Found out of this hearing CD (with book) when Omni mentioned it in passing. Basically it masquerades as an English learning aid but is really a parody of militarism. Unfortunately Vol. 1 is out of stock via Hobby Link Japan and although it’s in stock at Hobby Japan, they don’t send stuff overseas. Ah well, Vol.2 is funnier anyway. Pleasantly surprised by its size, had thought it was closer to A5 than A4.
Maritan is the star but her behaviour is just too OTT; I can only laugh at her and not with her. Navy-san (voiced by Ayako Kawasumi) has got a great character design with the swimsuit, garters and hair antennae but as the straight man and only officer of the gang, she’s a tad too aloof. Jie-tan, representing the JGSDF and voiced by Mai Kadowaki, is mainly the perpetual Maritan victim and is often aghast at her behaviour but because she’s too polite and powerless, a bit of wet noodle.
Army-san (voiced by Tomoko Kaneda who is probably most famous for her role as Chiyo in Azumanga) my favourite character. She isn’t very bright and continues to faithfully follow Maritan to the ends of the earth despite plenty of ill treatment but she’s so cute and sweet.
Great character design starting from the theme based on the dog tag (chewed in the corner) - extending from her being a dog girl! As she’s still a recruit, she’s got a lower status than a normal dog. Ah sweet memories of Basic Military Training before the catering was commercialized; the camp dogs actually got better food and way more freedom. She’s also perpetually hungry, taking any and every opportunity to tuck into food - reminds me of my own dogs as well as my time in BMT when our motto was: “Got food we eat, got time we sleep, got training - report sick!” LOL Her giant spoon-fork is also hilarous, reminding me of my pretty wretched experiences with the mineprodder.
Not all the jokes are that funny and some (especially Lesson 21 with Santa Claus) are spoilt by sub-par execution by Maritan’s seiyuu (Ai Tokunaga). On the other hand, I give her full credit for being able to talk so crudely in a such a cute voice and most of them are short and sweet. The ending sequence, when the Queen (Maritan’s mom and a Gunnery Sergeant) leads the gang in a cheer that would fit in any uplifting anime like Akazukin Chacha: Love! Courage! Oil! (Navy-san: Oil!?)
The pedant in me also wonders: Where’s the character representing the air force? Why is Army-san under Marine command? Why doesn’t Navy-san pull rank more often? And why is she hanging out with the enlisted personnel so much? Can Jie-tan actually do anything other than make delicious food? How does Parris Island fit into US-Japan military alliance? But asking all of this of a product about a magical girl from a magical island kingdom is a bit much. It’s just a load of kawaii nonsense dressed up in military clothes. I really wonder if it’ll ever be made into an anime.
Overall, very pleased with this purchase. Might even be inspired to Gustav Hasford’s The Short-Timers over the Christmas break.
Destroy the Evil Power!
Wow, I didn’t know there’a listening CD for it….
Seriously… those wacky Japanese…
If you look at the interservice rivalry the Army is derided as stupid by every other service, while the Navy is seen as a gaggle. Armytan following Maritan is probably an allegory of how the Marines get there first and the Army is always the followup. The Air Force is not a widely acknowledged since they are the youngest service though I suspect that the Army and Air Force probabaly have a lot of colorful banter much like how the Marine Corps sort of balks at being under the Navy. As for that RL person it must have been an older picture since he’s still wearing ALICE gear which is being Phased out for MOLLY.
How is the English?
Kurogane, yeah - only the Japanese can do this kind of thing and make it so funny.
Crusader, thanks for the perspective on Army-san following Maritan. My current suspicion is about the USAF being missing is that it’s much harder to anthromorphosize the service’s name into a cute sounding katakana name. Not sure if the air force will be pleased or insulted by the omission. LOL
Eleutheria, the English apparently reproduces famous quotes from Full Metal Jacket. Print-wise, the spelling and grammar are fine. Pronunciation-wise, the seiyuu have all had special English language training to level up - above average from normal Japanese but that’s not saying much. Content-wise, the juxaposition of the crudeness (e.g. “Holy dogshit!”) and cute voice is just hilarous.
Grrrrr! After seeing your review there was no way I couldn’t buy it, good thing the shipping is cheap, heh.
Big caveat though: most of the CD and book is in Japanese (I hope that was obvious ^_^;;) and only the punchlines are in English.
Yeah I assumed as much. But the thought of Ayako Kawasumi and seiyuutachi talking as you describe is too awesome to pass up!
Now I just want a shirt with that “Destroy the Evil Power!” image on it~
Thanks for the review :)