Anime Detail

This is a database of older and less well known anime and manga \| Menu \|
		Anime Detail -Help-

Back | Anime titles | anime in romaji order | Shoujo | W.M.T | Old Anime | Manga titles | Blog Home

Information

Title (English) Mashuranbo

Title (Japanese) Mashuranbo

Advertising
Fantasy Novel

Notes

Classification -

Synopsis "Mashuranbo" is a new, post-apocalyptic anime which is set in some future which is a cross between "Planet of the Apes", "A Bug's Life", and "Kurogane Communication". As in "Kurogane Communication" a teen-aged girl has been awakened from suspended animation to a future without humans where the Earth is a series of ruins populated by man-sized sentient insects of various types. The girl is being accompanied by a "boy" who under duress can transform into an armored "hero" with super powers. They are on a quest in this ruined world and are presently wandering around in what is supposed to be the ruins of New York City.
-(Dave Baranyi)

Review This sort of premise has been used over and over with varying degrees of adroitness and success in lots of shows, but the episode of "Mashuranbo" that I saw had a surprisingly large number of poorly done characteristics for a single new series; such as: The show starts out with a stentorian voice droning on with an explanation of what has happened. This is always a warning to me that the film makers are too lazy or unimaginative to show visually what has happened. In the first fight with the "bad" wasp people, the girl insists that the "hero" not kill the "evil" leader wasp. The "hero" obliges and sure enough, later on in the show the wasp comes back to alert the otherwise friendly fly people that the girl is a "human", at which point the fly people stone the girl and "boy" and attempt to burn them alive on the ruins of the Statue of Liberty. I realize that this is an attempt to illustrate the girl's "compassion", but it just comes over as an "idiot plot". The scenes of the "ruins" of New York show the worst of anime cliches about ruined cities ( see also "Dragon Ball GT" as a further illustration ). Ruined skyscrapers are shown with most of their bases worn away but still standing as if they were made of masses of stone like the Pyramids. Haven't the designers ever see a wrecked building before, or even a photo of one? The Statue of Liberty is depicted as if it were made from thick concrete. It's also depicted as if it is in a hilly, wooded area ( similar to the area on the way to Narita Airport outside of Tokyo ). At the end a "cliff-hanger" is set up as the wasp leader does a "power up" by eating the "trading cards" from the other wasps that the "hero" killed at the beginning of the episode. But at that point, why should I care about another boring and repetitious fight? The ironic part about the whole thing is that "Mashuranbo" is probably "perfect" for transitioning to US Saturday morning kids TV.
(Dave Baranyi)

Credits

Episodes 32

Release

TV Showing See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.

Date 2000

Production Toei, TV Asahi

Broadcaster

Animation

References & Help Look up the latest data on this title at:
Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or
Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) ,
or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001).
Help & further information.

Back

Skin design by DivxDB

Information
Title (English)	Mashuranbo
Title (Japanese)	Mashuranbo
Advertising Fantasy Novel
Notes
Classification	-
Synopsis	"Mashuranbo" is a new, post-apocalyptic anime which is set in some future which is a cross between "Planet of the Apes", "A Bug's Life", and "Kurogane Communication". As in "Kurogane Communication" a teen-aged girl has been awakened from suspended animation to a future without humans where the Earth is a series of ruins populated by man-sized sentient insects of various types. The girl is being accompanied by a "boy" who under duress can transform into an armored "hero" with super powers. They are on a quest in this ruined world and are presently wandering around in what is supposed to be the ruins of New York City. -(Dave Baranyi)
Review	This sort of premise has been used over and over with varying degrees of adroitness and success in lots of shows, but the episode of "Mashuranbo" that I saw had a surprisingly large number of poorly done characteristics for a single new series; such as: The show starts out with a stentorian voice droning on with an explanation of what has happened. This is always a warning to me that the film makers are too lazy or unimaginative to show visually what has happened. In the first fight with the "bad" wasp people, the girl insists that the "hero" not kill the "evil" leader wasp. The "hero" obliges and sure enough, later on in the show the wasp comes back to alert the otherwise friendly fly people that the girl is a "human", at which point the fly people stone the girl and "boy" and attempt to burn them alive on the ruins of the Statue of Liberty. I realize that this is an attempt to illustrate the girl's "compassion", but it just comes over as an "idiot plot". The scenes of the "ruins" of New York show the worst of anime cliches about ruined cities ( see also "Dragon Ball GT" as a further illustration ). Ruined skyscrapers are shown with most of their bases worn away but still standing as if they were made of masses of stone like the Pyramids. Haven't the designers ever see a wrecked building before, or even a photo of one? The Statue of Liberty is depicted as if it were made from thick concrete. It's also depicted as if it is in a hilly, wooded area ( similar to the area on the way to Narita Airport outside of Tokyo ). At the end a "cliff-hanger" is set up as the wasp leader does a "power up" by eating the "trading cards" from the other wasps that the "hero" killed at the beginning of the episode. But at that point, why should I care about another boring and repetitious fight? The ironic part about the whole thing is that "Mashuranbo" is probably "perfect" for transitioning to US Saturday morning kids TV. (Dave Baranyi)
Credits
Episodes	32
Release
TV Showing	See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.
Date	2000
Production	Toei, TV Asahi
Broadcaster
Animation
References & Help	Look up the latest data on this title at: Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) , or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001). Help & further information.