Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan 2 Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2009-09-25
• 3.5 stars out of 5

If the first Dokruo-chan series is the endgame of the love comedy parody arms race, this sequel is all-out global thermonuclear war. It may be drastically dirtier than the first series and possibly even more disturbing on top of it, but it's much more focused on its strong points--deranged humor and offhanded-yet-filthy references. The jokes are noticeably better-timed and marginally more clever, not to mention less diluted by sections of low-energy pseudo-drama. There's also a significant reduction in the unpleasant-looking caricature art and even the pasted-on animal head gag works better with the ever-increasing menagerie of polymorphed students. Otherwise the production and cast are of the same quality, though the opening theme has gotten peppier and even more disturbing, and the end theme has been replaced by a mesmerizing Japanese festival song and dance line.

Dokuro-chan 2 is a definite step up from its predecessor and recommended if you liked the first one, but don't expect to be able to get some of the things you'll see out of your head for a while.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2009-09-25
• 3.5 stars out of 5

If the first Dokruo-chan series is the endgame of the love-comedy-parody arms race, this sequel is all-out global thermonuclear war. It's definitely funnier than the original, even more extreme, and possibly even more offensive.

I was having trouble imagining what Dokuro-chan 2 could do to try and top the first series. Turns out I just didn't have enough imagination. This sequel is probably a little more restrained with the violence, but egad is it dirty. No, not just dirty, filthy. Most of the jokes and way-past-innuendo are so explicit I can't even describe them and still maintain any pretense of this site being family friendly. In fact, you might not even get some of the throw-away references if you're not familiar with the seediest side of Japanese culture. One example I will give is the most horrifying wrapping paper ever, by a wide margin, prominently featuring bondage rope.

That's just one of the many ways in which the series offhandedly tosses off things that make you wonder what on earth the various angels did before ending up on modern-day Earth. Wonder, but hope very much you'll never find out. Really, "questions you don't want answered" is kind of an ongoing theme of the whole affair. That and a terminal case of TMI.

Then there's the general sense of "Wait, these are junior high students--that's just not right!" carrying over and brought farther to the front by Dokuro's "nine-year-old" sister Zakuro. I put that in quotes because they tell us she's nine, but she looks like a 25-year-old porn star. This leaves you in the somewhat bizarre situation of having the only acceptably mature-looking character being technically the most pedophilic. You know, come to think of it, I'll feel much better about the whole thing if I don't think about that. Let's move on.

The good news is that when you're not cringing in horror the jokes are noticeably better-timed and marginally more clever, not to mention less diluted by sections of low-energy pseudo-drama. There's also a significant reduction in the unpleasant-looking caricature art. The whole thing feels tighter and has more sense of where it's going. (Not that it's going anywhere specific--there's still little-to-no plot, continuity, or conclusion. I should probably say more sense of where it should be going.)

Even the pasted-on animal head gag works better--the menagerie of polymorphed students now includes a giraffe and some kind of elk, with no explanation given (or needed). In fact, the dwindling number of classmates is one of several comparatively subtle, and effective, jokes--it's actually quite funny with the offhanded and background humor when it tries. Along with several symbolic sequences of military forces and tiny, naked, lust-crazed Sakuras representing what's going on in the protagonist's head (or, rather, less logical regions of his anatomy) it's almost enough to make you forgive the numerous things you'll wish you could unsee. Like what happens to Sakura when Dokuro pulls a lever thoughtfully labeled with a picture of tentacles.

Art-wise there are no significant changes from the first series other than the reduction in grotesque character exaggeration. The same goes for the small returning voice cast--they're all doing their jobs admirably, which is to say high-energy and generally annoying.

The opening, however, has gotten a slightly peppier re-recording and significantly more disturbing visuals. (Plus one of the better moments, when Dokuro goes somewhat berserk while describing the new types of "affectionate" abuse she heaps on Sakura.) Speaking of Dokuro going berserk, the new end theme is mesmerizing: A traditional-styled Japanese festival song accompanied by every character in the series (yes, including Kim Jong Il) dancing past dressed in theme-appropriate yukata. The lyrics are different both times and full of vaguely unsettling nonsense, then toward the end of the second version Dokuro cuts in with an insane rant about hamsters... or at least something she thinks is a hamster. Anyway, it had me laughing pretty hard.

In all, while Dokuro-chan 2 may be drastically dirtier than the first series and possibly even more disturbing on top of it, it's much more focused on its strong points--deranged humor and offhanded-yet-filthy references. A definite step up and recommended if you liked the first one, but don't expect to be able to get some of the things you'll see out of your head for a while.

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Exactly like the first series, except slightly less violent and way dirtier; the closest thing in theme and style is definitely the 26th episode of Excel Saga.