As I said before, CJAS tends to show some of the more mainstream,
popular anime available. Alright, so sometimes we throw in a random weird
anime (e.g. Blazing Transfer Student) but usually, what you see is
the not-so-disgusting, not-so-out-there, and not-so-what-the-heck-was-that
anime. Here are a few more examples of some weird anime. Keep in mind,
however, that these are simply weird. There is a whole slew of anime that
would fit the above not-so category simply because they happen to be bad.
Bad characters, bad plot, bad director, whatever the case, a lot of anime
manages to be incomprehensible simply because they were badly done. The
anime I am listing here, however, are not bad, just weird.
Eroica Yori ai wo Komete (From Eroica With Love)
Okay, this manga is basically a Rose of Versailles-esque story about
a gay Lupin. It is the story of the Earl Dorian Red Gloria (a.k.a. Eroica),
who amuses himself as an art thief and makes no bones about being happily
gay. Very flamboyant and careless about things like laws and conventions, he
does as he pleases, flirts as he pleases, and dresses as he pleases. The
Zenigata Keibu in this series is a German with an insanely long name --
Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach. This guy is upright, anal, bad-tempered,
and so conservative he is probably a Republican. He is also fascinated by
Eroica's advances despite himself. What I find interesting is how strangely
Eroica dresses. I mean, take a look at the pictures and see for yourself.
This guy truly does not care about fashion conventions. The story is
set almost like the City Hunter manga -- there is a general
introduction where most of the characters are introduced, and then there are
many stand-alone stories. The comparison to City Hunter is very
close, actually, as there are numerous guns, spies, henchmen known by the
letters of the alphabet, random island fortresses, tanks, jealous partners,
etc. It is very much a cross between Lupin, City Hunter, and a
drag show. Amusing, overall.
Hareluya Boy
Running for a while in Jump comics, and animated into a 25-episode
late-night show some time back, Hareluya Boy has been one of those
mangas I read when I get the chance, but don't really follow. As a result, I
have no idea what the hell the main story is about. I am not sure there even
is a main story. It basically seems to be about this trio of guys, Hibino
Hareluya, Okamoto Kyoushirou, and Yamana Michiru, who just started high
school. Hareluya is basically your average, not so modest, short-tempered
punk with a deep, abiding sense of justice; Kyoushirou is a very short
idealist who wants to be a painter but kicks butt like nobody's business;
and Michiru is a former gang boss, wanna-be rock star who spikes his hair
for concerts. This anime/manga is awesome because it tells the high school
story not through the eyes of the stupid, or the popular, or the most
intelligent and popular, but through the eyes of the bad boys. These
guys are the most hated, most feared, least popular people in their high
school, but are still having the time of their lives, building strong
friendships, and even (gasp!) finding romance. It is one of the
funniest bad boy shows I have ever seen, especially since Hareluya has this
awesome bottomless backpack from which, during fights, he can pull baseball
bats, guitars, frying pans, you name it. The character interaction is very
real in this anime, and it really shows the rough camaraderie between bad
boys trying to find their place in the world. Sanosuke would fit right into
this show. In fact, the voice actor for Kyoushirou was Ueda Yuuji, who did
Sanosuke in Kenshin, Amiboshi/Suboshi in FY, Tenkawa Akito in
Nadesico, and Hameru in Violinist of Haemlin. The voice actor
for Hareluya, Miki Shinichirou, also did Allen in Escaflowne and
Keisuke in FY.
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