Episode 31: Desert Punk
Disclaimer: the following review consists of copy written material owned by Funimation, Studio Gonzo, Enterbrain comics, and Masatoshi Usune. This review is my property and is used for satirical purposes.
The Classic Critic sat at his desk once more ready to do his newest review. "Hello I'm the Classic Critic; I remember it so you're not required to." He said to the crowd.
"Well after a couple of months off since completing Harem May, I decided to bring my man points back up and I couldn't think of any better way to do that than to sit through this." He said holding up a box set featuring a woman with purple hair and a short stature black haired man on it. "The borderline hentai action comedy known as Desert Punk. In this show we follow the exploits of badass mercenary extraordinaire Sunbouzu aka well Desert Punk" Airnaruto said as we see a scene from episode one play out.
Desert Punk: I have a reputation as a man that will complete any job given to me. It's not a reputation I intend to lose; I've worked to hard for it. So why don't one of you three slobbering nimrods tell me? (Starts beating thugs with his shotgun) Where the hell is that damn hideout of yours huh? Fess up I won't say it again, I'm gonna keep beating you until you tell me! Where is it?"
"Now if you want an idea of what this show is like take, the director of Rosario Vampire, team him up with the animator behind Trigun and the Ninja Scroll series, and the composer for One Piece, then give it Trigun's comedy and setting but up the perversion of said comedy to over level 9000 at least and in a nutshell that's Desert Punk." Airnaruto explained. "This show is full of perverted old man jokes that some of the time you could end up dying from laughter or a nosebleed." Airnaruto said before getting on with the rest of the review.
Plot:
"So Desert Punk is an action/comedy anime series based on the manga of the same name by Masatoshi Usune produced by Studio Gonzo back in 2004." Airnaruto said before moving on to the plot. "The plot revolves the legend of a bounty hunter in the Great Kanto desert whose feats of skill and daring while on the job that surpasses any of his peers. He holds a reputation of completing every job that's been thrown at him, he is the Desert Punk." Airnaruto said before getting to our main character's flaw. "However like every Superman, he has his Kryptonite and in his case its women, and thanks to a woman, near the end of the first episode he screws up." Airnaruto said before showing his infamous screw up.
Punk: (Laughing maniacally) I own this desert bitches!
The camera cut back briefly to Airnaruto who noticed a flickering light behind Desert Punk. "Uh-oh hit the dirt people!" He screamed as he took cover under his desk before the bomb went off.
(BOOM!)
"Following that screw up his reputation goes down the crapper when one of his jobs gets stolen from him by one of his rivals named Junko and…WHOA!" Airnaruto screamed as we got a shot of Junko's massive upper set shall we say. "Okay I know Gonzo's notorious for putting certain amounts of fan service in some of their shows like Burst Angel, Kiddy Grade, Witchblade, Gantz, Speed Grapher, and Welcome to the NHK, but man Junko's rack is about as big as the racks on some the of girls from Eiken." Airnaruto said before clearing his head. "Anyway soon Desert Punk's life takes a downturn and he screws up over and over again for plot and comic convenience. Though to be fair with how this guy treats everyone like shit and if the people in question are women he'll treat them even worse than shit since he's a womanizing perverse little bastard and he's supposed to be the hero of the show, and I use the word hero extremely loosely, you could argue that he deserves it." Airnaruto said. "Anyway by episode 7 or so however he picks up an apprentice named Kosuna who decides to follow him around like a dog on car tire since she has nothing better to do and she wants to become the deserts biggest power babe and then the plot goes into the job of the week format, you know; take on the job, get the job done, and collect the money assuming that they don't screw up." Airnaruto said. "However I find it a little jarring that at about the 4th quarter of the of the series, the tone switches from a light hearted perverted comedy to a serious political power struggle story and that at around episode 20 or so, Desert Punk isn't around until the final episode and a half of the series." Airnaruto said making his complaints with the plot before moving on to the animation.
Animation:
"As previously mentioned, this is a Gonzo series and boy do they pull out all of the stops for this one. The CGI used for the desert rock buildings, the guns, the suits, and the vehicles are pretty slick and brightly colored for a show set in bleak blistering desert." Airnaruto said. "As also mentioned earlier the animation was done by Takahiro Yoshimatsu who worked Trigun and the Ninja Scroll series; to which I was actually shocked to learn because this didn't like any of the other anime he's worked on over the years so this does show just how far he's come into his own as an animator. The fight scenes are clever, fluid, and in some cases funny." Airnaruto said before mentioning his lone complaint with the animation. "However there are a few spots where the animation gets bad as is the case with most Gonzo produced anime, though granted with Desert Punk it's not bad on the levels of Samurai 7 or Welcome to the NHK bad where it would look like poorly done watercolor, but it's more of the bad in the sense that some the character movements can get a little stiff but it's only for a minute or two so not that long." Airnaruto said before moving on to the cast.
Sub vs. Dub
"I'll make this short and sweet; watch this show in the English dub, why you ask?" Airnaruto said before giving his answer. "Simple it's ruder, cruder, and with a bigger toilet mouth you know you're going to get more laughs for your money to watch this show, which can not be said for the Japanese dub because it just sounds incredibly boring." Airnaruto said briefly before showing a scene of Desert Punk getting ambushed by a bunch of thugs first in Japanese.
Japanese dub:
Punk: Uh-oh I think now would be a good time to run for cover.
English Dub same scene:
Punk: Remember kids, a smart man knows when it's time to run like a little bitch!
"See what I mean?" He said before cutting to the chase; "I mean the comedy is just so dirty that it just falls millimeters short from crossing over the hentai line…twice." He pointed out as for the cast Eric Vale fits into the role of Kanta very well as is his forte of play snarky mouthed obnoxious jackasses, Luci Christian does a great Kosuna, no surprise that she got that role, Stephanie Young plays a decent Junko, and of course the hilarious Kenny Green as the incomparable Rain Spider who get the funniest line award in the show just for saying this." Airnaruto said as he showed an infamous scene from episode 20 involving Rain Spider having a boner.
Rain Spider: Aah! There's a party in my pants and everyone's coming! (Points gun at Kanta and Kosuna and fires it)
Kanta and Kosuna: Aah!
(BOOM!)
Music:
"The music for the show is either orchestral or jazz for the most part with the orchestral music being used for the action scenes and the jazz for the comedy or to make soft-core smut so it evens out in my opinion." Airnaruto said, before discussing the openings. "The openings for the show aren't really much on their own though I would recommend the first opening because it captures the show much better than the second opening which is just the series biggest buzz kill especially since the first opening uses live action footage." Airnaruto said before giving his final thoughts on the series.
Final thoughts:
"Overall while Desert Punk isn't perfect, it's still one of the funniest anime you'll ever come across with a cast of characters that are just a hoot, crude, rude, and subjective humor, tons of action, and great animation for the most part. The plot may not amount to much for the most part and some of the women's racks are way oversized but it adds to the comedic charm of the show if you ask me." Airnaruto said with a bit of a grin on his face. "While there is some fan service in the show it's thankfully rather subtle and not used for anything other than a running gag but does this show deserves its spot among Gonzo's best productions? I say yes it does. Is it their absolute best? No since as mentioned the jarring tonal shift three quarters of the way through, slightly stiff animation, and the buzz kill opening for the second half take away from it but not by much." Airnaruto said before giving his final rating.
"I give Desert Punk 4 sets of insulting decoys…" Airnaruto said before being cut off by a scene in episode one.
A bunch of Punk dummies to a gang leader: Your mother's a dirty whore!
Another batch of dummies but much faster: Your mother's a dirty whore!
Faster set of dummies: Your mother's a dirty whore!
Even faster set of dummies: Your mother's a dirty whore!
"Out of 5." Airnaruto said before wrapping up the show. "Well there you have it folks also next month I'm going to be doing another monthly special I like to call Shonen September where I'll look at some of the best and worst of Shonen anime; however Ranma ½, Full Metal Alchemist, and Death Note will not be among them since I already did separate reviews for those series. Anyway I'm the Classic Critic; I remember it so you're not required to." Airnaruto said as he got and left.
Desert Punk recap:
Pros:
Animation for the most part is well done and fluid
The cast is a hoot to watch
The comedy will have you rolling on the floor laughing your ass off
Music is pretty well paced
Hilarious English Dub
Cons:
Animation can be a little stiff at times
Japanese dub is boring and unfunny
The second opening doesn't fit with the shows atmosphere
Story doesn't really change until about the final quarter
Final rating: **** out of 5 (Sets of insulting decoys)
Well folks that's it for now, I'll be taking some time off since I start school this Tuesday so I may not have time to update but until I get another chance to do so read and review.