Moyashimon

Title:Moyashimon
Tales of Agriculture
もやしもん
Overall:Watch
Keywords: , , , , ,
Notables: NISHIMURA Tomomichi
Original Concept - Kodansha Manga Award Winner
SAIGA Mitsuki
SAKAGUCHI Daisuke
Tadayasu Sawaki was born with an unique ability: He can see and communicate with bacteria and other micro-organisms - in fact they consider him to be their friend and are quite noisy. Together with his childhood friend, Kei, he starts a new year off as a first-year student at an Agricultural College. But none of his experiences so far could prepare him for college life!!

As this is an ‘educational’ anime series, the last two minutes of each episode is devoted to having various micro-organisms explain who they are and what they do.

Animation by Telecom Animation Film.
11 episodes

Also see live action adaptation - Moyashimon (Live Action).
and Moyashimon Returns

1:19min Series Opening - YouTube Video
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Watch 7 7 7 5 6 6 Ggultra2764 [series:1698#1552]
Focused on the complications Sawaki has in his life due to his ability to see microbes, Moyashimon is a unique little comedy exploring Sawaki's interactions with various types of microbes and an eccentric number of characters at the agricultural college he enrolls in. These interactions are the bread and butter for Moyashimon's comedy and the series also has somewhat of an educational bent to it as it explores various types of microscopic life forms that Sawaki comes across in different settings. There's enough fleshing out of the cast for you to know what everyone is like, though they aren't really memorable for me. Plus in spite of its unique premise, I found it hard to be engaged to Moyashimon's comedy since it was dependent on whatever predicaments that Sawaki got into with either the different strains of microbes or any of the characters he interacts with on the college campus. I suppose others may get into the kind of comedy that Moyashimon offers up though, so I guess mileage will vary on how well you warm up to the series.

Last updated Wednesday, November 18 2015. Created Wednesday, November 18 2015.
Rent 8 8 8 8 8 8 ZenGirl [series:1698#3016]
hey, its a tough crowd here. I think its more than a 'watch' rating and worth even renting especially if youve pretty much watched EVERYTHING which I have and would like to see something with a unique twist. Those little microbes are so cute and the concept is def. different. Sort of tied to the Japanese shinto aspect where the main character comes to an agriculture university and has the ability to see tiny bacteria and microbes.Like mushi-shi but less serious and spiritual.Oh yeah, annnd it won 2008 Kodansha Manga Award for cultural significance.Not too shabby... It gives insight into Japanese thought and culture!

**update- ooh, i think on episode 6 the Japanese may be talking a little side crap about Chinese , they had a girl bacteria covered and shes from China ( they tried to cover it up by complimenting that shes pretty) but then later they gave reference to the Bird Flu and asia's top 5 poisoning bacteria...tsk tsk! I saw that!

Last updated Tuesday, December 09 2008. Created Tuesday, December 09 2008.
Watch Jan-Chan [series:1698#967]
While this series will never rank HIGH in anyone’s review, it is really FUNNY!!

Starting with the premise of a boy with a strange ability (talking to bacteria), the story is really about his experiences at a weird college, filled with even weirder people.

  • His professor is a strange man into all sorts of strange & stinky fermented foods.
  • His sempai is a foxy tramp or lush .... errr...lady who dresses in leather mini-skirts.
  • Two of his other fellow students are incompetent perverted moochers.
  • Even Kei, his childhood friend has some strange twists of his own.
And the agricultural college that Sawaki attends is a pretty odd place filled with strange traditions and rituals - which are usually the central theme to most of the episodes.

If this series was just about Sawaki’s ability with bacteria, then it would probably would not work. But as a weird little comedy about student life, it works just fine and is well worth the watch.

So why could I not rate this series any higher than a watch? At eleven episodes, it is just too short and leaves too many loose ends. IMOH, the series just starts too quickly, crashes along and just ends – dropping everything. And I don’t get a feeling that there will be a second season or continuation to the story – which is a shame.

Last updated Monday, July 19 2010. Created Friday, December 07 2007.
Rent Stretch [series:1698#628]
(All episodes watched):

Going in, I didn't know what to make of this. Definitely a strange premise, but I had no idea what sort of plot would be developed from it. Definitely educational, too--you learn all sorts of things about fermentation (Decay which produces substances useful to humans) and whatnot. The live-action OP sequence with puppetry was odd. There is something unusual and distinctive about the character designs. Hasegawa seemed to be overacting at first to me, as if she was trying to hammer the message "I am a bitch" directly into my skull (maybe this was intentional?). I detected no LOL jokes; this seemed a "smile show" to me. But the overarching question was, "where will it go from here?". I hadn't a clue.

Somehow or other, an amusing, fairly interesting plot has indeed developed. Perhaps because this is a specialized agricultural school where attention is actually paid to the subjects the students are trying to learn. A pretty weird school, too, with customs like the bizarre "Spring Festival". Professor Itsuki is a pretty odd guy, being fascinated by strange subjects--he's my favorite character and almost upstages Sawaki. The two troublemaker guys who I assumed would be gone after the first episode are in fact ongoing characters. The characters in general are interesting and likeable, even Hasegawa. I'm still not sure what to make of Sawaki and his ability to "see" microbes, or even if it was really necessary for the story; it does make things weirder, I'll admit. The subtitles go fast! Complex expressions are conveyed in Japanese using only a handful of words, which means the viewer must pause often to read their somewhat more lengthy English translations. This is indicative, I would say, of the fairly witty dialogue to be found in this series. The plot seems to weave back and forth, being more of a series of strange vignettes than an ongoing story (again, maybe this was intentional). Actually, I liked the ending, though it seemed more like a plot arc ending than a series-as-a-whole ending; at least we find out what happened to Kei, which was... interesting. I fear that such an unusual show isn't likely to be resumed, which is a pity.

Not hilariously funny, but weird and original in a pleasing way

Last updated Friday, February 01 2008. Created Tuesday, October 23 2007.
Unevaluated chibi [series:1698#2380]
I can't say this is the funniest show I've ever seen, but it's definitely a unique concept. Sawaki's gift comes as quite a revelation to the biology department of his new college, and it comes in handy for tracking down spoiled foods or diagnosing microbial contamination. But an anime series? We'll see. The cute live-action OP, and the microbiology notes that BSS is including in the fansubs certainly helped convince me to keep watching -- at least for now.

Oh, and don't miss "Microbe Theatre" after the credits.

Last updated Friday, October 19 2007. Created Friday, October 19 2007.

Other Sites
NameURL
Japanese Language Series Web Site http://www.kamosuzo.tv/top.html
Wikipedia - Moyashimon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyashimon

Community Anime Reviews

anime mikomi org