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Haré + Guu Vol. 1
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There are some anime series’ that simply defy all logic and border
on insanity. Way back when we originally started this site, I was
speaking with a representative from one of the various anime
companies that we work with and was brining up various anime series
that I thought would do well in the United States. One that came up
was a title that had become a favorite; Jungle wa Itsumo
Harénochiguu. Sadly, the decision was that they were a little
afraid of the series and I’ve long been under the impression that
the anime would never see the light of day save for badly done
fan-subs. Insane and quirky obviously don’t scare AnimeNation
Entertainment and they follow up the success of their previous
releases, Risky Safety and Miami Guns, with the renamed Haré +
Guu.
The name itself refers to the two main characters of the series.
First we meet Haré, a 10-year old boy living in something of a
tropical paradise with his mother, Weda (and we’ll learn more about
why she came to the island as the series progresses, but for now,
it’s going to be a secret.) Haré is sent out by his mother one day
to run some errands, retrieving bananas in this case, but on his way
back he is attacked by a huge, black shadow. No one believes him,
and after an evening of drinking, his mother returns home with a new
friend; Guu. The poor, cute little girl has no mother or father so
she’s going to live with them and Haré couldn’t be happier. Guu
seems like a perfect person to have live with them . . . . at least
that’s what Haré had thought.
Come morning, Guu has changed, and quite drastically. She isn’t the
cute, upbeat girl that Haré had met the night before. She’s
sarcastic, her overall appearance has changed, and Haré learns
something else about Guu; she has an appetite. Guu isn’t just eating
food, she’s eating everything. Birds, monkeys, and anything else
that crosses her path are all devoured, and what she doesn’t like
she spits out. Haré learns something else as well, and Guu
apparently has an entire alternate world in her stomach. Even when
he tries to tell people the truth, they simply don’t believe it, and
Haré definitely has his work cut out for him dealing with this
devious little girl.
Haré + Guu is one of the most unique and insanely hilarious
anime series to come along in quite some time. It defies logic in
just about every way, and that is really what makes the series work
so well. Even when I originally saw the series years ago only in
Japanese, the visual humor was more than enough to get me hooked,
and seeing it now with the luxury of subtitles makes it even better.
If you’re curious about the original title, much like the series, it
really defies proper translation. “Jungle” obviously means the same
thing while “itsumo” is a term that is used as part of the Japanese
weather. One of the closest translations I have seen for the
original name of the series is “The Jungle was Fine, then Came Guu.”
Yes, Guu really does do a lot of damage.
But . . . . Guu is the most entertaining part. You never quite know
what’s going on in that brain of hers, and she seems to delight in
tormenting Haré to no end. It’s never physical, save for that time
that he gets eaten by her (but eventually sit back out) but instead
Guu mentally terrorizes Haré, and you can see the stress starting to
mount with each and every episode. In just four episodes, not only
will you see Guu eat many creatures in the jungle, she’ll eat her
new classmates, the village Elder’s chest hair, and anything else
that happens to be edible. She regurgitates most of them though, and
makes a rather nice Afro wig.
Aside from watching Haré’s stress level grow and seeing those wheels
turning inside Guu’s head, you’ll meet other characters. Weda,
Haré’s mother, isn’t necessarily an alcoholic, but she does love to
drink (a lot) and then sleeps it off. Speaking of sleep, Haré’s
teacher, Lazy, seems to have come down with a bad case of
narcolepsy, meaning another thing for Guu to eat. There’s also the
couple that lives in her stomach, Seiichi and Tomoyo, and the
“stupid couple” who live close by Weda. The jungle is also filled
with interesting creatures so the series provides plenty of
characters to get to know, though Haré and Guu really are the stars
of the series. Even though she may have an evil streak, you can’t
help but love Guu, and she’s a cool enough character that my wife
and I have a
cat that we named after her (and I hear tale that a
certain anime company here in the states has a dog named Guu.) The
difference however is that my Guu doesn’t eat everything in sight,
but she does have a major obsession with hair
scrunchies.
There are many different comedic approaches used in the series. Guu
of course comes across as sarcastic much of the time, expect when
she’s playing the nice girl and transforms herself into the cute
version Haré originally met. This rarely happens save when Guu needs
something or wants to convince adults of how sweet she is. Visual
comedy plays a huge role in the series as well, such as Haré’s
facial expressions or things that happen off camera. The series also
has some outlandish situations that are good for many laughs. The
comedy rarely stops in this series, though in comparing the Japanese
version to the English dub, I have to advise taking in Haré + Guu
in Japanese.
The animation in Haré + Guu is all over the board, but that
doesn’t mean it isn’t enjoyable. The series uses quite a few
different approaches. Both Haré and Guu for example have a bit more
of a simplistic design, more like anime created for a younger
audience, but then you has other characters, Weda and the other
adults, that are a bit more evolved in their look. There are very
strange, abstract creatures in the series, especially those living
in Guu’s stomach, and then you have both detailed and rudimentary
backgrounds. You may also note the Guu doesn’t have any fingers to
speak of, though this is never really addressed. It’s strange, but
it’s another thing that makes the series unique.
Haré + Guu also come prepared with plenty of goodies. There
are clean versions of the opening and closing animations, and the
opening theme song is highly catchy, though the ending theme has
been changed. Like with most anime, there are tons of references
that will probably slip by those of us here in the West, but the DVD
has notes on those on the disc as well as in a colorful insert
booklet. You will also find a collection of production sketches from
the series, the original Japanese promotional spot for the
television series and a collection of outtakes from the English
dubbing sessions. Haré + Guu has plenty of offer besides just
some laughs.
This isn’t going to be an anime that everyone will immediately take
to, but if you’re in the mood for something that is definitely out
of the ordinary, defies logic, and simply doesn’t fit in with
anything else, Haré + Guu are just the right thing. This is
one series that is probably going to have some well defined lines
with those who love the series praising it and others who simply
don’t get it. What’s not to get? It’s cute, it’s hilarious, and its
unlike any comedy that you’ve ever seen in the world of anime.
Episode 1 – Beginning * Beginning
When Haré’s mother brings home cute little Guu, it seems that he’s
going to have the ideal playmate . .. . until he sees what Guu truly
is. Now he has to contend with Guu and her wrapped sense of reality
wherein everything and anything can feasibly be edible, including
him.
Episode 2 – Siesta Guu Guu
Guu is ready for her first day of school but Haré is terrified,
though he hopes that she might put on her other face. No luck, and
things get even worse when the school teacher decides that it’s time
for everyone to take a nap and the only other person Haré can find
when he wakes up is Guu.
Episode 3 – Go with Chest Hair!
The class is going to have a cooking lesson from the rather hairy
village elder and Guu is once again up to no good. The village elder
is attacked and is missing his precious chest hair (which rapidly
grows back) and suddenly, he seems to be terrified of Guu.
Episode 4 – Morning Smooch
After seeing the “stupid couple” next door in action, Guu decides to
imitate what she has seen, leaving poor Haré to follow right along
with her. The ideas that the class is starting to get about the two
being a couple seem to be a reality . . . . though Haré tries to
convince them otherwise and then has to deal with a potential
disaster when Guu is placed on cleanup duty with Wadi, a rather
annoying classmate.
-mike-
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Genre:
Comedy
Series Director:
Tsutomu Mizushima
Directed by:
Episode 1 – Tsutomu
Mizushima
Episode 2 – Hiroko Hagita
Written by:
Episode 1 – Michiko Yokote
Episode 2 – Takashi Ikehata
Based Upon the Manga by:
Renjuro Kindaichi
Original Japanese Title:
Jungle wa Itsumo Harénochiguu
Voice Cast:
Rikako Aikawa (Haré)
Naoko Watanabe (Guu)
Kaoru Morota (Weda)
Naoka Nakamura (Rebecca)
Akira Ishida (Seiichi Tachibana)
Kyoko Hikami (Tomoyo Mamou)
Kazuhiko Inoue (Lazy)
Tetsuya Iwanaga (Uighur)
Soichiro Hoshi (Gupta)
Yuri Shiratori (Ravenna)
Konomi Maeda (Toposte)
Yuki Matsuoka (Marie)
Daisuke Kishio (Wadi)
Tessyo Genda (Elder)
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DVD Features:
Dual
Language Japanese/English
English Subtitles
Clean Opening Animation
Clean Closing Animation
Production Sketches
Original Japanese Episode 1
Preview
Translation and Cultural Notes
Contains Episodes 1 - 4
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