Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai!

Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai is an anime I would not recommend to just anyone. It's an obscurity that won't be easy to appreciate. From its directing, it is similar to what Kunihiko Ikuhara first introduced in Revolutionary Girl Utena. From its execution, it reminds FLCL, but also goes into such levels of abstractity, it comes close to animated shorts such as 'Nekojiru Soup' and 'Inaka Isha.' I'd only ever recommend it to experienced viewers and old schoolers. The anime starts off by a doorbell ringing. Followed by a 10 minutes long debate over who should open the door. When it's finally opened, a person claiming to be atimetraveler is standing behind the door and declares she is the future granddaughter of the house owner's son. This is accepted by the father, and by the son (upon prove), but not by the mother. This breaks the family apart, and starts off a story so tragicomedic it could as well be originating from ancient Greek. An aspect similar seen in titles such as Zaregoto, Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei and Jinrui -where the main characters are nameless personas such as I, Watashi and Boku- is introduced. What Babanzai does is on whole other dimension, however. It creates a character called "Audience", which is -you guessed it- the viewer itself. With this, the series starts addressing all sort of issues related to family, life, society, future, past, and even to issues such as how helpless it is for the characters to take controll of their own lives when they come to acknowledge that they are indeed puppets controlled by the creator of this anime. Is it okay just to give up? Maybe the viewer can offer some help? In case this review got your interested, a word of warning. This series took me off guard so hard I had to watch it twice just to make sure I didn't miss anything. In case you plan on trying it, make sure to come with an open mind and mindset ready for a different type of adventure.

Idiosyncratic and unfairly forgotten, a six-part OVA "Gosenzosama Banbanzai!" (literally, "Long Live the Ancestors!") belongs to the most experimental period in Oshii’s career. Told in the form of a loony play, this farcical tragicomedy revolves around the Yomota family: a teenage boy, Inumaru, his father Kinekuni and his mother Tamiko. Their normal life starts to collapse after the arrival of a mysterious girl, Maroko, who claims to be Inumaru’s granddaughter from the future. Even though she has a hereditary star-shaped birthmark on her buttock, Tamiko refuses to acknowledge her as Yomota. So, she leaves her husband and son, and hires a private detective, Bannai Tatara, toreveal the true identity of the uninvited guest. Driven by self-irony and absurd, slapstick humor, a twisted, paradoxical story is directed in the vein of the French New Wave masters, with a short metaphorical mockumentary in which different kinds of birds and humans are compared, at the beginning of each episode. An otherwise linear narrative rooted in its own logic is deconstructed, as Oshii plays with both the characters’ and the audience’s expectations. However, his anarchic shenanigans are not meaningless and they do follow some rules – no matter how strange it may sound. Utterly aware of the fact they are nothing but marionettes controlled by a merciless puppeteer, the protagonists still try to manipulate the events in order to turn the situation to their own advantage. Occasionally, they burst into “karaoke soliloquies” under the spotlight – and not only figuratively speaking. With the most essential props and the minimalist backdrops on one hand and medium-related "deviations" on the other, "Gosenzosama Banbanzai!" is simultaneously stagey and filmic. After all this spectacle you are left wandering through this labyrinth of ideas, hoping to find the answer to a question asked since the beggining of human life: "Who are you, only a puppet?"

Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai! This was a very interesting watch. I'd heard people saying it's a "taxing watch" or not suitable for casual viewing but i believe that it's perfect for both casual and critical viewing and that's exactly what was on Mamoru Oshii's mind when he decided on the screenplay. What I mean by it is the fact that the show is presented as a stage drama. Much like Sheakspeare's plays, this show is an artistic commentary on a subject while also being a compelling and enjoyable narrative. It’s a commentary on the typical japanese family with poor family bonding conveyed through the three characters designed as marionettesfitting a certain archetype. Almost two third of the first episode is spent showing the seething discontent the three of them have. The entrance of Maroko was nothing more than a catalyst. Her actions had nothing to do with the family breaking apart, she just gave everyone an excuse to let out all their feelings.This is where the aforementioned theatrical screenplay becomes a plot point. It isn’t just a setting, the audience and the author are in a sense, characters in the show and all the other characters are aware that they are merely part of a drama where they are to fulfill their roles. This can be interpreted once again as a commentary on people sticking to traditions and following them due to which everyone lives a harmonious life. But they aren't satisfied with this and therefore break the harmony or better, in Inumaro's words, "seek out their own story". This view is further strengthened by the mini documentaries at the start of each episode. They show that as long as one goes with their role, everything works out fine. The show also discusses biased gender roles and deeply ingrained traditions in general. Inumaru doesn't let Maroko work even though he can't provide for them alone. Tamiko comes back to her family after all the discontent because it's in their culture for the wife to be with her family and try to make things work. There is also mockery of the ancestor worship culture in Japan where ancestors are highly regarded and worshipped when they were just ordinary or even bad people. All in all, the takeaway from the show is that sticking to traditions isn’t the best thing but straying too far from your roots can have negative implications. This message is conveyed with elegance through the long soliloquies and memorable musical performances.

It's arguably more appropriate to approach "Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai!" as a 6-act animated stage play rather than as a 6-episode anime OVA. All of the characters are positioned like actors (or puppets, even), on a stage, and the way they enter and exit the stage, as well as the lighting effects on them and their long soliloquies, come straight out of the theater. A tragic comedy in the classical sense, “Gosenzo-sama” is drenched in symbolism, especially with regard to colors and wordplay, and contains copious references to philosophical and literary concepts. That is not to say that it’s too abstract to be enjoyable, however. “Gosenzo-sama” tells a linearstory that’s relatively easy to follow, with the exception of the final episode where the narrative literally and figuratively falls apart. This way of ending the series is clearly intentional, however, and can be interpreted in several ways. In fact, due to how it is structured and what it references, the ending makes the viewer question whether some, if not all, of the events in the previous five episodes actually occurred. While this lack of a concrete conclusion may turn some viewers off, it’s a valid stylistic choice. Unlike most OVAs that came out at the time, “Gosenzo-sama” tells a complete and self-contained story (well, as complete as the vague ending allows for it to be). So this OVA is not plagued with issues like an underdeveloped story or characters. The technical aspects are all well done. The direction, as expected from Mamoru Oshii, is spot-on and riveting. The voice acting cast is top-notch. I especially liked Machiko Washio’s performance as Tamiko. The music, composed by Kenji Kawai, is ethereal; it has an upbeat tone to it, yet feels uncannily empty at the same time. The musical numbers performed by the characters in the episodes are great, too. The character designs are good. Although the art and animation look simplistic at times, this simplicity appears to be by design, and it fits the series well. The use of color (particularly yellow, red and blue) is excellent and it adds layers of complexity to characters’ intentions, motivations and actions. Every episode but the final one has a short “documentary” at the beginning about a different species of bird narrated in a classical Japanese comedy style, and all of these serve as allegories to the relations within the human family in the series. I wasn’t a huge fan of these, due to how crude they could be sometimes, but they were okay. There is some objectionable content with some minor nudity (censored) and slightly profane dialogue at times, as well as some cartoon-like violence and characters attempting to kill others/themselves. Overall, although it can be heavily highbrow at times, “Gosenzo-sama” is definitely a unique piece and one of the better ‘80s OVAs. Recommended.

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