Haré + Guu Vol. 2 2001   AN Entertainment Official US Website Buy It Now Official Japanese Website

Ohhhhhh, GUU-SAMA!

If you haven’t caught the boat yet and headed to the jungle, you have no idea what you’re missing. Haré & Guu is one of the strangest comedy series that you will probably ever find in anime, and it’s taken quite a while for the series to make its way here to the United States. The series though has already had a number of fans that have been wearing their fansub and raw Japanese copies thin and Haré and Guu are just getting started. The second volume of the series once again has you wondering why Haré hasn’t found himself in an asylum.

To recap just in case you missed the first volume (and you really should run out NOW and buy it) Guu is a strange girl, very strange. She has no mother or father, at least that’s what she’s calimed, and now she’s living with Haré, a 10-year old boy (soon to be 11) that lives in a tropical paradise with his mother Weda. Weda however isn’t the best example of a mother, and she’s constantly drunk or sleeping off a hangover, but what’s worse is Guu. She has a hunger that can’t be satisfied, a sarcastic attitude, and seems to come from another dimension (though that hasn’t been confirmed yet either.) That tropical paradise that Haré had? Well, it’s gone now, and he has to deal with Guu, protect everyone else on the island from getting eaten by her, and then there’s that odd dimension that she has inside her stomach.

Things couldn’t possibly get any worse for Haré, could they? Yes, they certainly could. A new doctor has come to school, Clive, and he has a love for the ladies, almost too much it seems, and the guys are all pushed to the side, or insulted to some degree. That wouldn’t seem like a huge deal, but it ends up becoming a situation that can’t be avoided. You see, Haré has grown a bit curious about who his real father is (you might recall the series began with a pregnant Weda leaving a rather posh mansion) and Haré isn’t getting the answers that he wants. Things are getting even more out of control because Clive is determined to meet Weda . . .. but the two already know each other, quite intimidate you might say. If Guu wasn’t bad enough now Haré has to deal with the sudden appearance of a father who wants nothing to do with him. Maybe he should have stuck with the pokute theory.

The introduction of Clive is main event for the series, and the two remaining episodes find Guu once again tormenting poor Haré to any extent possible. She tries to convince him that the latest island fad is bathing with your clothes on, and this puts him in a rather difficult situation. If he asks, and everyone is, he’s going to look strange for not doing it, but if they aren’t, he’s still going to seem the fool for asking such an outlandish question. As you might expect, there is comedy in the jungle air, and it gets even funnier when the class takes a field trip to the Jungle Bath. Haré also celebrates his eleventh birthday, and Guu gives him a rather unwanted gift. She switches Haré and the doctor, only because Haré cant’ wait to grow up. In some ways though, it does show another side to Guu as Haré learns not only what it’s like to be an adult, but he gets a better look at the life of Clive.

Wait!

This is Guu, she’s not doing anything to be kind. Haré will find out first hand (or hands in this case) what her little gift has really given him, and it’s not exactly what he had in mind.

The series does have a few cultural references that you may not catch on to, but that’s where the extra material comes in handy. The DVD includes cultural notes regarding some of those more obscure things, and these are also included with the DVD insert as well as other little bits as well as a character guide. The insert, Jungle News, also happens to be the same name as some of the promotional spots that were used on television in Japan to promote things outside the series relating to Haré & Guu. The DVD also includes clean versions of the opening and closing animations, outtakes from the dubbing sessions, a collection of production sketches, and even a few commercial spots that ran in Japan.

Haré & Guu throws predictability completely to the side. You never know what to expect from this series aside from the fact that you are going to laugh . . . . a lot. Yes, the series is odd, at times it can make little sense, but then again, that’s what has made some anime so successful and this is probably why in Japan, Guu was voted the most popular female character in the past. Buy it, love it, laugh out loud . . .. just beware of that strange shadow outside that appears as though it could be a little girl.

Episode 5 – The Doctor in the Nurse’s Office

The school has a new doctor, and he seems to be a good for nothing womanizer, but it’s made Haré curious about one thing: who is his father. Everyone has a story, though they all seem to be from Weda when she was drunk, and when he finally learns the truth it seems that maybe the stories might have been better.

Episode 6 – Viva Non-Non

Guu tells Haré that bathing with your clothes on is the latest fad and everyone is doing it. Haré wants conformation, but he’s also afraid to ask because either way, his friends might think that he’s strange. It looks like the upcoming picnic at the Jungle Bath might provide the answers he’s looking for . . . . or embarrassment.

Episode 7 – Fantasy Jungle

It’s Haré’s birthday and everyone has given him a gift except for Guu. After speaking with Weda, she realizes the thing that Haré wants most is to be an adult and she switches him and Dr. Clive, resulting in the usual brand of jungle chaos.

-mike-