30 SILLY ANIME NAMES(or, a quest to briefly understand Japanese animated television before I waste too much time)

BEN’S INTRODUCTION:

Japanese Anime is an odd business to say the least. Most of us who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s will have at least some knowledge of the movies and series that have attained a higher profile in the West following the success of ‘Akira’ and subsequent stand-alone blockbusters, not to mention the concerted efforts that were made a few years back to get English speaking teenage boys hooked on good-natured nonsense of the ‘Gunsmith Cats’, ‘Dominion: Tank Police’ variety and the widespread distribution of, and renewal of interest in, the genuinely wonderful films of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

But, for the most part, the mind-bogglingly vast range of animated TV series and episodic movies that form a huge part of the entertainment-diet of Japan remain the concern of only a small, hardcore fanbase in the West, a fanbase which, needless to say, includes neither myself nor anyone I know, hence my general ignorance of the subject.

A few months ago however, my brother Paul emailed me a list he had compiled of the thirty anime series with the most ludicrous or unlikely translated titles, and stated his intention to track down and watch extracts from each of them in turn.

Now the raving linguistic insanity that inevitably seems to result when Japanese titles are translated directly into English is nothing new – even the quickest overview of Japanese exploitation cinema for instance will instantly have the curious reader marvelling at the existence of ‘The Sperm Hunts At Night’, ‘Go Go Second Time Virgin!’ and ‘Emperor Tomato Ketchup’ – but nonetheless, Paul’s list blew my mind.

Sure, it featured a few better known series such as ‘Cowboy Bebop’. But what of ‘Boogie-Pop Phantom’? ‘All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku’? ‘Hayate The Combat Butler’? – clearly this is an avenue of world culture that demands further investigation!

Thus I have arranged with Paul to present the results of his marathon survey on this very weblog, for your entertainment and education, in six parts beginning below.

Needless to say, all text in these posts is his, unless otherwise stated.