Shin Chan: Season One, Part One - Region 1 DVD

Shin Chan…first time on DVD!

Laugh to hide your tears… He’s rude. He’s crass. He’s unbelievably obnoxious and he likes showing his @$$. He’s Shin, and he’s the star of this train wreck. From superhero sell-outs, hotties and half-tards to bunny abuse and dirty old men, Shin chan gives unwholesome family fun a whole new spin… Silicone enhanced! Learn the fate of Whitey, poke fun at Mitzi’s breasts or follow along on Ench-Man’s quests – It’s your choice! With 13 outrageous uncensored episodes the possibilities are endless! Wanna play a game of hide and drink? Falling off the wagon is always better with company! Shin chan: The show with very little adventure but plenty of action!?!


If the antics of Kenny, Cartman and the rest of the South Park boys have grown too stale for your tastes, there's plenty of appalling kid behavior on display in Shin Chan, Adult Swim's raucous redubbing of the popular Japanese anime series. The North American version follows the essence of the source material: Shin Chan is a five-year-old Japanese boy with a knack for making his parents, teachers and friends crazy with highly inappropriate statements and behavior (most notably a penchant for nudity and shaking his butt). But the scripts by anime vets Jared Hedges, Joel Bergin and Alex Muniz (with contributions by acclaimed comic book creators Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer on the first six episodes) spin the basic premise into surreal and decidedly adult areas (let's just say that bodily functions, aberrant sexuality, and a cornucopia of mental illnesses are the order of the day). Characters are also tweaked for shock effect--the school's principal, a fairly benevolent figure in the original anime, is now a bizarre half-Gypsy with a sordid past, while Tooru, Shin Chin's nervous nellie of a pal, is now Georgie, a five-year-old neo-con. The absurdity of the dubbing is peppered with frequent pop culture references, which can grow wearying after a while, but the sheer rudeness of the storylines generally overpowers any rough patches.

The DVD feature 13 of the first season's 26 episodes, which are spread over two discs; extras include lively commentary on Episode 4 ("Get Your Hands Off My Happy Cake!") with line producer Laura Bailey, who also voices Shin Chan, along with director Zach Bolton and recording engineer Peter Hawksworth. Series fans will undoubtedly be delighted by "From the Bowels of the Booth," which offers a battery of exceptionally crude alternate line readings from various episodes, as well as an episode with its original Japanese language track (subtitles are included). Vocal talent auditions and trailers for Funinmation's other anime DVD releases, including Witchblade, One Piece and Full Metal Panic round out the supplemental features. -- Paul Gaita