Every once in a while an anime disc will arrive that I just don't have that much interest in seeing.  It's rare, but it does happen.  That's the case with Kodocha.  I had seen the previews that FUNimation included on other DVDs, and it just looked really stupid.  I mean REALLY stupid.  It's obviously a Shoujo title, which isn't necessarily bad, but it concerns an ultra-cute and hyper girl who sings.  Ugh.  But ya gotta do what ya gotta do, so I popped the disc an prepared for the worst.

Imagine my surprise when I stared laughing with the show during the opening credits. The beginning has various members of the cast doing a Macarena-type dance to the opening music in different countries and times.  There's just something about seeing a dinosaur doing the Macarena with a bunch of humans that's funny.  And I didn't stop laughing there either.

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 teacher spends all day crying because the boys won't stop taunting her and so they never get any work done.  The guys are lead by Akito Hayama, the toughest kid in class.  He never has to pull any of the pranks himself, he has his legion of lackeys do it.

Sana has had enough of these disruptions and Akito has become her sworn enemy.  Now it's up to the plucky young star to put the bully in his place, but how?
 
This is a pretty funny show.  Very kinetic and frantic, there is always something going on.  If I had to make a comparison, I'd say that this show was a cross between Excel Saga and Azumanga Diaoh.  While not being quite as funny as either of those series, it has the high energy of Excel and the odd sense of humor of Azumanga, which is a winning combination.

It's hard to describe the humor in the show.  Some of the best jokes are throw-away lines that are said on the fly.  In one scene Sana decides to get revenge for something that Akito has done and she tell a friend that it's only fair.  "An eyeball for an eyeball; a toothball for a toothball."  She later mumbles "Let operation Eyeball-Toothball" begin.  It are little things like this that give the show it's odd slant.  A lot of silly humor that makes adults laugh but will have younger kids rolling on the floor.

I was also surprised to discover that there is a lot of continuity in the show.  There is an overriding story that progresses from episode to episode.  As the disc goes on we learn more about Akito's home life and the situation in Sana's class changes.  That bodes well for this series.  There are some elements that may cause the show to take a serious turn, but I don't think that will happen.  The couple of time that it threatened to get serious in this volume, they had something very silly happen right away to get the program back on track.

This volume contains the first 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.  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 sound very good.

Video:

The full frame video looks fine.  The lines are tight and the colors are solid.  There is very little aliasing or other digital defects.  A very good transfer.

Extras:

As far as bonus material goes, this disc includes a commentary to episode four which is pretty odd.  When the episode starts, the commentators are already well into their track.  There are no introduction and it sounds like they started talking during the opening credits but these comments weren't included.  As far as the content of the track goes, it's a pretty standard anime commentary.  They actors and ADR director can't really comment of the creation of the series, just the dub, so they joke around and talk about what scenes they like and what makes them laugh.

There are also character profiles and a series of trailers.

Final Thoughts:

It's a pretty funny show, and if you were turned off by the trailer like I was, you should really give it a second chance.  The pace of the show is very hectic and that just adds to the humor.  The most surprising anime I've seen all year, I was really expecting something dumb and stupid, but was pleasantly surprised to discover a comic gem.  A high recommendation.