Things that make Salaryman Kintaro a challenging show to enjoy:
- It has no dub. I do not think this is a problem (ever, really), but I know it can throw some people off their stride. However, I think the decision not to dub this was the right one because we really don't have an equivalent for the biker-gang thug/tough guy speak that Kintaro sometimes lapses into. I've seen some not-quite-successful attempts in other dubs, and, overall, there's just something that makes it work in Japanese.
- It's about a guy working at the office of a construction company. Can't get around that. There are corporate politics and policies and procedures. It would be deadly dull if not for the sociological fun of observing another culture and having my expectations slapped back and forth. Well, and all the action livens it up, too, what with the bike and car chases, disasters, sabotage, and saving families before their cars fall off a cliff, and stuff.
- It is SO Japanese. There are assumptions made (I would like to state that grown men ogling nekkid photos of 14-year-olds is NOT OKAY EVER). Values are after-school specially emphasized. There are Lessons Learned. Something these lessons make No Sense to Americans, but are obviously Completely Understood by Japanese. There is a lot of foreign culture incoming (foreign because it's Japanese but also because office culture is its own culture, and Japanese office culture is just exponentially strange.) There are no helpful footnotes. You kind of have to know your Japanese culture, or this will be even stranger (and possibly more offensive and/or impenetrable) for you.
- It has not-so-great animation. It's very dated. Purposefully so in some ways, but, well, it's not lavish or amazing. I think that just adds to the overall cheesy synergy of the whole, but your mileage will vary.
Things that make it an awesome show to enjoy:
- It's MANime. But not nearly as bad as it could be. GTO was gleefully offensive (this is more YuYu Hakusho than GTO anyway). Moonlight Mile was kind of gratuitously masculine. Yugo the Negotiator got pretty psychological and brutal. Area 88 . . . was actually shonen, wasn't it? Anyway, we don't get much seinen drama here in the States, and while some of the adult content might bother people who'd be too bored to watch it anyway, it's not hentai.
- It's roMANticized. And the romance makes sense. It's very male dreamworld, like Westerns for American men. No milquetoast lead here, folks, no flavorless, easy-to-identify-with-loser everyman. Kintaro is a MAN, not a macho poser, not someone who throws his strength around to control or browbeat the weak, not an over-sexualized mass of testosterone, just a very Japanese Manly Man. People admire him, fear him, respect him, look up to him, even love him in a variety of ways. The harem gets a tad out of hand, but it's still within the realm of believability, and the show gets major points from me for that. He's a single father, but he's not even looking for any kind of relationship. He actively resists them, in fact, politely and without angst or martyrdom. The fact that so many different people are so drawn to him--and the reasons why--are shown in such a way that you will not have to deplete your willing suspension of disbelief or want to claw your eyes out when you see them following him.
- It has outstanding extras that offer unique insights on what goes on in the anime director's and producer's chairs. Each volume has part of a longer interview with the producer and the director, and they get honest and in depth about stuff you will probably never hear anywhere else. This is great stuff.
- It will feed your inner armchair sociologist. (Translation: It will teach you about Japan.) Are you interested in Japanese culture, not just anime? Did you read Tokyo Vice and love its insight into American perceptions of Japanese culture? Did you think (one of) the best parts of Nerima Daikon Brothers was those awesome commentaries/interviews where the same director talked to very different people, giving a really clear and completely unintended lesson on interaction between Japanese people? Kintaro is equally informative but also more baffling. You may think you know where the afterschool special is leading, but then Japan will step out and beat you with a crutch.
- It makes you dream/wish/long/hope for a moment that maybe your corporate culture could be changed, too, by someone willing and able to stand up like Kintaro and tell it like it is (with or without that great, rolled-r, guttural, gangster-y cadence). Or maybe you just wish he'd come in and tell off your boss. Anyway, that spark of hope that rises in you is a beautiful, beautiful lie, but the hope that flares for a time makes you feel all warm inside your frozen, corporate drone heart. If you (still) have one.
Needless to say, I got a huge, huge kick out of this show for its quirky and offbeat oddness. If it sounds like a show you'll love, it probably is. If it sounds like something you'd rather live through that first Asian arc of Yugo the Negotiator than go through, it probably is. You know where your tastes lie; I just figured I'd give you some additional info to find out if Salaryman Kintaro is where your tastes lie. I hope it is. If so, please let me know how you liked it.
for adults who want to give anime a try (and kid/tween stuff a pass).
This show is an acquired taste, I think. If you are its target audience, it's pitching straight to your sweet spot. If not, you will probably be bored and/or offended. And baffled.
Yes, I heard men sniffing back manly tears as the attrition rate rose.
Still painful but heading somewhere definite.
26-27: The best thing about having to catch up is getting to read two volumes in a row!
19: How can I love a manga about go so much and have no real interest in Go? Who cares!
1: Well, this was way more mature than I thought it would be.
17: Hearts. Lots of hearts. I can't tell you how much I adore this series.
10 of 11: Oh, dear.
11: Ouch. Seriously. Well, at least now we actually know who the Blade Children are. Kind of.
8: 
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