The Super Milk-chan Show

[areaseven]

Oh! Super Milk-chan ( OH! スーパーミルクチャン )

framegraphics/Suplex/Studio Pierrot/WOWOW/Pioneer LDC, 1998, 2000

ADV Films, 2004

Directed by Takahiro Omori (Fancy Lala, Koikaze)

Rated 17+ for suggestive drug use (on the part of the production teams) and excessive profanity.

Milk-chan is a drooling, potty-mouthed baby who lives in an apartment with an obsolete robot named Tetsuko, a slug named Hanage, and an uncontrollable pet named Robodog. Whenever the President calls, Milk-chan and the gang rush to the scene to solve any type of problem - whether it's stopping a money counterfeiter hungry for Belgian waffles or counseling a school of drunk fish. At the same time, they have to avoid a nagging landlord, as they're six months behind their rent.

Story: C (Average)

After dealing with Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoi-yo! Masaru-san and Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, I decided to check out another anime on crack. I picked this up as a birthday present for a former co-worker last week.

ADV's release includes both the original 1998 short series (labeled Vintage Milk-chan) and the 2000 series Oh! Super Milk-chan. But there's a catch in the two-disc package: Disc 1 has all of the episodes in Japanese and English. While most of it is funny, a lot of it isn't, as the jokes rely heavily on Japanese culture.

Disc 2 is, sort of, the focal point of this review. Titled The Super Milk-chan Show, this is ADV's spin on the series. Much like Saban made Power Rangers and Harmony Gold made Robotech, ADV Americanized Super Milk-chan. The Japanese live-action footage is replaced with short skits of the cast and crew of ADV at work. Jokes involving Michael Jackson and the Olsen twins replace anything deemed too Japanese to understand.

Overall, both versions are funny, but the laughs die out quickly after one sitting. Therefore, the series isn't worth keeping.

Animation: C (Average)

Vintage Milk-chan is mostly crude cel animation with a '60s feel to it, while Oh! Super Milk-chan is all-digital. Regardless of which, the series is no better than the Adult Swim regular Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Soundtrack: C+

You get a disco-style opening theme and some background music that's hardly noticeable.

Sub vs. Dub

Super Milk-chan features Haruka Nakamura as Milk-chan, Ryoka Yuzuki (Arashi in X, Meifon in Angel Links) as Tetsuko, Brad Pyut (yes, that's his name on the credits) as Hanage, Yuichi Nagashima (Hasami in Mezzo, Jaken in Inu-Yasha) as the President, Hiderou (some famous cross-dresser in Japan) as the Landlord, Nobuo Tobita (Kamille in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Sinistra in Kiddy Grade) as Dr. Eyepatch, and Yuko Minaguchi (Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl, Videl in Dragon Ball Z/GT) as the narrator.

The Super Milk-chan Show features Hilary Haag (Karinka in Steel Angel Kurumi, Teletha in Full Metal Panic!) as Milk-chan, Monica Rial (Haruka in RahXephon, Kirika in NOIR) as Tetsuko, Ben Pronsky as Hanage, David Matranga (The Samurai) as Robodog, Mike McRae as the President, Rob Mungle (Pedro in Excel Saga, Bill in Gunsmith Cats) as the Landlord, and Tommy Drake as Dr. Eyepatch. Additional voices by Shelley Calene-Black (Mireille in NOIR, Dr. Amagi in Steel Angel Kurumi), Christopher Patton (Ayato in RahXephon, Sousuke in Full Metal Panic!), Greg Ayres (Chrono Crusade, Kaworu in Neon Genesis Evangelion), Luci Christian (Yukari-sensei in Azumanga Daioh, Chidori in Full Metal Panic!), and Christine M. Auten (Sakaki in Azumanga Daioh, Priss in Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040). Oh yeah, and these guys appear as themselves, too.

DVD Extras: B-

You get audio commentaries, character Q&A pages, the new opening animation "Disco Milk" and the original Japanese opening and ending sequences (sans audio, so don't try to adjust your volume). Unfortunately, ADV failed to supply liner notes that would've helped explain the Japanese jokes.

The Bottom Line

The Super Milk-chan Show is practically not worth watching sober. Rent it at most, but buy a six-pack while you're at it.

"Bakatsura! ("You dumbass!")" - Milk-chan

Links

Official Super Milk-chan Homepage (Japanese)

Studio Pierrot's Official Oh! Super Milk-chan Homepage (Japanese)

ADV Films' Official The Super Milk-chan Show Homepage

Reference

Anime News Network

[areaseven]

Here's some more fun with Milk-chan:

Oh! Super Milk-chan @ Shockwave Japan (Japanese only)

[areaseven]

NERV wrote (Edited for grammatical content):

A7, you are too generous to give that show a C for the story. Unless the sub version has something significantly different to bring it up to a C, the dub version would get an F from me. Oh, and a side note, I believe they didn't show the Americanized version, as the counterfiet money was Kin and Gin, and I believe I heard that the Americanized one replaced them with the Olsens.

That's why I noted "Average", given that the subbed version is a B+ while ADV's version is a D.

As for the explanation of "Kin" and "Gin":

In episode 1, when Milk-chan and the gang search for a money counterfeiter, they identify the real currency as bearing the face of "Kin" while the fake currency has the face of "Gin". These are actually the names of twins Kin Narita (1892-2000) and Gin Kanie (1892-2001), Japan's oldest twins. ADV's version has Kin and Gin replaced with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

[areaseven]

Just wondering, what time does it show on Adult Swim? I want to see what they edited out.

[NERV]

Just wondering, what time does it show on Adult Swim? I want to see what they edited out.

sundays at midnight and 3 am

[RichterX]

I saw this in a cable channel before it was banned,

I like the one with the time machine!

[JELEINEN]

Why would you put the original opening on a disc without the audio? That's just stupid.

[areaseven]

Why would you put the original opening on a disc without the audio? That's just stupid.

Your guess is as good as mine. Although the song itself sounds lame, the opening sequence just isn't funny without it.

[areaseven]

McKlown wrote:

From what I understand, ADV basically re-wrote the whole thing for the US release.  Given that it's ADV, the US releasing sucking is no surprise.

There's two versions, the Americanized version and a straight dub. CN aired the straight dub version of the show. Based on the reactions I've seen from a bunch of people who've seen both versions, they should've gone with the Americanized version instead.

True, but CN opted for the straight dub because the Americanized version has too much profanity in it. (Those familiar with ADV dubs know very well that just about any dub with Hilary Haag in a major role will have non-stop cussing).

Edited November 9, 2004 by areaseven

[JRock]

Why would you put the original opening on a disc without the audio?  That's just stupid.

Your guess is as good as mine. Although the song itself sounds lame, the opening sequence just isn't funny without it.

The reason why is because ADV was unable to obtain the rights to the original theme songs. The songs on the DVD were made just for the DVD release by the Japanese company.

[areaseven]

The reason why is because ADV was unable to obtain the rights to the original theme songs. The songs on the DVD were made just for the DVD release by the Japanese company.

I find that rather unusual, as ADV does deal a lot with Pioneer LDC (now Geneon).