Got Game?
WHILE THE REST of America watches dubbed and edited versions of "Sailor Moon" and "Dragon Ball Z," Hawaii residents have gotten a taste of unfettered anime for years with "Crayon Shinchan." ‘Crayon Shinchan’
explores the innocence
of childhoodDRAWN & QUARTERED
Graphic Arts As LiteratureThe anime, broadcast in Hawaii on KIKU TV at 7 p.m. Saturdays, centers on a 5-year-old boy, Shinnosuke Nohara, known as Shinchan to family and friends.
(Spot Japanese lesson: "Chan" is added to the end of names to express intimacy and affection, and is often translated as "cute." It is usually used to refer to children, females and pets.)
Unlike many other anime, "Crayon Shinchan" has a traditional family, complete with mother Misae, father Hiroshi, baby sister Himawari and dog Shiro. We also meet his neighbors, and his teachers and classmates in kindergarten. And Shinchan wreaks havoc on every one of them.
The boy gets into as much trouble as the Animaniacs and has been described as the Bart Simpson of Japan. He has an amazing level of mature immaturity: He makes fun of his mother's weight and joins his father in ogling women!
Shinchan breaks into spontaneous dances to cheer people up, though the dancing usually ends up annoying everyone. His most famous is the "Cheek Monster" dance (no, it's the other cheek).
And, with the shamelessness of a child, Shinchan also enjoys making "Mr. Elephant" with his, well, bare midsection.
"We have two extremes in response," says Ruby Nagao of JN Productions, which handles the Japanese programming and subtitling for KIKU-TV. "There are the people who just love it and think it's so funny. There are those who think it's terrible (and) teaches children the wrong things."
But "Crayon" isn't all raunchiness. Shinchan does preserve the more innocent -- and humorous -- aspects of childhood. He mispronounces words and his energy, curiosity and impatience get him into trouble more often than not. And some segments are elaborate fantasies perfectly suited to Shinchan's fertile imagination.
The situations in the anime are somewhat run-of-the-mill -- the basic mischief of 5-year-olds. The real humor is in seeing just how Shinchan will get himself out of each mess.
"I think the original aim of this cartoon was for young parents, parents with kids about Shinchan's age," Nagao says. "That's probably why that's the group that grabbed it up in Japan ... the young parents, because they can relate."
Whatever your stance, "Crayon Shinchan" is really about family life, mixed with the comic exaggeration of cartoons. Its rough animation, well-developed characters and especially its top-notch voice acting combine to make it one of the most hilarious anime ever.
Wilma Jandoc covers the universe
of video games and anime for the
Star-Bulletin. She can be emailed at
wjandoc@starbulletin.com