[2013084] MANGA – Japanese Hero Action Comedy
Yamamoto Produce Japan @ The Garage International @ NACC
2:00pm, Sun 3 Mar 2013
Japanese Hero Action Comedy had made the Shortlist, but it was most certainly an outlier; but then I’d encountered the guys from Yamamoto in the Mall… and, clad in their scruffy DIY cardboard giant robot costumes, their infectious enthusiasm – coupled with just a hint of desperation in their eyes – convinced me that it was a pretty good bet. Support the different, I say. Support the risk-takers.
But the daylight was waaaaay too bright, my sunglasses were nigh-on ineffective, and I was really starting to doubt the wisdom of pledging to see a North Adelaide matinée a mere handful of hours after getting home from an extended Fringe Club close-out. But a ticket in my hand is a commitment – that’s just the way I play. That’s the way I like it, though sometimes – like on this walk – I have to remind myself of that fact.
I was worried that there’d be a tiny audience out at the North Adelaide Community Centre for this show, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were about fifty people (including the “star” of last night’s show) seated by the time I arrived. J-Pop was blaring through the sound system as I walked in – joyous, uplifting, nonsensical.
Which is just perfect accompaniment for this show.
Like a lot of the more popular anime and manga seen in the west, the plot of Japanese Hero Action Comedy is, at heart, a hero’s journey. Along the way, he makes friends, fights foes, and yells excitedly. But, let’s face it, the draw of this show isn’t about the plot; it’s in the presentation, the creativity, and especially the enthusiasm of the four performers.
Because this really was a wacky affair. Lo-fi props of cardboard and fabric and foam form characters that are instantly familiar to anyone who has spent more than five minutes with Japanese pop culture: ghosts and demons abound. Fight scenes are punctuated with onomatopoeic cardboard signs, and there’s plenty of anime tropes: running sequences see actors jogging on the spot whilst other performers whisk scenery by, and guitar power-pop accompanies the scenes where friends are fighting side-by-side in battle.
It’s all bloody silly fun, and – despite the increasingly uncomfortable heat in the room – the performers certainly gave it their all. And the scene where a delightfully poorly rendered (but still instantly recognisable) Pikachu was beaten up was one of the most enthusiastic scenes of all. And for this tired and hungover part-time fan of Japanese games and animation, MANGA certainly hit the spot.
(84) MANGA – Japanese Hero Action Comedy: suitably madcap Japanese action in which Pikachu gets beaten to a pulp. #ff2013 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) March 3, 2013