Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoi yo!! Masaru-san

Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoi yo!! Masaru-san (Japanese: セクシーコマンドー外伝 すごいよ!!マサルさん, Hepburn: Sekushī Komandō Gaiden: Sugoi yo!! Masaru-san, lit. Sexy Commando Side Story: That's Amazing!! Mr. Masaru) is a Japanese manga turned anime that enjoys a large cult following in Japan.

It was the first series written by Kyosuke Usuta, and was one of the first "gag/nonsense" manga which have become popular in the 1990s in Japanese publications. The manga (79 chapters in total) appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1995 to 1997. In 1998, it was turned into an animation by the Japanese network TBS and ran 48 seven-minute episodes as part of the television show block Wonderful. The anime follows the first 48 chapters of the manga nearly word for word, for the dialogue used in the series and the scenes drawn were lifted directly from the manga panels.

Background story

Wakame High School's extracurricular "Sexy Commando Club" consists of 5-6 male members including the Principal, a female manager, and a small mysterious pet. The strange art of Sexy Commando (which extends back to Japan's Muromachi period) is a martial one; however, instead of focusing on how to defeat an opponent with physical force, the art focuses on how to distract the opponent to the point he's unable to fight. There are many techniques, though the Club tends to favor the unzipping of the trousers (Elize no Yuuutsu).

Characters

Masaru Hananakajima (花中島マサル, Hananakajima Masaru)Voiced by: Yūji Ueda

Before finding the "Sexy Commando Guide Book" and venturing on a hermit-like three month vacation from school, Masaru was a new transfer student to Wakame High. After enrolling, he joined and defeated all members of all martial arts clubs in the school (Karate, Judo, etc.) He has tremendous strength, and a tremendous lack of common sense and understanding of social skills to go with it. He created the Sexy Commando Club after the Karate Club lost all of its members and therefore faced cancellation. He almost always wears blue jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and two golden, metallic rings on his shoulders that he "found" (the rings certainly seem to be extraterrestrial, because Masaru assaulted two aliens that came to reclaim them). The rings also create instantaneous hair growth and interfere with electronic displays (one cash register displayed "Help me" and an electronic scale displayed "Lardbutt" when the rings were near). He loves mustaches, giving strange nicknames, and drawing on the faces of those he has defeated with permanent marker; he often writes the character 肉 (niku,meat) on the foreheads of defeated opponents (this is one of several references in the show to the long-running manga "Kinnikuman"). He is the club's chief and created the club's song, rules, and symbol mark. In his childhood, Masaru labelled himself as a "Shōjo Commando" but after his father's efforts to change his son, Masaru decided to abandon that title.

Okometsubu Fujiyama (藤山起目粒, Fujiyama Okometsubu)Voiced by: Junichi Kanemaru

Nickname: Fuumin (フーミン)

Fuumin is a very normal transfer student to Wakame High School, and is somewhat of a narrator of the story. He also provides the tsukkomi to Masaru's boke. A bit short and weak looking, he unwittingly becomes Masaru's friend and a club member. He adores cats.

Machahiko Kondō (近藤真茶彦, Kondō Machahiko)Voiced by: Kazuya Ichijō

Nickname: Machahiko (マチャ彦)

Machahiko is the tall, blond former chief of the Karate Club. Once Masaru joins the club and defeats all the club members, all students involved in the club quit and Machahiko must recruit new members before the club is disbanded by the school. Masaru then offers to help, and the club is saved, but the name of the club is then changed to the "Sexy Commando Club". Machahiko can be instantly encouraged or discouraged by mentioning that what he does is either "manly" or not.

Tsuyoshi Isobe (磯辺強, Isobe Tsuyoshi)Voiced by: Yūichi Nagashima

Nickname: Kyasharin (キャシャリン) which basically means "living bones".

Kyasharin has hair dyed brown and is a completely emaciated bag of bones, in part due to his addiction to vitamin supplements. He joins the club in order to become stronger, and for a brief period does become stronger, giving up the vitamins for food and exercise. Unfortunately, his reliance on vitamin supplements continues, and every time he takes them, so does his spasmatic cry "Okure-nisan" (a reference to a Japanese comedian Mr. Okure, who is also extremely thin). He was also the ace of his baseball team in middle school.

Kojirō Satō (佐藤吾次郎, Satō Kojirō)Voiced by: Ryō Naitō

Nickname: Afro-kun (アフロ君 Afuro-kun)

Afro-kun joins later in the story, and is a semi-minor character. After begging Masaru to make him more "individualistic", Masaru gives this model nerd a perm, and then names him "Afro-kun". An opposing Sexy Commando team member later rips two holes from the afro and his hair assumes a more triangular shape. He is extremely smart, but has no sense with girls.

Nobuyuki Sakakibara (Sakakibara Nobuyuki)Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue

Nickname: Susan Fumiko Tanaka (田中スーザンふ美子 Tanaka Sūzan Fumiko)

Susan is actually Nobuyuki Sakakibara, a former Sexy Mate (Sexy Commando participant) who won the All-Japan Sexy Commando Tournament six years straight. He was formerly a teacher and now is the principal of the school. He suddenly aged when he expended all of his energy pushing the school four inches (102 mm) off its foundation in order to inspire a lazy student (who later became Prime Minister). He dons a red ski mask when he wishes to become Susan (and hide his identity to Masaru).

Club Manager Tomoe Kitahara (北原ともえ, Kitahara Tomoe)Voiced by: Hiroko Konishi

Nickname: Moe-moe (もえもえ)

Moemoe joined the group initially believing that the club was actually the "Mustache Club". She shares Masaru's love for facial hair, as her father died trying to grow the "legendary blue mustache". She is always supportive of the others in the club. She also spends a considerable amount of time with Meso.

Club Sponsor Tatsurō Matsuda (松田達郎, Matsuda Tatsurō)Voiced by: Hiroshi Takahashi

Nickname: Torepan (トレパン)

Torepan is an annoying P.E. coach that sponsors the Sexy Commando club. He always wears training pants (thus the nickname Torepan), wears aviator sunglasses, and is always tweeting away at a coach's whistle. He one time bets the club's endowment money on a baseball game (Sexy Commando Club vs. Baseball Club) that the Sexy Command Club subsequently wins. The club members pay no attention to him, and consider him a nuisance.

Club Mascot Meso (メソ)Voiced by: Omi Minami

It is questionable what Meso is, because even though the cute, little yellow munchkin with a blue mustache for eyebrows is the mascot of the team, its zipper (located on his back) has opened various times and various other lifeforms have emerged from inside (the anime's finale has Meteru from Galaxy Express 999 come out). Meso's usual comment is "Mokyu". It has been known to be extremely violent when threatened, and has an impressive set of fangs and claws. It was found on either a spaceship or in a coffee shop called "Dosukoi Kissa Je T'aime", depending on the club members' opinions.

Techniques

Sexy Commando is a martial art. However, in contrast to all other martial arts in where physical assault is required until an enemy is subdued, Sexy Commando techniques are almost always a mental assault. The idea that distraction is the most lethal of all weapons in a fight is central to Sexy Commando. If the enemy cannot act, he loses, no matter what his strength of fighting power might be. One may make a comparison to the boxer who acts like he is becoming too weak to fight. His opponent loses his focus and takes less caution with his opponent. Then the "weak" boxer suddenly unleashes a quick straight punch to the jaw and the combination of the punch with the surprise of being punched leaves the other boxer sprawled on the canvas. This, in a sense, is Sexy Commando.

The various techniques used by Masaru are all based on the "Elize no Yuutsu" move. This move involves ominously voicing "Ahh" while unzipping the trousers. The trousers can be pulled down, or an object pulled from the trousers. Sometimes twinkling eyes are also part of the technique. After the "Elize no Yuutsu" ,the options are endless. Masaru's first attack (the "Love Me Do") in the manga involved pulling down the trousers and then walking like a baby chick. Another "Elize" based technique involved a flower blooming through the zipper, summoning forth a cloud of butterflies. Fuumin himself performed the "Elize" and then pulled dentures from his pants, commenting that his grandmother had lost them last year. The move was somewhat less successful than Masaru's. Some other schools with Sexy Commando Clubs incorporate other types of moves. A Samba High School student's move, called "After School Campus", consisted of putting both arms up, shaking the hips, and saying "Ufuuuuun" in a sexy manner.

Tournament rules

Sexy Commando tournaments are held yearly in Japan. Schools send five students to compete in the competition, and the object is to distract, then defeat the opponent. The team that eliminates the other or finishes with the most points wins. The judge has a red and white feather in a headband, representing the two teams (much like karate). He chants a short prayer and then calls out "Start". The Sexy Mate that begins to move first is awarded "First Sexy", a measly 30,000 points. The sexy mate that either completely distracts or counter-attacks a distracting move is awarded an "ippon" (knockout) and around 1,200,000,000–1,500,000,000 points. Spectacular moves are awarded even more points. The award for winning the tournament is tickets to an onsen. Sakakibara Nobuyuki (or during his sexy mate years "Violence Nobu-chan") is one of the greatest Sexy Mates ever to fight in the Sexy Commando Tournament, winning six years in a row. The tournament hall, like Masaru's house, is covered in cloth.

Reception

It is considered a hit in Japan; its seven volumes have sold over 7 million copies.^[1] In 2008 Sexy Commando Gaiden was featured on in an Oricon survey with 900 men and women from 10 to 40 years, in which it came in third tied with Ping Pong Club.^[2] It is mostly unknown outside Japan, because the humor relies heavily on the Japanese language and knowledge of the culture, but it does have fans in other countries. Jonathan Bethune, in Publishers Weekly said, "Usuta's writing consistently avoids the obvious gags found in typical shonen comedy and instead challenges readers with its clever satire and wit."^[3] Commenting on the anime adaptation, Justin Sevakis of Anime News Network called the series Akitaro Daichi's magnum opus in terms of "ridiculous, spastic comedy."^[4]

See also

• Cromartie High School

References

External links

• Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoi yo!! Masaru-san (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia