All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku

Director
Yoshitaka Fujimoto
Production
TV Tokyo, Ashi Production, Yomiuri Advertising
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Year
1998

All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku TV (whew!)

By David Rasmussen
16th Dec 04

Volume 1
Company – ADVFilms
Rated – Teen (12+)
Original Author - Yuzo Takada
Producers - Kyouko Kobayashi (TV Tokyo), Shinichi Ikeda and Hiroshi Katoh
Character Designs and General Director of Animation - Seiji Kishimoto
Base Planning and Mechanical Designs by Hiroshi Ogawa
Music by B-Cats
Produced by TV Tokyo, Yomiko and Ashi Production
Director - Yoshitaka Fujimoto

Before We Begin...
NOTE ON MARMALADE BOY REVIEW
Eh? After I did my interview linked to this show (Jennifer Wagner) I hear my information on Saint Tail was not good? They did have a Japanese language version.. But they suddenly stopped their english version near the end? Eh?

Well, guess my informants can't get it right all the time. Sorry about that... but if that's the case then I can finally go and get Saint Tail for review! Whee!... uh, don't have the budget for it now, but I'll schedule time to review it in 2005.

Now Before We Begin... (Nuku Nuku)
If you remember the original six episode OAV series All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku... you might as well forget it, this one doesn't even seem to have anything to do with that at all!
Apparently throwing out the OAV series altogether (which might be mana from heaven since the second half of the OAVs is just downright bad) we start with a fresh slate here.

the scientist father (who invented the android body that houses the cat brain that is Nuku Nuku) and the mother (who was formerly the nemesis for the first half of the OAV series) live together now with their son and Nuku Nuku. they have a neighbor whose young daughter has a stalker maniac obsessive desire towards the boy (Ryunosuke), and a mother who is a drama mom (sheesh).

Oh, the mom of the show (the formerly evil one) is, in fact, evil again... sorta. She works now for someone else, a misguided twisted in a not good way (as in it's embarrassing the way he's "evil") boss named "Hell" Mishima, and carries out his plans for global consumer domination... or something like that.

Oh, and as the DVD opens Nuku Nuku is going to her new school.

Episode 1 - Enter Nuku Nuku! Keep the Peace on Earth!
Now if your wondering what's the story of Nuku Nuku? Don't worry! they'll explain the whole origin thing right off the bat at the start of this episode... and next episode... and episode 3, 4 and probably 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.... you get the point.
Oh, and if you're expecting this to be a sequel to the OAVs? Well you are going to be so disappointed!
So forget the OAVs, they don't matter... since this doesn't seem to link to them anyway, just as well since the second half of the OAV episodes were horrible.

Today is Nuku Nuku's first day at school, and all she has to do is remember to 1) Keep her powers a secret, and 2) Learn to blend in with humanity and become more human... yeah, not going to happen especially since she ends up late and takes the express way to class... through a window, of a class on the 3rd floor.

Now an introduction to the mad house... I mean the CLASS she'll be in.
Mr. Yamagata (teacher)
a.k.a. - the Human Target
Most Notable Trait - He seems to have at least one "accident" per episode.
Voted Most Likely to be the Japanese Board of Education's version of Jackie Chan... only without the personality.

Mr. Ikenami
the Singer
Most Notable Trait - the ability to "speak" in song.
Most Annoying Trait - the ability to "speak" in song.
Voted Most Likely to be the first person capable of singing people to death.

Mr. Shimazaki
the nihilistic pretty boy
Most Notable Trait - the ability to annoy while not actually saying anything.
Most Mistaken For - Someone with a personality.
Voted Most Likely to be deported for his own good.

Miss Shirakaba (and sidekicks Migiko and Hidariko)
Snobby rich girl
Most Notable Trait - Everything she says is 100% guaranteed to annoy.
Most Likely to have her name mangled by Nuku Nuku
Voted Most Likely to be the secret love child of Draco Malfoy

Miss Shibata
the Occult Fanatic
Most Notable Trait - She seems obsessed with the occult
Most Disturbing Trait - She seems to be VERY obsessed with the occult
President of the "I Want To Believe" Fox Mulder Fan Club.
Voted Most Likely to be the first person to discover whether or not things like what happens in Urotsukidoji can really happen... the hard way.

Miss Miyuki
Book fanatic
Most Notable Trait - She reads a lot.
Most Disturbing Trait - She reads a lot and doesn't speak...
If she read it, most likely it's a best seller.
Nobody can figure her out enough to vote about what she's likely to be in the future.

Mr. Oh-izumi
Jr. Mad Scientist
Most Notable Trait - His father works for Hell Mishima
President of the "Logic Rules" Dana Scully Fan Club.
Nobody cares what happens to him. Move on.

Miss Kaibara
Class Rep. Extreme
Most Notable Trait - the maniac obsessive desire for order over chaos.
Most Disturbing Trait - the need to line everyone up in single file even for a trip to the bathroom.
Voted Most Likely to run Japan one day, in single file.

Don't worry, if you forget who is who you'll be reminded of their identities each and every episode.
Just as you'll be reminded of the back story... each and every episode.
Relentless, aren't they?
the second half of the show brings the pain as Nuku Nuku has to defend her class from an evil machine of Mishima, as the "Secret Call" has gone out to assemble the forces of Hell Mishima once again.
He makes Bill Gates look normal by comparison.
Oh, looks like Nuku Nuku's new school is used as a testing ground for Mishima products... how convenient that she happens to go to that school, and is an enemy of Mishima (even if her adopted "mom" works for this evil that is Mishima).

Oh, before it's over everyone learns about her power and they're perfectly ok with it.

Episode 2 - Nuku Nuku Vs. Ancient Ruin. Legendary Giant God Appears!
What god? It's a malfunctioning super sized toy for... ugh.
Today is not Nuku Nuku's day... no, sir, it's not.
First off we have the mysterious Non-chan, the neighbor's young girl, who seems to be stalking Ryunosuke (obsessing about making him her husband... even at that young age she is), with her mom (the drama mom) right behind her -- litterly. She's right behind her, spying, and crying her eyes out... oh gimme a break!

Meanwhile it looks like Nuku Nuku's classmates are all planning on luring her into their clubs.
Why? Because the more attention the club gets, the more funds they get, and you just can't get a better boost in attention than having Nuku Nuku as a member.
So she can sign up and join the clubs. there's a basketball club, tennis club, swim club, volleyball club, a ballet club, a ping-pong club... a cheerful ping-pong club... a very cheerful... ok, ok, move along already, I heard you the first time.

Ok, anything else besides sports? Uh... oh, there's the snobby rich girl's drama club, which makes sense since she's such a "drama queen". Oh, and there's the American Idol club, with the singing guy... yeah... him... hold that thought (I thought I saw a tennis racket around here).
this also triggers a nasty disagreement between Rie (occult club) and that science guy (science club).

Oh, and it looks like Rie (the occult fanatic) is sensing some darkness... which pops up halfway through the episode in the form of a giant Haniwa... eh? Apparently it's a giant "toy" made by Mishima that they had to "dispose" of because it malfunctioned. Not good. It goes crazy and threatens to destroy Nuku Nuku's new school, which brings out the stereotypes in our cast of characters... to an extreme.

Uh... and what's up with the professor? Why is dressed up like a dancer for Chippendale's and acting so odd... calling himself "Mr. Q" no less. Weird.

Oh, and (here) just because I'm doing it doesn't mean you should follow my example.
Remember you must not take the nearest blunt instrument and proceed to beat the singing annoying stereotype student into an unconscious state! It's not kosher... it won't stop twitching... uh... moving on...

As you can no doubt guess, Nuku Nuku will defeat this evil in the end.
the teacher will be harmed... three times.
Music boy will sing. Rie and the science guy will fight. Pretty boy will be annoying. Etc. Etc.
Basically they'll be just like in Episode 1, only worse.
And if song-lad here gets up again we'll move to Episode 3...

As for the whole thing between Rie and that science guy? Bet you think they'll learn something from all this, right? Heh-heh-heh... wrong. Forget learning anything here. Move along. Not happening.

Episode 3 - Nuku-Nuku's Cooking School! Non-chan's Love Attack Plan!
Uh... what plan? Is there a plan here? I don't see one, do you?

When the drama mom has to go away for a school reunion she leaves (ditches, abandons, sticks, etc) her overtly ambitious (in all the wrong ways) daughter onto the family that she obsesses to be part of.
Ah. Nothing like taking in the deranged as a house guest, especially one who needs to be locked away for her own good... but I guess that's what "love" will do to you... eck.

And her first act of love WOULD have to be cooking! So she plans to make him breakfast... if he can wait long enough for her and Nuku Nuku to make breakfast that is.

If they can survive the "creation" of breakfast, and the strange "pets" of Non-chan, they may make it to lunch and the unveiling of a new threat of evil. And maybe Non-chan will learn a valuable lesson.
Maybe. there's no guarantee that anyone will learn anything since the thought of evolving character-trait wise seems to be a foreign concept in this series.

NOTE - Check out the two machines in this one. One freezes, one thaws... and the oven that thaws and brings on the heat? It just so happens to be called "Mr. Cheen", which might be a reference to Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi... maybe.

Episode 4 - Nuku Nuku Sings With All Her Heart! Family vs. Family Singing Contest!
Uh... it's more like Star Search meets American Idol only without the participation of either Arsenio Hall or Simon Cowell (who I hear isn't exactly the most loved person on either side of the atlantic).

Mishima is running a karaoke singing contest, and Nuku Nuku is entered in this contest.
Why is Mishima holding said contest? Apparently Hell Mishima has fallen off his rocker today by exploring the possibilities of music as a weapon since, according to him, there's records of human who have used music to fight aliens... yeah, right... looks like an anime he's watching to me.

Anyway, if you haven't figured it yet, it seems that Nuku Nuku's "dad" is against this idea of her entering a contest run by Mishima, and will do anything to stop her.
the rest is easy enough to figure out, I suppose.
Ok. Breakdown time.

Optional Extras
Clean Opening/Closing Credits - that's that.

Nuku Nuku Breakdown the 1st
What's Hot? - I liked the first half of the original OAV series, so when I heard this was coming out I was hyped about it. And in some senses it's a good view, and kinda fun to watch. Nothing bad in that.

What's Not? - Uh... is it me or is everyone pretty much... well, "relentless" in their personality traits?
Not to mention the relentless way this show informs you of just about everything, including names and so forth. It starts in Episode 1, and relentlessly rolls through Episodes 2 and onwards. And when I say "relentless" I mean relentless. Everyone just sticks to their personality traits no matter what throughout the four episodes... even if it harms them, which is ironic since it seems to harm me by watching it.

For the record? I don't know about you, but I don't see any serious character development happening if they remain fixated on these "traits" of theirs from beginning to end of the series. that can't be good,, right?

Oh, and certain characters I want to beat harshly with their own guitars... guess who.

Moments to Remember? - Uh... yeah. Believe it or not the four episodes have some memorable moments that are fun... yes, it's true. It happens... just I won't list them here since you can find those out yourself.

What to Ignore? - Besides the fact that everyone is hopelessly locked into their personality traits?
Uh -- let's see -- it could be a long, long list there but I better keep it short and say you'll find out about those things yourself when you watch.

Overall - For a series that tries to reclaim it's glory days of old it seems to be fixated and obsessed with relentlessly keeping to a set "formula" to the point of it causing harm. It could have been a contender, and it could have been better, yet it seems to falter here and there.

While it's not horrible, it's not perfect either. I wish it was better, but for now I have to say that it has potential, and that's a good thing right? Right.

-- David Rasmussen 16th Dec 04

All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku Images