As Sasshi and Arumi jump from world to world, trying to return home, certain plot points are revealed that force Sasshi to confront the fact that his life is inevitably changing. These are all “versions of their shopping district Abenobashi”, and Sasshi and Arumi meet and interact with characters who resemble the people they know: Arumi’s father and grandfather, Sasshi’s older sister, the neighbourhood cross-dresser, a strange busty lady who is chasing a mysterious shaman-like figure. With this premise set up, the show suddenly transports us into a series of fantasy worlds: a world from a medieval fantasy, a sci-fi space world, a spy movie world, a Hong Kong martial arts world, among others. The shuttered store fronts, the easy banter between the childhood friends, the argument between Arumi’s father and grandfather all draw us into their lived experience and accentuate the melancholy of inevitable change. They are lazily fooling around one day, when Arumi drops the news that her family will be among the many who are closing up shop in the dying shopping district: they will be moving to Hokkaido for her father’s new career ambitions. Sasshi and Arumi are two early adolescents who have been friends since forever, growing up together in a shopping district in the Kansai region of Japan. The first episode is a fantastic mood piece that paints the melancholy of inevitable change. It is simultaneously a loud, bawdy romp and a coming-of-age story. Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (2002) is a 13 episode series produced by Studio Gainax and directed by Kojima Masayuki ( Monster, Made in Abyss). This year, I was given Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi. Slightly specific jokes aside everyone finds something to laugh at in this series.Management: Anime Secret Santa is a project in which bloggers (anonymously) give and are given anime to review. Overall, it’s not very “good” from a technical standpoint, but it’s good at what it does which is be funny. It’s kind of like the twisted love-child of FLCL and Excel Saga. The music is average to bad but it isn’t anything terrible compared to the series.Ībenobashi’s ending is kind of “whaaaaa?” but it somehow works along with the rest of the cracked-out-ness that is going on with the rest of the show. The animation is Gainax’s style, not as polished as other features but that might lend to why it has an ending. Clueless yet well-meaning boy, more responsible best friend, girl with large breasts who is slightly ditzy, and of course multiple other sub-characters who always fill convenient rolls within the plot. The characters of the story range from tolerable to loveable with a relatively generic cast. The problem with the jokes are that they are sometimes too pop-culture or Gainax specific that they can be lost as easily as they are found entertaining. Think Excel Saga but with little kids instead (and not nearly as funny). It is basically Gainax’s rendition of the anime parody genre. As everything is happening around them something mysterious occurs transporting them into alternate realities of their shopping arcade.Ībenobashi is made by studio Gainax, but don’t be fooled by this, the ending is not in crayon. To make matters worse Arumi, his best friend, is leaving for Hokkaido with her family. However, due to urban modernization projects the bath house was torn down, and the rest of the shopping arcade is next. Sasshi has grown up in the Shopping Arcade Abenobashi for all of his life at his family’s bath house. Alternate Titles: Magical Shopping Street Abenobashi,
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