Muteki Kanban Musume

(All episodes watched):

I saw a mention of this show in a magazine and downloaded it in it's entirety. I was feeling quite pleased with myself until I watched the first half of episode one (each episode seems to have two seperate short stories to it), and was left with the impression that MKM was heavy on slapstick violence without all that much genuine wit to it; not a Girls Bravo sort of show, but it seemed disappointing nevertheless. I reluctantly watched some more MKM, and fortunately found succeeding half-episodes were somewhat better than the first one. Still, I couldn't help feeling sorry for Miki's opponents rather than rooting for her. As Miki's own mother puts it, "You're always picking on people. How could anyone see you as a good person"? To be fair, Miki doesn't usually start fights, but she takes devilish delight in beating the crap out of people (Kankuro, mainly) once they do get started. Plus she's a pretty pathetic worker, so why should I sympathize with her? Luckily, I did sympathize with the remainder of the cast--"Hell's Bunny" was good, I wish she had gotten more airtime. This actually turned out to be a fairly fun and amusing show, contrary to my first impressions, though it took me several months to watch the entire series (even though it's relatively short). I only watched half an episode at a time, and it wasn't one of my top priority shows.

There are times when I want a deep, compelling story which rich characters. There are other times when I want some whacky, comedic fun. This happens to be one of those titles.

This series primarily is a parody one. There are all sorts of things parodied including the shounen fight anime titles, the American west, the "Power Rangers" type sentai shows, and more. Everything centers around the main character Miki-chan, who is a pretty girl, somewhat clumsy, yet can kick everyone's tail except for her mother. She works at her mother's Ramen shop serving customers, cleaning the place, getting customer so come in, and making deliveries...when she's not distracted by those wanting to fight her. Since she's nearly invincible when it comes to fighting, other characters in the neighborhood such as Megumi-chan (who works across the street at the bread store), Kankuro (think Kyo-kun from Fruits Basket), and Toshiyuki are always looking to defeat her in a fight, not to mention others around town. The other supporting characters such as Akihiko (the grocer), Kayahara-sensei (the teacher who looks like an evil spirit), and Wakana-chan add to the enjoyment of the series.

In addition to parody, physical comedy plays a large role in this series. So if you don't see the humor in folks fighting and getting their clocks cleaned, this title won't be for you.

There's really not a lot I can say about this anime as it is one that has to be seen to be appreciated. Is it the funniest thing I've ever seen? No. In fact, there was only one really funny episode (#3) where Miki-chan finally meets her match in battle. And yet I found myself really enjoying the craziness in this anime and loving the nutty characters that live in this world. It is this element that took the series to that next level to where I would watch it again with no problem.

Bottom line: One of the nuttier anime titles I've ever seen, and I doubt it will be for everyone. That said, if you love crazy, physical comedy titles, you'll want to watch this.

Last updated Friday, October 06 2006.

If you are looking for a very silly and light-hearted piece of anime fluff, then this is pretty good bet. Onimaru Miki is absolutely clueless and thoroughly violent, but all of the calamities that she gets involved in somehow seem to turn out OK.

I have posted some snaps of episode one.