#137 : The Chocolate Panic Picture Show

“Let’s do the time warp agai…” Oh wait!… wrong Picture Show. This is The Chocolate Panic Picture Show. The… what? I often like to search the dusty bins of odd ball OVA titles from the 1980s and I like goofy animator playhouse styled productions that are more valuable as strict visual art than the usual story based spectacle. And what we have here is a title that fits into both categories nicely, but I really have no clue what I just watched. For some, this would be a detriment, for me it’s makes me resort to my inner five year old… Again! Play it again! Play it again!!!

According to research The Chocolate Panic Picture Show was based on a manga based on the old film the Gods Must Be Crazy. AT the time of writing I have yet to see it in full and am only familiar with  clips and remembering the old VHS cover; very funny from what I have seen. From my eye I see similarities to a personal favorite, Birth in terms style. Character designs, spastic comedy, fluid motion and at times flat backgrounds. Then two and two come together under the name of artist and animator Yoshinori Kanada, who was instrumental to both projects. Also one cannot discount the name of Gainax. Apparently The Chocolate Panic Picture Show was Gainax’s first professional production. Hmm? I always thought it was Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise? I stand corrected.

Now according to the entry on My Anime List, which is a direct quote from McCarthy & Clements The Anime Encyclopedia, this is what the say about The Chocolate Panic Picture Show…

“Jaw-droppingly racist musical in which grossly caricatured Africans Manbo, Chinbo, and Chonbo causes chaos in civilisation despite the efforts of their pretty tour guide/bedmate to tame their zany, grass-skirted cannibal ways.”

Racist? Maybe, but I didn’t see that way. Cannibal ways? I saw no cannibalism. And the three main characters have names? There is a hint of that at the end with the final song going over the credits, but who knew. … Unless I am missing something from the manga, all I got out of this half hour was surreal imagery on the par with being a close shave towards hard corps psychedelia. Funky music, bright colors and no concept of gravity, or any other law of physics are what you have to work with here. Now I know I see things differently than others some of the time, but The Chocolate Panic Picture Show from where I stand is nothing like the above quote. Of course until one sees this OVA in it’s entirety how will you know what it is? Maybe like reality, The Chocolate Panic Picture Show is what you perceive out of it. Nothing is mutually exclusive.

So in the end I don’t know just what The Chocolate Panic Picture Show means. Perhaps it just is what it is and that is all it needs to be. For me it’s like a rollercoaster ride into the bizarre and sublime, beyond verbal explanation and great to watch. Or, just listen to the music and DANCE! That’s all the explaining I need 🙂

#4 : Birth

For an updated perspective on Birth, click here.

I have seen many opinions in regards to this one off. Some like it, some think it’s too weird, some think it’s garbage. I LOVE this OVA and I am out and proud of it. True it is an acquired taste, but I think I may know what turns off some, but also what turn’s me on to this oddity. What is it? Well that little ol’ production from 1984… Birth.

Birth was a title I was lucky to come across very cheaply. Remember when you could get a brand new title off of Amazon for under $4.00? I believe I spent around $3.50 (the glory days of $2.99 shipping). I see it as one of the best return on investments I have ever put into any DVD, because I have watched Birth time after time after time and loved it more each time. And just what is it about Birth that I love so much? I mean it is basically a long chase scene and treasure hunt that ends with the whole universe… whoa wait, don’t want to spoil the ending now. Now… I present my reasons, so read on.

An animator’s playhouse: As someone who has a background, education and interest in art and design I often view certain anime a little differently. In this case I see this property as a fun time for all the animators and staff who worked on it. Very creative, but not serious and artsy fartsy (if you want to go that route try Angel’s Egg). If I could get a gig like this, I would say yes in a heartbeat.  Plus Yoshinori Kaneda had a big hand in it’s conception (see recommendations below). So expect lots and lots of motion. Plus, it was animated by one of my favorite, now defunct, smaller animation houses, Kaname Production. Also, Hideaki Anno (Mr. Evangelion) had a hand as well as an up and coming animator.

Characters and their design: The design and animation of Birth is very much in contrast to almost a majority of what came out in Japan in the 1980s. The characters are very organic and blob like, maybe a touch liquidy. Is that is why the planet is called Aqualoid? Plus our main cast is a rag tag group. Our main duo, Rasa and Nam, are either brother and sister or boyfriend/girlfriend, in any case they are close and watch out for each other. Boa is a goof ball space trader who has a lolita complex for Rasa. His business partner, Kim, is often the voice of reason in their partnership. Plus you have your array of minor character including the Inorganics, other humans and these blob type things, one of whom belongs to Rasa and is named Monga. (MONGA! MONGA!!!)

Humor: I find Birth to be amazingly funny. True some of the humor is ridiculous, but it works well for my tastes. I mean you have the scenes where Rasa is called out as a ‘jiggly-butt’ by the Inorganic bikers or they have the comment “Just because a woman is smart does not mean she can sell a cow.” Or, the kid Inorganic hitting on Rasa and after rejection he has a scene at a beach. Or Bao just being Bao. All in all it is weird, spastic and goofy.

A higher reason: Now how can Birth be deep? Well, the notion of the spirit like Arlia (hey she’s a pretty ghost according to Nam) explaining the universe is made up of several levels and that the Organics and Inorganics are both a product of the same source makes you think twice, what am I really watching here? Even goofy cartoons can add a mind bend. Plus at the ending… oh yeah can’t spoil it if you have not seen it.

Music: And finally… the soundtrack… composed by the one and only… Mr. Joe Hisaishi. Oh yeah, Miyazaki’s favorite composer did this one too. It has a similar vibe to what he did on Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Genesis Climber Mospeada. Not very orchestral and more synthesizer and pop/rock in it’s approach.

This is one that I think needs to be viewed in order to have a proper frame of reference. Or having the option of viewing it with someone who is familiar to the property to point things out or hear them chuckle at certain times. As I mentioned above this is an acquired taste, so take what you will from it. If anything this showed the freedom of the era it was produced because we just don’t see this kind of odd ball stuff being released as often anymore, unless there is a huge marketing campaign behind it. As for me if I need to make a top 10 of 80s anime, this is one I would include (honest).