Wandaba Style Volume 1 (DVD) - Anime Reviews


	Number of Episodes 4 Language Options English/Japanese/English Subtitles Released by ADV Films Extras - Clean Opening/Closing Animation - Production Sketches - Wandaba Factoids - ADR Outtakes - Audio Commentary
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Wandaba Style Volume 1 (DVD)

How far would you go to be a pop star?

Mix Juice, a hot new girl band, is managed by Michael Hanagata… a man who would do ANYTHING for success! But he’s underestimated how serious the girls are about making THEIR dreams come true! No matter what he throws at them, they’ll do whatever it takes to “make it”! And they’ll do it with a smile.

Meet Sakura Haruno, a fallen child star who’s selling her underwear on the internet; Himawari Natsuma, a construction worker by day – enka ballader at night; Ayame Akimo, a ditsy folk singer with an entourage of invisible fairies; and Yuri Fuyude, a rock singer who’s too tough for her own good. If anyone can survive the schemes of their self-proclaimed “GENIUS MANAGER”, it’s them.

But destiny takes a turn, when Mix Juice hooks up with Dr. Susumo Tsukumo, a boy genius scientist, who wants the girls to be the first band on the moon. Will their career soar or plummet? Will perky Kiku #8 keep them safe or drive them crazy!? One thing is for sure: there’s never a dull moment when you’re chasing your dreams WANDABA STYLE!

With a description like that, what doesn’t sound good about it? There’s a really simple formula for good comedy series: weirdness, dysfunctional team dynamics, excessive personalities, stupidity passed off as confidence, and a little bit of ecchi (a little perverted). The animation style of the show is complete cel-shaded, which can be very hit or miss with otaku – some people sweat by this animation style, others can’t stand it. Myself, I find it something that I don’t like initially, but after a little while I don’t notice it (kind of like the series of scratches on the lenses of my glasses).

Episode 01

Dr. Tsukumo is a child genius in name only. He certainly has the economic clout of the powerhouse that is Dexter (from Dexter’s Laboratory) but has the planning of a drunk engineer on a deadline. His previous plans to place a person on the surface of the moon (his android females Kikus #1 through #7) have been unsuccessful and Kiku #8’s chances don’t look any better with his plan to slingshot her into space using an elastic band stretched between two aircraft carriers. (I almost peed my pants laughing when the reason for the failure was given).

Michael Hanagata is either a brilliant man or an idiot savant – he’s built a team around a performer on her way out and three never-will-bes. Somehow pairing up a former child singer (who’s now selling her used underwear on the internet), a delusional folk singer, a rocker, and an enka singer into a pop act doesn’t seem like a passable idea under level of intoxication. However, these girls are motivated and certainly don’t have a lower limit that they won’t cross. So when their manager comes across a morose scientist looking for more test subjects, he’s more than willing to hire out his team of lab monkeys… err singers for the furthering of science and maybe their careers.

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Episode 02

Kiku #8’s orbit finally degraded enough for re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere and so Dr. Tsukumo deploys Mix Juice to help recover her and they’re going to do it with a giant ladle and by running underneath her impact point. After recovering the android, and returning to their base the girls learn of the Doctor’s latest plan to send people into space… using carbonation! His brilliant idea comes from the celebratory champagne bottles that he keeps around the lab.

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The Doctor believes that a giant ramune bottle with three stages will provide sufficient thrust to launch the four girl team and Kiku #8 onto the moon. Except, his calculations might require the girls to disclose their weights…

Episode 03

Apparently being trapped in a degrading orbit for 60+ days didn’t do too much for Mix Juice’s abysmal team interaction. The group is more than a little sick of each other and need a little time away from each other; but the manager is in the midst of trying to spring the girl’s first big concert. The Doctor comes up with a great solution while the girls are off sulking, a concert in the stratosphere! The question is, “Will the girls be able to put aside their differences to perform?” or should it be, “What’s going to go wrong now?”

Episode 04

Well, their luck hasn’t improved very much. They are still stuck in orbit around Earth and they are going to have a rough time trying to recover from the embarrassment from their aborted attempt at a concert. Not only is the complete lack of any positive reinforcement a problem, the girls are going to be thrown back into the fire as the Doctor has another harebrained scheme to put the girls on the moon – a giant whip with the anchor point being the Earth itself.

Wandaba Style is certainly a different anime, and while I can’t say that I’m a big fan of the J-Pop that is being played, I do appreciate the humor and have been enjoying the show.

- Tazman

(March 6, 2005)

"Hey! Do I preach to you while you're lying stoned in the gutter? Nooooooo."

- Bender (Futurama)