Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai!

It's arguably more appropriate to approach "Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai!" as a 6-act animated stage play rather than as a 6-episode anime OVA. All of the characters are positioned like actors (or puppets, even), on a stage, and the way they enter and exit the stage, as well as the lighting effects on them and their long soliloquies, come straight out of the theater.

A tragic comedy in the classical sense, “Gosenzo-sama” is drenched in symbolism, especially with regard to colors and wordplay, and contains copious references to philosophical and literary concepts.

That is not to say that it’s too abstract to be enjoyable, however. “Gosenzo-sama” tells a linear ... story that’s relatively easy to follow, with the exception of the final episode where the narrative literally and figuratively falls apart. This way of ending the series is clearly intentional, however, and can be interpreted in several ways. In fact, due to how it is structured and what it references, the ending makes the viewer question whether some, if not all, of the events in the previous five episodes actually occurred. While this lack of a concrete conclusion may turn some viewers off, it’s a valid stylistic choice.

Unlike most OVAs that came out at the time, “Gosenzo-sama” tells a complete and self-contained story (well, as complete as the vague ending allows for it to be). So this OVA is not plagued with issues like an underdeveloped story or characters.

The technical aspects are all well done. The direction, as expected from Mamoru Oshii, is spot-on and riveting. The voice acting cast is top-notch. I especially liked Machiko Washio’s performance as Tamiko. The music, composed by Kenji Kawai, is ethereal; it has an upbeat tone to it, yet feels uncannily empty at the same time. The musical numbers performed by the characters in the episodes are great, too. The character designs are good. Although the art and animation look simplistic at times, this simplicity appears to be by design, and it fits the series well. The use of color (particularly yellow, red and blue) is excellent and it adds layers of complexity to characters’ intentions, motivations and actions.

Every episode but the final one has a short “documentary” at the beginning about a different species of bird narrated in a classical Japanese comedy style, and all of these serve as allegories to the relations within the human family in the series. I wasn’t a huge fan of these, due to how crude they could be sometimes, but they were okay.

There is some objectionable content with some minor nudity (censored) and slightly profane dialogue at times, as well as some cartoon-like violence and characters attempting to kill others/themselves.

Overall, although it can be heavily highbrow at times, “Gosenzo-sama” is definitely a unique piece and one of the better ‘80s OVAs. Recommended.

Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai! heavily relies on its comedic appeal to engage viewers, featuring limited animation and heavy amounts of dialogue that is more akin to a screenplay than a typical anime. The series executes its animated segments well and features character designs that complement the overall tone. However, viewers who do not find the humor to their liking may not find much else to enjoy. Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai! caters specifically to a particular audience, and those who do not fit that demographic may want to explore other options. Ultimately, the series will likely be well-received by its target audience, but may leave others scratching their heads.

I am baffled by the rating and reviews on this series. We start off being introduced to some weird family that talks in circles and loops, saying the same thing in twenty different ways, in a fast paced suffocating manner. A knock on the door leads to a conspiracy theory of bullshit where it took the main 30 minutes to open the door, to somehow still find the person (a time traveling granddaughter) still waiting.

Characters would stay bashed against a window, leaning against the air, *the the window is bashed out* for a five minute scene while some wanna be coca-cola spokesmen, ... time traveling security agent, still spouting pure nonsense with his arms ticking back and forth in the motion of a clock, as if that was suppose to be a joke. For one episode, every time a misses was asked something, a light is shun on her and she gets up to say a word, to sit back down. Yea, just hilarious... not the way it was done here. Random and forced.

I didn't expect anything of the animation, but the bit of fluid movement that there was, was wasted on pointless scenes. yet, they couldn't move buddy away from the window, they can turn their heads and respond, but still be stuck to the window.. as this lanky pedophile dances around.

The plot is dull and a cliche mess, if there was comedy in the show, it was over-exaggerated and i never notice anything to be funny... maybe a few scenes made me go "that wasn't as horrible as i thought" Most of it was just random squabbling that almost that went on for what felt like decades. One scene which almost lead to a golf club and baseball bat fight between father and son was so abrupt it was stupid. Then, oh god. The super annoying mother pops out of her room, B**ching and complaining the whole time for someone to answer the door. Which still took a good half hour to accomplish

This isn't for old time lovers or veteran anime watchers, i am basically both. This series is just for people who have specific tastes. To me, this was a special kind of torture.