
WARNING: If you are allergic to obnoxiousness, you may want to avoid these waters.
Number 5: Cat Soup
Gorgeously drawn and surreal in its story, Cat Soup may be THE weirdest anime on here but it ends up at number five because it’s a little slow and may not be for everyone.
The story involves Death (that’s with a capital ‘D’), cats and humans that act like animals and if that’s cool to you, you may just love it.
Part two is here. And part three is here.
Number 4: Sgt. Frog
Sgt. Frog is about alien invaders. That have already invaded. But can’t seem to be able to actually make anything of that invasion. Perhaps for the simple reason that they are amphibians.
Number 3: Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
What is Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo? A better question may be what isn’t Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo?
What it isn’t, it turns out, is sane.
However, according to the Wiki article, the reason for a lot of this may just be that the series is parodying Japanese pop culture in ways that we who aren’t totally immersed in it might never understand. It also describes the series as a Japanese ‘Simpsons’.
They can describe it however they want. It won’t change the fact that one of the main heroes uses his nose hair to fight off enemies. Or the fact that there are simply too many bo-s in the damn name.
Number 2: FLCL (aka Fooly Cooly)
Another of the less hilarious, more weird entries, FLCL delivers both a unique story and beautiful visuals. And of course, a huge helping of weirdness as put forth via my favorite quote from the wiki (spoiler warning!):
By hitting him in the head, Haruko activated Naota’s latent N.O. portal, which allows him to pass physical objects from one astronomically distant point to another by way of his head. This is not immediately obvious, however.
And finally…
Number One: Yakitate!! Japan
I’ve written about it before but I cannot keep in my gushing praise for Yakitate!! Japan (roughly translated: Freshly Baked!! Japan). It is an anime about bread. Not about bread-fighting robots. Or ninjas who must protect the bread bakers.
It is about bread. How to make it. How to enjoy it. How to cherish it.
And it is awesome.
Hope everyone enjoyed this Top Ten. If you liked it a bunch, digg it below!
Also, if you’ve got other ideas as to which anime are the weirdest or should be in this list then add them to the list over at Tenspotting. I’ve posted the All Users list that will change as you vote on it and if some new shows get added, I’ll make an addendum to this post!
Love Yakitate Japan- I’m up to ep 60 or so right now. It’s incredible how much you can learn from it. As I remarked to my friend - “It’s like Initial D, with battles and stuff. Except with bread.”
February 25th, 2007 at 4:24 am
How does Ebichu make the cut but Crayon Shin Chan did not?
Anyone I have ever shown Ebichu to has said “It is Hamtaro as Shin Chan”
Can we not get some love for the show that obviously inspired the producers of Ebichu?
February 25th, 2007 at 5:45 am
For that matter, how does Bobobobobobobobobo make the list, but Mao-chan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTGBcN-B4eo) not?
February 25th, 2007 at 9:28 am
[...] Link a todos los videos del ranking [...]
February 25th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
[...] For videos, I only have one, but it’s a biggie. Steve over at TV in Japan has a awesome post on the 10 weirdest Japanese cartoons. Very cool posting. [...]
February 25th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
I debated a ton about Shin Chan. Looking back, I probably should’ve included it.
That’s what I get for making decisions at 2AM. :)
I’ll check out Mao-Chan as well!
February 25th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
How about this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s2UYe8uUw8
February 26th, 2007 at 1:25 am
Why no mention of Sexy Comando Gaiden?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=221biC7Ot3Y
February 26th, 2007 at 5:59 am
Sex In The City with a Hamster?
Now that’s funny.
Great site :-)
February 26th, 2007 at 8:19 am
What about Anpanman?
February 26th, 2007 at 8:49 am
you must see “Janguru wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haré+Guu
February 27th, 2007 at 8:47 am
Yakikate is more hilarious than weird. Look at school rumble or golden boy if you like funny anime!
February 27th, 2007 at 10:03 am
I’m partial to “The World of Golden Eggs” a CGI anime that is 50% subtitled in English which, in itself is funny, but the original Japanese language meaning appeals on a separate level. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgjBIcGc9bM
February 28th, 2007 at 6:01 am
I remembered one that wouldn’t be out of place on this list: Ippatsu Kiki Musume. It’s a series of very short episodes about a gal who constantly finds herself in difficult situations.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zsc_kIkkUl0
February 28th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
You left out Ping-Pong-Club!! (Think Bobobo with funnier but occasionally R-rated jokes.) NSFW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akSLbpmg2aY
March 1st, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Dokuro-Chan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxpSLkJZc4I
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:36 am
Oh, wow. If not for this list, I’d never have known all the weird (but amazing) animes out there except for a few of the popular ones like Lain and Yakitate Japan.
This post is awesome!
March 4th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
[...] The Top Ten Weirdest Japanese Anime on TV in Japan [...]
March 4th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Lain has been my favorite for years Ebichu its funny :) I’ve watched a few episodes since I saw it posted on this site. I have all of panda Z and cat soup was wierd, I remember when everyone was saying it was the best animated movie ever.
March 4th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
I forgot, you totally HAVE to check out Anonymous #1’s recommendation:
Janguru wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu
March 4th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
What about Nekojiru?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRWh_jVPZYk
March 6th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
[...] here (got this from luis who got it from robyn) [...]
March 11th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
[...] Here is a list of videos of so of the weirdest Japaneses anime [...]
April 4th, 2007 at 4:59 am
Ich erklare meinen Freunden uber diese Seite. Interessieren!
April 12th, 2007 at 4:49 am
Interesting comments.. :D
April 15th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
[...] sum, I wasted a bunch of time. Fortunately however, I gleaned something from the experience: I was introduced to Ebichu, the Housekeeping Hamster. And my life is infinitely enriched because of [...]
July 17th, 2007 at 10:43 am
[...] sum, I wasted a bunch of time. Fortunately however, I gleaned something from the experience: I was introduced to Ebichu, the Housekeeping Hamster. And my life is infinitely enriched because of [...]
July 17th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Just finished watching Cat Soup (the movie ) and Nekojiru Gejijou (the anime series). How come crayon shin-chan is not here?
December 10th, 2007 at 12:51 am
http://www.freewebsitetemplates.com/forum/member.php?u=30124
January 26th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Number 7 ROCKS!!! and you tube sucks for taking the rest of the videos down. spoilsports - im going to upload a million episodes of “little house on the prairie” and “the waltons” to make you hard drives and censors cry
April 30th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Vacation packages are always hard to search, but here are some options .
http://www.imeem.com /people/Cc8kD5k
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:12 am
quero assisti animeeeeeeeeeeee
June 1st, 2008 at 1:59 pm
putz naum to entendendo nada!!!!!!!!
June 1st, 2008 at 2:19 pm
puts naum to conseguindo ouvir nenhuma música aq!!!!!
June 1st, 2008 at 2:21 pm
If you want some crazy stuff, check out “Princess Resurrection”.
It’s about a gothic-style and masochist monster-princess who lets her servant die all the time, only to revive him and punish him again…
June 1st, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Nine plus nine all fine.
http://nasrullahmardani.com
June 19th, 2008 at 7:21 am
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July 15th, 2008 at 7:48 pm