Anime Review:
Crayon Shin-chan Movie: Super Dimension! The Storm Called My Bride
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Series Premise: Crayon Shin-chan: Super Dimension! The Storm Called My Bride, or “Chō Jikū! Arashi o Yobu Ora no Hanayome” is the 18th movie in the long-running Crayon Shin-chan children’s franchise, which appeared in theaters on April 17, 2010. Tamiko arrives from a dark and dismal future, with the goal of finding five-year-old Shin-chan. She explains to him that she’s his future bride, and he must come to the future with him to save the world.
Click on the thumbnails below to view the picture in full size in a new window:
Spoiler-free Movie Set-up: It’s a dark and dismal future, and Shinnosuke Nohara is breaking in to a giant building with the goal of saving the planet. But his plans are thwarted as he is turned to stone, but at the last minute he calls out to his bride, Tamiko, to travel back into the past to find the one person that can help. Meanwhile, in present-day Japan, five-year-old Shin-chan is having a normal day playing around with his friends…until Tamiko suddenly appears out of the blue. Explaining that she is his future bride-to-be, she takes Shin-chan back with her to the future…but accidentally brings along all of Shin-chan’s friends as well. Now trapped decades in the future, in a broken-down world without a Sun, what will they do?
My Impressions: My exposure to Crayon Shin-chan has been exclusively limited to watching a few episodes of the American dubbed version on Adult Swim years ago. While I was neither impressed nor disappointed, I was aware that the American re-scripted version was not really a true representation of the Japanese original. And frankly, I didn’t really care, either.
Now along comes this feature length movie…the eighteenth movie in the franchise that has been around for over two decades. Not only that, but this is the first movie since the creator’s unexpected death from a hiking accident the year before.
As for the movie itself…well, considering my apathy towards Crayon Shin-chan in general, I can’t say I was particularly interested, nor did it leave much of an impression. Nor does it seem to have made much of an impression on the rest of the world, either, because I couldn’t find any online reviews of this movie. I guess after the 18th movie, pretty much everyone knows what to expect, eh?
That being said, the time travel gimmick and taking Shin-chan out of his normal element was an interesting twist. Also, to see the alternate-reality future versions of everyone was kind of neat (and I’m especially sure for the hardcore fans, as well). There were some amusing gags, such as the bridesmaid brigage running amok.
But overall, for a non-fan like myself, it just seemed to drag on forever. For a gag manga/anime show such as this, it’s best when consumed in bite-sized twenty minute chunks. But when stretched to over a hundred minutes…I was most definitely ready for it to end halfway through. And yet it kept going on…and on…
Given that this may end up being the only English-language online review of this particular anime movie, I wish I could muster up the interest to write up a decent, full-length, insightful review. But this just ain’t worth it. Half-assed review is all it deserves.
FINAL GRADE: C — It had a few interesting moments, and the plot actually held together until the end (which is something you don’t always find in kiddie-oriented movies). But really, this should be left to the existing Crayon Shin-chan fans, and there really isn’t much here for non-fans. And at a hundred minutes long, that was a whole lot of Crayon Shin-chan to endure at once. Well, at least the amount of time he spent with his trademark butt hanging out was extremely limited, so thanks for that I guess.
- Official movie trailer does not appear to be online.
- Info resources:
- As far as I can tell, not available through any legal streaming source, nor available in the United States on DVD.
Sampling of Online Reviews:
- Couldn’t find a single review. So…first?
Miscellaneous Odds and Ends from 2010 left to review: Kakko-kawaii Sengen, Shokupan Mimi, Mardock Scramble, Bleach: The Hell Verse, Votoms: Case;Irvine, Votoms: Finder, Pokemon: Best Wishes, Heartcatch Precure Movie, Keroro Gunsou Movie #5, Pokemon Special: Pikachu’s Really Mysterious Adventure, Umi Kara no Shisha, Koko ni Iru, Rita et Machin, Stitch: Zutto Saikou no Tomodachi, Kobe and I, Robo to Shoujo, Sora no Otoshimono OVA
Generally speaking, the ONE Crayon Shin-chan movie that’s widely considered a classic is “The Adult Empire Strikes Back”, directed by Hara Keiichi (“Summer Days with Coo”, “Colorful”). That movie was made with both children and their parents in mind, dealing with themes of nostalgia and adult responsibilities.
I don’t particularly like the director’s works though, so this isn’t an unreserved recommendation.
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