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"BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo" Volume 1: Is Illumitoon a "Bo-nafide Protector" Of These Rights?
By Chad Lee and Knux Five
03-26-2007, 1:39 AM |
Czar Baldy Bald hopes to rid the world of hair. To accomplish this, he has sent squadrons across the world to rid the scalps of the populace of their follicles. One man stands in his way, though, and that man's full name is complicated. He is BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo. Along with his friends Beauty, Don Patch, and Pickles (wait, he never lets Pickles join), he uses the mystical "Fist Of The Nose Hair" fighting attack to defend the world. Or to just parody everyday animation.
 The full show is called BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo. I'm just gonna call it "Bo Show", because that's ridiculous, and the character is "Bo" (despite his own arguments against it).
And that's the show rolled up into a title: Ridiculous. There's a very loose plot here, with the Golden Afro'd Bo out to destroy the evil of Czar Baldy Bald and save Beauty (the only girl around with hair still). The loose plot, though, is just an excuse for the crazy diatribes and sidetracks. Think of it as Family Guy, but all the "side jokes" actually happen in their battles. If Stewie would say "This isn't as bad of a time as..." and then cut to a clip, BoBoBo would make a comment about canals, AND HIS AFRO WOULD OPEN UP WITH AN ITALIAN MAN, riding a boat, with a rocket launcher in hand, firing upon his enemy.
It's all very surreal as other characters acknowledge the events are going on. When Bo's afro opens up and reveals a theater (the regular way of developing backstory), the characters will sit back and watch. Beauty is the only character who calls the characters on their oddities and never really enters into the mayhem herself.
The voices are great. Richard Epcar,who plays a serious character in a serious show—Batou in Ghost in the Shell, voices the titular character in a hilarious manner. The Ranger nerd has to point out that he's had a run of monster voices throughout Saban shows, so Richard definitely has a variety of vocal skills. The rest of the cast is also great (and Don Patch's VA did some monsters as well on Saban shows). Animation is quick and flashy, which is what you'd want with this fast-paced show.
 Illumitoon definitely drops the ball, or afro in this case, when it comes to the DVD. It's one thing to have no extras if there are six or seven episodes on a disc, but when you get just four, they're sorely lacking. The art throughout the packaging seems severely under par. A hideous font, three pieces of art: generally, the composition is an eyesore. Not even an insert in the disc case. It all feels as though it were put together in twenty minutes with Paint. I also hope you enjoy sitting through the trailer for the DVD you're watching every time you pop it in.
My best guess is that the subtitles are not accurate translations from the Japanese. Subtitles on with English audio on reveals a one-to-one translation, and since I doubt the Japanese version referenced a "Danny Turk".
On the whole, the show is a great laid-back experience, but this disc brings nothing new to the table. It's also not a deep experience, so your best bet might be to just sit down and watch it on Toonami. Don't worry if you haven't seen any episodes beforehand. It wouldn't make sense if you had, and it'll still be hilarious.
Episodes included on BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo Volume 1: "Bo-nafide Protector":
Episode 1: "The Bonafide Soulful Bo-tector of Hair"
Episode 2: "Let's Get Wiggy with IT!"
Episode 3: "Wacky Quacker Cooks His Own Goose!"
Episode 4: "Bababa-ba Ba-baba! The Honorable King Nose Hair"
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