Good morning anime fans,
Welcome back to There She Grows! Despite the name of this blog, it covers a variety of topics beyond women becoming larger. Sometimes this site discusses media in which women do the opposite and become smaller, down to microscopic dimensions. Other times we analyze works in which men become larger. Today is one of those times.
We will examine an episode of the comedic franchise こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所. That rather verbose title translates to “This is a Police Box (Kōban) in front of Kameari Park in Katsushika Ward.” Understandably, that is normally shortened to こち亀 “KochiKame.”
KochiKame is a comedy centered on the antics of middle-aged policeman Kankichi “Ryo-san” Ryotsu. He works at a kōban in Kameari Park, which is a real place! Although, the kōban in real-life is not in the same spot.
KochiKame originally began as a manga in late September 1976 within the pages of Weekly Shōnen Jump. 秋本 治 Osamu Akimoto drew and wrote the manga. (SIDE NOTE: Initially, he used the pen name Tatsuhiko Yamadome, but switched to his real name after the 100th chapter.) It was published for 40 years and led to an animated series, a few animated movies, live-action movies, and a live-action series. Suffice to say, it was popular!
We’re going to discuss the animated series. The strange events in this anime reminded me of American comic books during the Silver Age. That was the era when the Comics Code Authority had a firm grasp on the industry and thus publishers relied upon wacky plots which steered clear of controversial topics or horror themes.
Accordingly, Silver Age Superman (and his younger self Superboy) did not combat real-world evils like racism or scary monsters like undead ghouls. Instead, they dealt with bizarre challenges, like turning into a lion-man (in Action Comics No. 243 August 1958) or becoming super-old (in Action Comics No. 251 April 1959). Red kryptonite was introduced in September 1958 and was later written to cause random effects on Kryptonians. Red kryptonite made Superboy as small as a mite on one occasion and then as big as a giant on another occasion!
Of course, Ryotsu is a policeman, not a super-hero. However, just like Silver Age comics, KochiKame never tackled real-world issues, but instead featured campy plots. Ryo-san has experienced a broad range of adventures far beyond those seen by actual police officers!
What kind of adventures you may ask? “Has Ryotsu worn a cockroach costume and played a game in an enormous kitchen to win money on a TV show?” Yes, he did in Season 1 Episode 17! “Well it’s a little unrealistic that a TV studio would have the substantial financial budget to build a giant kitchen. But have any other fantastical things occurred?“
“Has Ryotsu shrunk down and taken a plunge into a bowl of ramen?” Yes, in Season 3 Episode 47! “Have Ryotsu and female co-worker Reiko switched bodies?” Yes, in Season 8 Episode 20!
So, this franchise exists in a world in which anything is possible. Like a police officer, Neruo Higurashi, who sleeps for four years at a time, but does a flurry of investigative work (using psychic abilities) when he does wake up.
One of my favorite episodes had Ryo-san and an old friend running a ramen shop on a hot air balloon and making deliveries to families who live in high-rise towers. It was ridiculous and unrealistic, but I loved it.
The franchise was aimed at young boys, Shōnen, and did not incorporate mature content such as nudity or sex. Although, it occasionally pushed what some may consider the bounds of respectability. For example, check out the following screenshot from the very first episode:
Director “No no, best to put the camera on the floorboard and look up their skirts.”
Similarly, during the aforementioned episode in which Ryotsu turned into a minuscule fellow he predictably fell headfirst into Reiko’s cleavage for a few seconds.
We’re going to dig into a bit more detail about one particular episode 両さん大きくなる “Ryotsu Becomes a Giant!” The action in that episode began with Ryotsu’s boss yelling at him (a regular occurrence). The boss was upset because Ryo-san was spending on-duty time doing anything but his job. That included playing a zombie shooting game at the Kameari Game Plaza.
(SIDE NOTE: The zombie shooting game was clearly meant to be バイオハザード “Biohazard,” a series English speakers know as Resident Evil! Technically speaking, the name on the video game cabinet was オハザード or “ohazard” I guess 😉 The “Bi” was conveniently just out of frame.)
Beyond playing Biohazard, Ryo-san was also spending his time playing with a model train, taking a nap, reading a newspaper, painting a miniature tank, and playing pachinko. It was understandable that leadership voiced their disapproval.
The plot really got moving when a mysterious fellow appeared at the police box. He makes steamed meat buns called ジャンボマンジュウ “jumbo manjū.”
These buns are made with a special recipe which can make a person larger! Ryo-san is short and jealous of taller men, such as his younger co-worker Nakagawa. Therefore, he was the perfect potential customer / test subject.
Ryo-san dreamed of becoming tall and winning the attention of bikini-wearing beauties.
Consequently, he ate three of the meat buns. At first, it went according to plan. Ryotsu did become taller, but not inhumanly so. Then a beautiful woman appeared at the police box asking for help getting her hat down from a tree. Ryo-san happily obliged and retrieved her wayward headgear. However, before he could be rewarded with a kiss he grew once more! This time he burst out of his uniform and only his boxer shorts survived. The now giant-sized cop quickly returned to his coworkers and had to duck to fit inside. Wanting answers, he sought out the mad scientist in their laboratory. However, Ryo-san was still growing! This time he tore out of his boxers and the scientist’s building!
As noted before, this franchise does not show any nudity. However, there were scenes like the following during which enormous Ryo-san clearly exposed his genitals to numerous onlookers.
I don’t want to spoil all the details, but will note that Ryo-san grows even larger and eventually reaches a height of several miles high. He protects Tokyo from a meteor shower, but then seemingly causes untold destruction when he lands back on Earth. There was no resolution per se and the world was simply reset (no harm done) before the next episode. This is a comedy after all and not a thoughtful consideration of how a mountain-sized man could survive. Nonetheless, I was entertained.
Overall, this episode and indeed the entire KochiKame series is recommended for fans of zany comedies. However, this anime is not an easy series for English speakers to watch as there is no official translation.
Netflix Japan has the first four seasons as of this writing, but only with Japanese audio and Japanese subtitles. Amazon Japan has the entire series on streaming, via Anime Times, but that requires a monthly fee paid by a Japanese credit card, foreign cards were not accepted.
Physical copies are also difficult to find and may be expensive. I found a set of used DVDs (over 50 discs!) that had every episode plus the animated movies which cost the equivalent of several hundred dollars, but now appears to be sold out. Snippets from this episode are floating around the ‘Net, but are of varying quality. So yeah, not great availability. Still this is worth a watch if you can find a copy.
That’s it for today folks. Next week’s review will cover Frontiersman from Image Comics. Until then, keep growing!
P.S. The opening theme song changed several times, but my favorite was first season’s 夏が来た “Summer has Come!” by 渚の女王様 The Queen’s Shores. You can hear that on YouTube by clicking here.
This review was written by SolomonG and is protected under Fair Use copyright law.
All Rights Reserved.
There She Grows 