In which Anime News Network has a strop over Mad Bull 34

[Squigsquasher]

So I was browsing the old "Buried Garbage" archive on ANN and found this incredibly humourless review of the legendary so-dreadful-it's-hilarious OVA kekfest Mad Bull 34.

OK then.

So first of all, according to this reviewer, Kazuko Koike has a "digusting mind". Bear in mind this is the same Kazuko Koike who wrote the all-time classic Lone Wolf and Cub, taught Rumiko Takahashi to make manga and is one of the greatest mangakas ever to put pen to paper. I don't know if the original manga is as bad as the anime, but saying he has a "disgusting mind" because of one shitty but hugely entertaining OVA is...daft, really.

Aside from that little rant, it strikes me just how...seriously this person is taking it. I mean, late 80s/early 90s OVAs with an overdose of sex and violence and a really shitty plot (and also hlariously bad dubs) are nothing new. They're terrible, but they can be laughed at (and MB34 is absolutely side-splitting). This reviewer acts like they were personally insulted by it or something. I've rarely seen such butthurt over an anime before- especially one that's only known for being so-bad-it's-good and having the BEST DUB EVERtm.

Also of note is that even though this was reviewed in 2008 it uses very similar language to the now frighteningly over-exposed "MUHSOJJINY" SJW Tumblrite dictat (overusing the word "misogynist", declaring that someone is a horrible person because of a work of fiction they once made, inability to laugh at anything etc). I mean, I'm not going to defend Mad Bull 34 as a work of art by any stretch of the imagination (as gut-bustingly funny as it is) but...I dunno, this review seems almost too harsh, somehow. I'm of the opinion that anyone who does reviews of, well, anything should have a sense of humour and the ability to laugh at shit rather than getting offended (unless it's something absolutely, objectively, irredeemably awful like Shitai no Arau/Body Wash, which goes beyond being "offensive" and tips the scale into fucking disturbing).

I dunno. This review just annoyed me. Mainly because of the attack of Kazuko Koike I will admit.

[Rosenakahara]

Eh its the internet, idiots will be idiots and reviewers will complain.

[KnightmareX13]

my experienced with ANN reviews are that they tend to be polarizing, either agree or disagree with very little middle ground

[Justacrazyguy]

Shitai no Arau/Body Wash, which goes beyond being "offensive" and tips the scale into fucking disturbing).

Ah, yes, that anime. Watching it was an... interesting experience, to say the least.

[Dr. Nick]

It probably did offend him personally. Over-the-top exploitation films tend to be divisive by their very nature.