The Show:
The third volume of Kodocha is just as wild and wacky as the
previous installments. This sleeper hit just keeps going strong. This
kinetic show about an 11-year-old TV star and her trials and tribulations
at work and school just seems to get funnier as it goes along.
Series recap:
Sana Kurata is 11 years old, in the 6th grade, and a TV star.
The only girl in her class with an agent, she has to balance her school
work with her career. Sana's mom is an award winning author who has
taken to wearing very odd hats and doesn't want to turn in her latest manuscript.
The other adult in Sana's life is her agent, Rei Sagami, who is very loyal
to the budding star, and she has a big crush on him.
Though her TV show is doing well, school is not so good. She has
the misfortune of being placed in the worst class in the school.
The guys are very disruptive and they are led by Akito Hayama, the toughest
kid in class. Since he's turned the class into a zoo, Akito becomes
Sana's blood enemy.
There's also a problem with Rei. It turns out that he has a past
with Sana's favorite movie star, Asako Kurumi, which makes Sana green with
envy.
This volume:
Picking up where the last volume left off, Sana is on a school field
trip when she spills some juice on Akito. When she leans close to
clean up the mess, the monkey-boy kisses her! This causes her no
end of trouble. Not only is she embarrassed since all of her friends
saw, but she was saving her first kiss for Rei. Things get even worse
when she comes home from school just in time to see Asako leaving her house.
Things get worse for poor Sana in the appropriately titled "Love Flys
out the Window Like a Chicken." While confronting Rei about Asako's
visit, Sana's mother hits her over the head, both literally and figuratively,
with the news that Rei's not really her boyfriend, much less her pimp.
She doesn't believe her at first, but eventually reality hits her square
between the eyes.
Getting over her broken heart, Sana launches into her next storyline
as Rei tries to make things up to her by working on her career. He
starts booking her for more and more commercials, that she handles like
a pro. Her good attitude and strong work ethic gets her even more
work, and before you know it she's running herself ragged. As she
spends more time at work, she has less time for her friends who start deserting
her.
This show is a real sleeper hit. I haven't been hearing much buzz
about it, but it's a very funny show. Every episode has some good
laughs. I especially enjoy Sana's mother's hats, and the chipmunk
that lives in them. The idea is just so bizarre, and no one else
seems to think so. This volume is a little more sober than
the previous two, but it still has a lot of great throw-away lines and
sight gags. If you are looking for an off the wall comedy with a
good amount of continuity, this is the series to check out.
The DVD:
This volume contains the next four episodes of the series in a white
keepcase. Unfortunately, FUNimation is still including trailers before
the main menu that you can't skip past. This is really irritating,
and this from someone who loves to watch the trailers on anime discs.
I wish they would stop this annoying practice.
Audio:
This disc has the original stereo Japanese language track as well as
an English dub in both stereo and 5.1. I alternated between the Japanese
track and the 5.1 dub while watching this show and found both of them to
be equally good. The English track has some very good talent, and
Laura Bailey does an outstanding job as Sana. The way she pronounces
the phrase "monkey-boy" while insulting Akita and his pals always gets
me laughing. When she talks fast, it gets even more humorous.
Make sure you listen to her "next episode" tags at the end of each show.
Her delivery really made the English dub very entertaining.
The sound quality is very good. The 5.1 dub makes very good use
of the surround speakers as well as the front soundstage. While the
Japanese track isn't as enveloping or dynamic it too sounds very good.
Video:
The full frame video looks fine. The lines are tight and the colors
are solid. I was surprised to see a few spots on the image, but these
were fairly rare. There is very little aliasing or other digital
defects. A very good transfer.
Extras:
There is a commentary to episode 10 with Jerry Jewel (Akito) and Greg
Ayers (Tsuyoshi). They didn't have much to say and are really reaching
for comments. "There's a big hammer." Ooookay. They do
explain why the English dubs are recorded one voice at a time but there's
not much more.
There is also another Mr. Stain on Junk Alley. This is
an odd CGI series that's worth watching, and I can't wait for it to be
released next year.
Final Thoughts:
This is the best anime show that no one is watching. Like Azumanga
Diaoh, this is a show with an odd sense of humor that's really
funny. It's also one of the rare anime titles where the English dub
ads a lot of humor to the episodes, Laura Bailey does a great job as Sana.
A wacky program that comes highly recommended.
Buy: