August 11, 2004

{ The Super Milk Chan Show Vol.1 - 100% Whole }

ABSOLUTELY MENTAL. BEYOND SANITY. COMPLETELY RETARDED. UTTERLY FUCKED. And that still doesn't begin to describe the madness that is Super Milk Chan. It's half superhero situation-drama and half surreal meta-cultural anime comedy. Three's Company meets Excel Saga, rendered in that beautiful J-pop thick-lined Powerpuff Girls-style. The main character, Milk Chan, is an underage superhero with no superpowers struggling to pay the rent on the apartment she shares with her friend Tetsuko, a well-intentioned yet morally imperialistic robot and Hanage (literally "nose-hair") an aging alcoholic slug. Inevitably, The President calls and the trio are whisked off to solve a mystery or save the world, and what follows is some of the most cracked plot logic you're likely to ever witness. Or Milk Chan's obnoxiously effeminate landlord shows up, demanding the rent, forcing the gang into some off-kilter money-making venture. (My favorite- extorting cash from the family of ants that have taken up residence in the yard.) It's cute and crass, with lots of swearing and obscure comedic references that will go over the head of even the most dedicated Japanophile. Interspersed amongst this are "Video Diaries", short live-action clips narrated by a little girl that never have any bearing on what is occuring with the rest of the show. Super Milk Chan began as an 8-minute short on Flyer TV and has since been spun off into its own 30 minute program. This DVD volume collects 4 of the mini-episodes and 3 of the longer ones. ADV has released this as a two-disc set. One disc includes the original Japanese episodes- with a fairly literal (though poorly cast) dub job and subtitles. The dubbing isn't so fantastic- the voice acting is seriously weak, and it just doesn't feel very well-produced or integrated into the soundtrack as a whole. The English voice cast just gets it wrong in every way possible- overemphasizing the visual goofiness of the characters with excessively silly voices and killing the deadpan delivery necessary for most of the jokes. The subtitled version is where it's at- you get the original voices with the proper pacing and delivery, and it works. The other disc you can just throw away. I'm serious. It's the one they have brightly marked with an American Flag background, so it's easy to identify and discard. If you can't bring yourself to part with it, at least heed my warning and keep it far, far away from your DVD player. This second disc contains an "Americanized" version of Super Milk Chan with scripts that have been rewritten to include some hip US humor! It's all performed by the same atrocious cast of voice actors slammed above, only now instead of fucking up a fairly literal translation of the original, they are fucking up an already fucked up re-write. That means that you, as an audience member, are getting double-fucked. It's like that episode of the Simpsons where they introduce Poochie, the "extreme" new character on Itchy & Scratchy. Only this isn't even funny in an ironic sense, it's just annoying, poorly written and kinda stupid. Things get 17 times more retarded when they add in live footage shot in the ADV studios as an introduction to the show. I suppose it's meant to play out like some low-rent version of The Office, showcasing the microcosm of politics and personal interactions that unfold on a "typical" day at the offices of a US importer of Japanese animation. This shit is so painful to watch, I can't imagine why they bothered to include it. Don't say I didn't warn you. Despite this awful additional material and mangling of the original, the show is worth seeing- it's hyper-stylish look and the absolutely insane plot devices are on another level. At it's most absurd moments it calls to mind Sealab 2021 or Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Of course that leaves me wondering what this show could have been if it had found its way into the hands of the Adult Swim crew instead of the bunglers at ADV, but I guess there's no use crying over spilled Super Milk Chan.

     » Official Super Milk Chan Site (Japanese)
     » ADV Super Milk Chan Site
     » Buy from DeepDiscountDVD.com for $17.99

By Adam in Film & TV | Comments:

Comments

Mucho agree-o on that review.-o
that american docudrama portion tactic
is heinus ineptitude which came off actually feeling like the "inbetween parts" of a porno.
i really wanted to ;like this. and after watching
that american disc in the set, wanted more
for half my money back...

Posted by: attaboy at August 17, 2004 1:52 AM

i like milk chan, send me pictures of her, my boyfriends loser buddy is tatooing me w/ milkchan. you are all dumbasses!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: zar at May 8, 2005 6:50 PM