Super Milk Chan may be better in Japanese…I don’t know. But I have been watching it on Adult Swim of late and I must write a review to speak my bit.

This show is just not very good. Most laughs are groan induced or bitter rather than snickers or outright laughter. The episodes are also a little dull with not much happening besides the seemingly requisite visit by the landlord, call from the president and visit with the evil doctor on TV. I didn’t think it was funny. There are, however, a number of shows that are snicker inducing or gut wrenching, The Venture Bros. for one. So it comes down to this. I spend thirty minutes watching an episode of Milk Chan. I could spend those same thirty minutes watching something funnier. So why not.

The same goes for the purchase of this DVD set. You can take the money you would spend on this DVD and, rather than spend it on something that may at best get a few laughs, buy a DVD that is REALLY funny, like Harvey Birdman, Aqua Team Hunger Force or whatever else really tickles you. I’m not saying Milk Chan does not have some positive aspects, just that it really isn’t worth your time or money.

As many of you may know, Super Milk Chan, is a very strange anime to say the least. Yes I am talking about the visuals and overall style of the show, but even more to the point what’s most strange about Milk Chan is the way it was executed. There is not one but two different versions of this anime, or I guess if you want to be technical when involving dubs then there’s three different versions, but at heart there are two different stories to this series, and just to speed things up, heres a review of all three, both English dubs and the Japanese.

Japanese:I am very sorry, all you nutty purists out there, but I can honestly say not only does the Japanese version of this show completely stink, its bad enough to drive someone mad to the point in which they literally shove their head through a brick wall. And that is not an exaggeration, its really that bad. Then again maybe I should rephrase that, its bad for an American audience. You see the main problem involving this series is that it was specifically made for Japanese audiences only, just as Family Guy is pretty much for American audiences only. The jokes are all, or are mostly anyway, centered around Japanese pop culture of which the average American, let alone anime fan, dosen’t know Jack squat about. It’s not designed for an American audience, and therefore it is not funny to an american viewer. It just isn’t, most people don’t know that much about Japan. Also, the voice acting here is painfully lethargic. Its, in a word, boring. The lines aren’t delivered in any kind of remotely funny fashion, they are just merely said in a painfully unfunny way. Also the humor that dosn’t involve Japanese Pop culture is very cluttered and totally incoherent.

Look, purists who enjoy this, thats fine, but I don’t see how you do it.

English Dub #1 (directly translated version) This is, as seen on Adult Swim, the first English dub produced, and like the Japanese version is painfully boring, basically due to the direct translation and cluttered humor. I will say though, it isn’t quite as bad as the Japanese, yes it is very monotoned like the original, but the voice actors try their best to make it entertaining, they are all very good. But besides that its pretty bad, it just wasn’t funny.

English Dub #2 (super crazy americanized version) After two lackluster versions of Super Milk Chan, you’d think at least one of three would be worth watching, and luckily one is, the crazy super americanized version is actually quite funny. Just to clear things up, one should know whats been done to this 2nd English dub. This is not a direct translation of the original, hardly, in fact almost all the humor in the first two versions has been replaced completely, mostly by american pop culture jokes, excessive cursing, and sexual innuendo. This actually, belive it or not, works very well, it is most of the time quite amusing and keeps you listening intently to see which celebrity their going to rip on next. Its all very fun, immature, but fun. To be perfectly honest I have no idea why so many people moaned and complained about this version. Its about a million times funnier than the original, and actually holds your interest, who cares if it gets away from the orginal, if it’s better that way then who cares, I’m sick and tired of hearing about all of this purity nonsense. Anime is something to have fun with, not something to get completely serious over, just go with it and laugh for god sake. Which actually brings me to my next topic and it is what makes this title such a rarity. There are actually live action segments woven in and out through this version of the show featuring what goes on behind the scenes (with the voice actors and staff) at ADV films, that and a couple of skits to go with it. This is something your either going to love or hate, I thought I was going to hate the live action segments but in fact I actually found them to be fairly amusing. They are basically just a fun little side novelty for anime fans who don’t take themselves too seriously, its all in good fun, and besides that they are very short. Each one is about 30-60 seconds long with the exception of the opening one which was about 5 minutes in length. However there are quite a few of them throughout the disc, maybe about 12 minutes or so in all.

Another thing about this version thats highly different from the Japanese is the way the lines are delivered. Where as the orginal is very monotoned and quiet, this version is wacky and loud which just adds to fun of it all, and the line delivery is much better. Also the episodes just got funnier and funnier with each passing one, I will say the first one was maybe a tiny bit weak but the next two were very funny, and the vinatge Milk shows were good as well. For those of you who don’t know The Vintage milk show is a prequel to Super Milk Chan. They are much older, the animation is far dated, and they only run about five minutes. Along with the three episodes and as well as the live action segements we get five vintage milks (or maybe four, I can’t remember). Another thing, while watching this everything is basiclaly strung into one piece, so there are no openings or endings, everything is one almost as if it were a movie. The Vinatge Milks, the Super Milk Chan show, the voice actor segments are all in one. All these can be found on the 100% whole disc, the one that looks like an american flag.

So overall this version was very good, and despite the humor lagging just a bit in some spots, it was very enjoyable.

So thats it. Like I said, try and steer away from the Japanese/direct english dub versions and stick to the 100% Whole disc, its far more entertainig and actually worth your time. If you like South Park, anything on Adult Swim, The Brak show, Sealab, or Beavis and Butthead, then you’ll probably enjoy this. Actually the closest thing this shows comes to is the ADV 2006 release, “Ghost Stories.” And although Milk Chan (100% whole) isn’t on par with the humor conatined within “Ghost Stories” (its a hilariious series, begining to end), its essentially the same type of thing (and not mention pretty much has all the same people, including the same director). If you like “Ghost Stories” then you’ll probably like this, as I did. It’s very fun, and just a little bit more than slightly insane. 4 1/2 stars.

This has got to be the most messed up show I have ever seen. Take our heroine, 5 year old Milk Chan. Savior of the world. Or something like that. Her sidekicks are a robot with some bad complexes and a green slug-like thing. Stupid requests from the president mean hilarious escapades and horrendous blunders! Follow Milk as she solves the case of the counterfeit money with the portrait of the wrong Olsen Twin! A great watch for the twisted humor enhanced.