Sexy Commando Gaiden Sugoiyo!! Masaru-san

Title:Sexy Commando Gaiden Sugoiyo!! Masaru-san
Sekushi Commando Gaiden: Sugoiyo! Masaru
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , ,
Notables: DAICHI Akitaro
ICHIJOU Kazuya
INOUE Kazuhiko
KANEMARU Junichi
NAGASHIMA Yuuichi
UEDA Yuuji
Fujiyama "Fu-min" Okometsubu is an exchange student who comes to Wakame High school in his Junior year. He's a typical, shy nervous boy but he is determined to make new friends and start a new life. He starts a plan to make 100 new friends. Things don't go quite according to plan though, as his first day at school also happens to be the first day that Masaru Hananakajima comes back to school. Rumor has it that he left school for the past 3 months to live in the woods and practice some sort of secret martial art. He also happens to be one of the nicest people you'll ever meet...and a complete weirdo who lives in this constant black hole of strangeness. Through a twist of fate, the two become "friends" (the twist of fate being Fu-min getting dragged around by Masaru constantly). Masaru starts a new club at school to demonstrate his secret new martial art--"Sexy Commando", and recruits kids from around the school.

(Synopsis courtesy of AnimeNfo)



50 episodes, each about eight minutes long.
Released in 1998
Produced by Bandai Visual, TBS and Magic Bus
Episode Details 
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy Stretch [series:1084#628]
I downloaded some episodes of this series on a whim, knowing nothing about it (but who could resist such a title?). I assumed the "Sexy Commando" would be a woman, which didn't turn out to be true. Each episode begins with a disclaimer: "Warning!! If you're an unusually sensible, serious, or wannabe goodie, there's no need to watch this animation! Also, no criticisms allowed!!! (signed) Director's father". The first episode explains that "Sexy Commando" is in fact a new martial art in which one does something bizarre (like dropping your pants) to confuse and distract your opponent, then you deck him using any of the traditional techniques. Suffice to say the first episode made me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes afterwards.

If this show made more sense it would be easier to review--but it wouldn't be as much fun. What is it with this show? At times I didn't get half the jokes, yet they were so far-out that they had me laughing anyway! While searching for reviews of this show on the internet, I came upon a debate over what is the strangest anime series around, and more than one person chose this one. The makers of Sexy Commando seem to have felt free to insert whatever they pleased, no matter how absurd, into the episodes, as long as they kept it brief--"Look! It's sloshing". (You'll know what I'm talking about when you watch this episode for yourself). The episodes begin with a quick, humorous summary of the last one. At the end of each episode, star character Masaru offers a little tidbit of wisdom--or maybe "wisdom" isn't exactly the best word for it... ("Have you had your butt hole suddenly poked by a hand?")

The synopsies I wrote of individual episodes may seem perfectly logical, but that's only because I didn't want to spoil the good jokes. The truth is, this show is crazy! No, not just "crazy", this one is totally whacked. How does anybody come up with ideas like this? Needless to say, one of my favorites, though it would surely make more sense if you'd been born and raised in Japan. Surely one key to great comedy is the ability to summon complete nonsense from one's mind at any moment--but doesn't that contradict my theory of the nature of humor? Is there a sub-genre of anime comedy that this show could be fitted into? The closest match I can think of to the insane humor of Sexy Commando would be Cromartie High. I hear Sexy Commando had the same director as Kodomo no Omocha and Jubei-chan, which might explain some of it's sense of humor. This show is so bizarre that I'm having one helluva time coming up with clever observations. Once you've gotten used to this show, you know better than to expect either sense or believability. It's weird and only gets weirder--what else can I say?

Wantchu!!

P.S: After being away for two years or so, I've begun rewatching Sexy Commando yet again. I'd forgotten what a brilliant work of comedy this is, and why I'd chosen it as one of my half-dozen all-time favorite anime series. I think one clever tactic this show often employs is that something modestly amusing happens, and just when the viewer thinks the joke is complete, a far better gag follows up!

My favorite line: "Cleanup Princess!!!"

Last updated Monday, March 17 2008. Created Thursday, June 09 2005.

Other Sites
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Official Japanese Series Web Site http://www.try-net.or.jp/~masami-t/jun/masaru/higeindex.html

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