For those who've read my reviews of Nuku Nuku Dash, know that the primary focus of the series was the adventures of an android female that had the brain of a cat but the advanced technology of an alien race. The series was kind of serious, in the end even resulting in death, but this one was more of the comedy centered style like Urusei Yatsura. As described in my reviews of Volume 1 and Volume 2, Nuku Nuku is still a cat-brained androbot with awesome powers, and her closest associate is still Ryunosuke Natsume, although he's much younger in this iteration of the series. Nuku Nuku is the creation of Ryunosuke's father, Kyusaku, not a machine on the run. Mishima Industries is still the bad guy, led by Hell Mishima, and the time line is still in 2013 Maneki, Japan. The city is the testing ground for the company and occasionally a machine will go crazy, wreaking havoc on the populace. Here's a breakdown of the three episodes on the second DVD of the TV series:

Episode 9: Nuku Nuku Runs! The Great Sports Festival! Is That Right?
Spoiled Chieko battles for the hearts and minds of the other students at a sports festival after feeling slighted by Nuku Nuku (who bought the last friend noodle bun at lunch). Mishima sends a couple of agents, Miho and Arisa, to locate the missing androbot, with the couple believing Chieko to be their target, given her large battlebot armor. Guess who gets to save the day once more?

Episode 10: Nuku Nuku And Ryunosuke! It Was A Very Alligator Night
The latest technological advance by Mishima Industries is a DNA changing formula that allows anyone who takes it to change their form into whatever animal they are thinking of when they take it. Ryunosuke transforms into a pink alligator after he involuntarily is given the formula and everyone chases him down, unaware of his real identity. The race is on to get him the antidote before the transformation becomes permanent and he becomes an alligator forever. His only hope is if Arisa and Kyouko catch up to him before his family and friends.

Special #1: Nuku Nuku Wanders. A Happy New Year. I Was Dumped.
Nuku Nuku wakes up to find her family missing. Fearing they left her (something about her cat brain apparently), she sets out to find her place in the grander scheme of things. Her imagination runs wild and she starts to believe the worst so she ends up hanging out with some of her other classmates. The episode provided some background of the supporting cast and eventually ends up learning the family love her very much. The overriding themes of family and friends with regard to priorities in one's life were the central idea here.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Nuku Nuku TV 1 when I first watched it and the second volume wasn't all that much better in most ways. The series appeared to be made for a substantially younger crowd and that means it limited its appeal from the very beginning. I think this one still gets a rating of Rent It, particularly since it had no substantial extras and only three episodes but also because of the content limitations. If you enjoy silly comedies directed at kids, you may well appreciate this one more than I did but you can do better too.

Picture: The picture was presented in it's original 1.33:1 ratio full frame color, as originally released in Japan. The colors were a bit faded and there was some pattern noise but most of the time, the biggest limitation was the limited style of anime. The cartoonish nature of it all may appeal to some fans but the retro style of the animation may prove limiting. I didn't see a lot of other visual flaws but it really looked a lot older than it was.

Sound: The audio was presented with a choice of either a 2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese track (the original track) or a recent English dub. I liked the dub here more than the original track in terms of quality and sound effects but each had their own merits. The dynamic range was limited as was the separation between the channels but the audio fit the visuals quite well.

Extras: There weren't a lot of extras this time, with the usual clean opening, clean closing, and trailers to various shows released by ADV: Kino's Journey, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Saiyuki, Angelic Layer, Azumanga Daioh, andGravion.

Final Thoughts: If you're looking for a child's comedy, this one might suite you just fine. Keeping in mind the limited nature of the release, I've given it a rating of Rent It. The picture and audio were not exactly cutting edge and the animation itself seemed weak but fans of the Nuku Nuku Dash series may enjoy it somewhat more than I did. It wasn't a bad show but the same type of joke and parody themes could have been employed much better and the amount of material for your dollar was pretty low.

For much better anime choices, look at: DVDTalk's Best Of Anime 2003