Sexy Commando Gaiden is a comedy show which concentrates on insanity humor (you better not watch if you don’t know what it means). It follows an eccentric, or rather, crazy person, Hananakajima Masaru, and his demented adventures in Wakame (seaweed) school. Sexy Commando is a supreme martial art where you have to spectacularly deprive yourself of any dignity you have left to catch your opponent off-guard; and Masaru is very good at it. There is no plot continuity and gags get old after awhile; but it’s worth a watch if you are into Japanese humor or simply want to let some steam off.

Drink the light from my long shoulders in the spring sun. My heart sinketh not the deep-fried chicken-crab…

Originally written as manga by Usuta Kyousuke and directed by Daichi Akitarou (Now and Then, Here and There; Fruits Basket) Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoiyo!! Masaru-san is a hilarious comedy show which in contrary to usual parodies concentrates on purely insane gags a sane person could never comprehend. The show starts when a reserved guy, Fuumin, transfers to a new school. He wasn’t particularly good at dealing with people and never had any friends, however, this time he decides to change and make a 100 of them. Unfortunately, the first guy he meets is Hananakajima Masaru (who climbed into the classroom through ventilation window, called him a “meso” and sat down on the same chair as him before Fuumin could even react). It doesn’t take long for Masaru to introduce Fuumin to the secrets of Sexy Commando martial art and make him unwillingly join his club (thus shattering the guy’s “friend plan” in the very first day, no one wants to have anything to do with Masaru in that school, even indirectly). So starts Fuumin’s adventure to the land of insanity and incomprehensible gags with Masaru as his club captain and a few other sick weirdos in the club.

For starters I should say that I did appreciate the fact that this show doesn’t rely on parody humor as much as other comedy shows I’ve seen. It concentrates on self-humiliation and incomprehensible insanity which is made especially funny by the reaction of surroundings (those people are no longer surprised, they are terrified… and fleeing). And, yeah, it’s very funny, at least the first half of it, is. Being quite low on variety Sexy Commando runs out of its hilariousness in the middle; random gags get old and you eventually get used to the usual Masaru’s insanities. Since there is no plot continuity gags are the only things that drive the show and, I must say, while I did laugh out loud a few times in the first half, I was about to start fast-scrolling in the second. Characters, of course, have no depth except for their comedic potential (and a relatively good potential) and production values, well, suck. Overall, Sexy Commando Gaiden is a funny show, it’s not exactly good or bad, it’s just there on the middle with other stuff you watch, laugh and forget. Well, I might remember some of the more disgusting moves of that martial art, but this show as a whole certainly wont stay in my head for long. At least, it pales in comparison to insanity humor heavyweights, like Fullmetal Panic? Fumoffu!.

Animation: 1

Has this show really been made in 1998?… I would have guessed Ice Age. Unless that 1998 number indicates BC the animation done by Magic Bus (Ai Yori Aoshi, Lovely Complex) is so technically wrecked it could make a blind man cry. For starters maybe I should comment on backgrounds… or rather the big white spaces of nothingness which are supposed to be them. Half of the show takes place on, well, nothing… which though sometimes has colors is usually completely white. You are from time to time treated to some very low quality pictures which indicate that the characters are in a city or school, but, wow, detail is so low and colors are so bleak you’ll find yourself lost a lot… or simply unable to believe what those sketchy drawings try to indicate. Not to mention the recycled frames, the guys in the show hardly have frames for movement. It’s like watching a never-ending robot dance; and low on oil at that. As far as I could tell there are no inbetweens too. So… well… don’t watch it if you can’t stand your characters sliding around blank pieces of paper (the stuff’s still hilarious though; low production values might as well imbue the insanity).

Character designs are very rough and, I guess, not particularly consistent, as you’ll find yourself being unable to tell one or other guy apart in some scenes. However, though not particularly attractive the cast of this show still looks, well, human (cubic human that is) and their superdeformations are completely hilarious (and cheap as hell, but hilarious nonetheless). Don’t expect bishoujos or bishounens, of course, the production values are just enough to keep their forms human-like. Though I must say, however flawed her design was, Moe-Moe did look kind of, well, cute (or maybe I was just brainwashed by the tingling way the show presents her, I don’t know). I must say, however horrible the production values are I still liked the way the show was directed. A good use of insane superdeformations and some nice work at coloring the backgrounds in response to protagonist’s reactions help Sexy Commando’s hilarious atmosphere a great deal… Stunned faces, glowing eyes and other weird stuff is used very well to draw the laughs from the audience and.. well, overall, the crappy look actually helps Sexy Commando’s insane stunts look ever funnier.

Sound: 2

OP Romance by PENICILLIN is, surprisingly a very good catchy upbeat song which simply doesn’t let you skip it (maybe the super-energetic crazy animation which follows it also helps). You will likely watch a bunch of episodes in a row as they are just ~8 minutes long; so you will definitely listen to this piece a lot of times… so, thank the gods they made it this good (likely the best work of music in the whole show). ED is a slow song sung by an old man accompanied by a children chorus, and while it’s not as addicting as the OP the lyrics are damn hilarious; so listen to it at least once. It’s quite hard to comment on the BGM as there are well, just a few different tracks of music and a pretty good firing up ones at that; at the same time, however, they are so few you are going listen to them over and over and over again. So while the quality of music is not particularly low (the tracks are basic instrumental pieces though) the repetitiveness will get onto you sooner or later. Also, despite being quite firing up they aren’t particularly memorable or distinguishable, so not to mention getting the OST, you will likely forget the show had any music at all a few weeks later.

There are no memorable voices in the show, and given the lack of music variety and horrible technical flaws in animation it comes as no surprise. They were lucky they had enough money to pay the seiyuu; unless they hired volunteers which would explain the amateurish sound of the stage. It’s not all bad though, at least the guys feel fresh to an extent.

Story: 3

Just to make things clear - the quality of gags and the pace of comedy is a part of the story score. First thing I should say is that it’s quite commendable how they manage to make things so funny without going to the usual “parody other anime” gags. Sexy Commando fighting technique is all about depriving yourself of all human dignity in front of your opponents, so, well, heh… I must say, some of the stunts are damn funny, Masaru undoes his crotch during the fight, pulls flowers out of it, shows off his armpit hairs and does other nasty stuff. The sick action is not as much fun by itself as the reactions of people observing Masaru are… the guys are not only confused, they are terrified as hell. Anyway, there are also many jokes on various random weird things like seaweed, golden things which make machines display weird text (like help), alien in a meso costume, weird guys prowling in the background or just our guys doing their victory pose (the most awkward thing I have ever seen… is that guy trying to tunnel into the ground?). Either way, while the first half is without qualms funny and fresh the show runs out of fuel halfway, jokes get old and predictable, or simply too random to entertain anymore (as you are pretty much ready for everything by then). The absolute lack of any plot continuity doesn’t help either, and I must say, it would have helped if they bothered to move it somewhere… The cast had enough potential for that. Nonetheless, Sexy Commando is funny and if you are in need of a dose of some crazy Japanese humor - here is your treat. You might as well drop it halfway if you didn’t particularly like, it wont get better. There, of course, is no ending.

Characters: 3

Masaru brings a whole new dimension to the word “eccentric”… Or rather, the guy needs some serious help from a professional. Not to mention something as trivial as practicing pants unzipping martial arts or wearing two ton heavy golden discs on the shoulders, he has less ties with reality than an Alzheimer’s patient. This, of course, makes this raving lunatic into an extremely funny, unpredictable and sugoi protagonist. Not ask for depth here as you wont find it anywhere, I mean, the guy makes less sense than a drugs addict during one of the trips. I particularly liked the scene where the teacher was asking for him to answer if he is present (during attendance survey) and rather than saying “yes” he climbed up his table screamed “AAAADRIAAAN”, brushed a tear off and sat back down on his chair as if nothing had happened… no one was surprised.

A simple and average at everything guy, Fuumin, strikes as the main character at the beginning of the show. Nonetheless, his position is soon stolen by Masaru, what, of course, is a very good thing. Fuumin acts as a voice of a common sense (which is very weak in the Sexy Commando’s club) and is mostly used to express ‘ogh my fucking god what the hell’ reactions any sane human being would have when seeing what Masaru is doing. Other characters in the club include a karate club’s ex-captain who is obsessed by all things “manly”; a drugs addict whose physique degraded to the level he breaks when lightly touched; a senile and completely weird in the head principal of the school who actually is a master of Sexy Commando; and an afro glass wearing mathematical genius who though has some hilarious moments (particularly with girls) at the episodes he is introduced is soon degraded to Fuumin’s level of mediocrity taking “what the hell?!?!” conveyer role… Side cast, of course, lacks depth if you look at it critically, but its pure weirdness makes it relatively interesting and, well, good enough, I guess. The guys lack a bit of appeal (especially when compared to Masaru) to run the show for long, so it’s good it ended where it did as they were too about to run out of fuel already.

There is only one female character and it’s moustache maniac Moe-Moe. She has more potential than the show had used, but her feminine presence adds a lot to the otherwise male dominated atmosphere. I would have liked to see her come to terms with her moustache obsessed father legacy in the course of the show, but random comedy premise seems to have shut that path off for her. Well, at least the lose-weight potion episode was funny.

Conclusion: Sexy Commando Gaiden is a comedy which mostly concentrates on insanity humor. Its first half is very funny, while its second is only mildly so. You might find yourself charmed by Masaru’s… or other weirdos’ insane behaviour, but it wont last for long and while you will certainly laugh out loud with this show you will unlikely remember it for time to come. Give it a shot if you are a fan of Japanese humor or simply want to let some steam off with something not serious. If you are into insanity humor you might also want to check Fullmetal Panic? Fumoffu! and Bobobo (if you can speak Japanese) out. Furi Kuri might also strike as funny and insane, but be forewarned; the insides of it are quite serious (and very good).