The Fuccons | |
---|---|
Kanji | オー!マイキー |
Genre | Black comedy, [1] surreal comedy [2] |
Created by | Yoshimasa Ishibashi |
Written by |
|
Directed by |
|
Starring |
|
Composer | Tetsujiro Suita |
Country of origin | Japan |
No. of seasons | 8 |
No. of episodes | 104 ( list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers |
|
Running time | 3 minutes [1] [3] |
Production companies |
|
Original release | |
Network | TV Tokyo |
Release | January 6, 2002 July 11, 2005 | –
The Fuccons ( /ˈfuːˌkɒns/), known as Oh! Mikey (オー!マイキー, Ō! Maikī) in Japan, is a Japanese sketch comedy series created by Yoshimasa Ishibashi. It features the Fuccons, a family of American expatriates living in Japan, with characters played by mannequins filmed at various locations in real-time.
The Fuccons first aired as recurring sketches titled The Fuccon Family (フーコン・ファミリー, Fūkon Famirī) on the Japanese sketch comedy series Vermilion Pleasure Night in 2000, which was also produced by Ishibashi. In January 2002, the series moved to its own late-night time slot and was broadcast until 2005 for a total of eight seasons. Throughout its broadcast, a 2003 film titled Wah! Mikey Returns was released in theaters. Following its release, four more series was released direct-to-video as well as the 2007 theatrical film Oh! Mikey Fever.
Both The Fuccon Family and The Fuccons were screened at various film festivals overseas, where news of the series was spread on the Internet through word-of-mouth, gaining a cult following. ADV Films licensed the first four seasons for North American distribution with an English dub, which was later broadcast on Anime Network and G4 as part of G4's Late Night Peepshow.
The Fuccons is centered on Mikey Fuccon, an American expatriate who has moved to Japan after his father's job transfer. All the characters are depicted as mannequins filmed in various locations in real-time, [3] while dressed up in post-World War II fashion. [1] [3] The mannequins' movements are minimal, limiting movement to uncomplicated actions, and their poses change off-camera. [4] Voice acting and camera angles are used to convey the story. [5]
The episodes feature non sequitur dialogue and occasionally include surreal humor, [6] with every episode ending with all characters laughing. [1] [4] The characters usually face conflict in bizarre, outlandish situations in non-continuous storylines. [4] The original Fuccon Family sketches on Vermilion Pleasure Night were described as James and Barbara constantly arguing and threatening to kill each other with "giant smiles" on their faces, [1] while bonding over sex and tormenting Mikey. [7] Mikey encounters problems of his own such as being neglected by his parents, being kidnapped, or being possessed by a demon, to varying degrees of absurdity. [1] Each episode is approximately 3 minutes. [1] [3]
Yoshimasa Ishibashi was inspired to create The Fuccons after seeing an advertisement where guests at a party had frozen facial expressions, recalling that they were "so fake they made [him] laugh." [1] Ishibashi opted to use mannequins because he did not want audiences to dismiss the series as a "TV parody" [3] and because the series' content would feel "too grotesque" if real actors were used. [5] In addition, he did not want the actors' personalities to influence how the characters were portrayed and wanted the characters to be "completely depersonalized." [5]
Recreating a retro family setting similar to Bewitched, [1] [3] Ishibashi sourced the mannequins from a friend's warehouse, [5] which originated from Yoshichu Mannequin. [26] He picked fair-skinned, blue-eyed mannequins because the Japanese-looking mannequins had facial expressions that seemed too serious. [1] Before filming, the mannequins would be styled by Ishibashi's make-up and hairstylist teams while he chose the outfits himself. [5] He claimed that working with mannequins was "weird at first" but later decided that they were "not all that different from live actors." [5]
Ishibashi chose the name "Fuccons" because he thought it sounded funny and said that the name did not mean anything in Japanese. [1] He also denied claims of The Fuccons being a Japanese commentary on Americans and their stereotypes, insisting that the show was meant to be "art." [1] Keishiro Tamura, a colleague of Ishibashi's from Kyoto Computer Gakuin, assisted him in filming the series. [27] The series was filmed in full screen format, [28] and it was shot in various locations in Kyoto, Japan. [29] The story's script consists of repetitive lines, which Ishibashi intended to show that they were manufactured conversations instead of real ones. [5]
The series first appeared as a recurring segment titled The Fuccon Family (フーコン・ファミリー) in the 2000 sketch comedy show Vermilion Pleasure Night, which aired on TV Tokyo and was also produced by Ishibashi. [7] After the first part ended, it was then followed up by The Fuccon Family Part 2 (フーコン・ファミリー パート2) and New Fuccon Family (新フーコン・ファミリー). [30] A film titled The Color of Life compiling skits from Vermilion Pleasure Night was released in 2001, which also contained alternate cuts and endings to The Fuccon Family. [31] In the same year, The Fuccon Family premiered in the United States at the New Directors/New Films Festival, where news was rapidly spread on the Internet through word-of-mouth, with viewers discussing the " manga-like freeze frames" and the morbid storylines. [1] The Fuccon Family won the Ground-Breaker Award at the 6th Fantasia International Film Festival, Honorable Mention at the 3rd Kyoto Film Festival, and the Jury Special Prize at the Cinema Tout Ecran 7th Geneva International Film Festival. [32] [33] It won Best Series at the International D Cinema Festival in Paris, France. [33] It was also screened at the 54th Locarno International Film Festival. [32] A DVD compiling The Fuccon Family was later released on January 24, 2004, under the title The Fuccon Family: Special Edition. [30]
Beginning January 6, 2002, the series received its own late-night time slot on TV Tokyo under the title Oh! Mikey. The series was broadcast for eight seasons from 2002 to 2005. 21 of the episodes were screened in Ebisu, Tokyo in 2002 and were later released on VHS under the title Oh! Mikey: Special Edition 2002. [34] The home releases were initially distributed under Avex Trax, [35] [36] before moving to their own label, "The Fuccon Family." [37] Afterward, several direct-to-DVDs were released containing sketches that were not broadcast on television, beginning with Oh! Mikey Hard Core on August 26, 2005. [38] Oh! Mikey Extra was then released on August 25, 2006. [39] Oh! Mikey Romance was released on December 3, 2010, to celebrate the series' 10th anniversary. [40] All home releases were given Region 2 DVDs with an English language subtitle option.
On August 13 and August 21, 2010, Cartoon Network Japan broadcast an hour-long special on the series. [13] In 2011, TV Tokyo began distributing all eight televised seasons through their online streaming service, AniTele Theater (currently known as Animeteleto), as well as Nicovideo, for domestic Japanese residents only. [41]
In 2004, three episodes were dubbed in English and screened at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival under the titles The Fuccons and The Fuccons: Special Edition. [42] [32] It was also screened at the 28th Hong Kong International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival 2004, the 8th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, the 24th Hawaii International Film Festival, 33rd Festival du nouveau cinéma. [32]
In the same year, in addition to licensing Vermilion Pleasure Night, [43] [44] ADV Films also licensed the first four seasons for North American distribution with a new English dub produced, releasing the series under the title The Fuccons. [45] [46] The English dub was broadcast on Anime Network, [47] as well as a recurring segment on G4's Late Night Peepshow on G4. [48] ADV Films released the first 8 episodes as The Fuccons Vol. 0: Meet the Fuccons on December 20, 2005, as a preview of the series. [49] [50] 17 episodes were later released as The Fuccons Vol. 1: OH! Mikey on February 28, 2006. [51] 18 episodes were released as The Fuccons Vol. 2: It's a Fuccon World! on April 25, 2006. [52] 17 episodes were released as The Fuccons Vol. 3: Fuccon! Fuccon! Fuccon! on July 11, 2006. [53] A compilation of vols. 1-3 was released as The Fuccons: The Whole Fuccon Show! on December 9, 2008. [54] After the closure of ADV Films, The Fuccons is being distributed by Sentai Filmworks through the online streaming service Hidive. [55]
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1st | 13 | January 6, 2002[56] | March 31, 2002[56] | |
2nd | 13 | April 2, 2002[56] | June 25, 2002[56] | |
3rd | 13 | July 2, 2002[56] | September 24, 2002[56] | |
4th | 13 | October 1, 2002[56] | December 24, 2002[56] | |
5th | 13 | July 5, 2003[57] | September 27, 2003 | |
6th | 13 | April 3, 2004[58] | June 26, 2004 | |
7th | 13 | January 13, 2005[59] | April 6, 2005 | |
8th | 12 | April 11, 2005[60] | July 11, 2005 | |
Hard Core | 8 | August 26, 2005[38] | ||
Extra | 13 | August 25, 2006[39] | ||
Fever | 10 | December 1, 2007[8] | ||
Romance | 10 | December 3, 2010[40] |
Wah! Mikey Returns! was released in 2003. [61] Another limited screening took place in various theaters in Tokyo, Osaka, Kanagawa, and Nagoya in July 2004. [62] [63] Oh! Mikey Fever, a film containing new original sketches, held limited theater screenings in Tokyo and Osaka on December 1, 2007. [8] [64]
The Fuccons gained a cult following throughout its broadcast. [5] [65] By 2010, The Fuccons gained 60,000 followers on their Mixi page. [13] A New Years' television special titled Oh! Mikey New Years Special was broadcast beginning December 20, 2007, and was hosted by the comedy duo Fujisaki Market. [66] The popularity of The Fuccons inspired themed restaurants. [67] In December 2010, Nescafé held a collaboration cafe with The Fuccons called "Mikey's Cafe" to celebrate the franchise's 10th anniversary, [68] with comedian Shingo Tano making a one-day appearance. [69] [70]
An art exhibit titled Mikey's Attack! took place at Kirin Plaza Osaka from December 11, 2004, to January 30, 2005. [71] Footage from the event was later released as an episode on Oh! Mikey Extra on August 25, 2006. Another art exhibit titled Oh! Mikey Romance: 10 Years of Oh! Mikey was displayed at the Kyoto International Manga Museum from December 2010 to February 2011 to celebrate the series' 10th anniversary. [72] Oh! Mikey: Special Edition 2002 was screened at Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015 at the Museum of Kyoto as part of Ishibashi's general art exhibit. [73]
The Fuccons have also appeared in commercials for Vodafone, [74] LG Telecom, [75] Furniture Dome, [76] Ettusais, [77] NTT Docomo, [78] Sapporo Beer, [79] and Mouse Computer. [80] [81] Model Matt Kuwata starred in the collaboration episodes with Mouse Computer as Mikey's older brother, with eight episodes released online. [82] The characters were also used as promotional models for Parco and Daihatsu. [13] A pictorial photoshoot featuring the characters was shot for Vogue Hommes International. [13]
In North America, The Fuccons received a mixed reception. Many critics compared the visual styling of The Fuccons to 1950s sitcoms such as Leave It to Beaver and It's a Wonderful Life. [2] [83] [84] [85] Other comparisons were drawn to The Simpsons for originating from a sketch comedy series and later receiving its own show. [28] [85] The Fuccons were also compared to "Summer Holidays", a series of photos of mannequins created by photographer Bernard Faucon in 1978. [86] Several critics explored the possibility of The Fuccons as being a Japanese commentary on Americans and their stereotypes in Japan, though the majority expressed otherwise. [28] [83] [87] In spite of the speculation, Ishibashi himself has stated that The Fuccons was not intended to be a cross-cultural commentary and that it was meant to be "art." [1]
Jake L. Godek from THEM Anime Reviews gave the series a 1-star rating, claiming that the episodes have no "continuous ideas." [84] Similarly, Chris Tibbey from DVD Talk did not find the series funny but praised ADV Films for taking a risk and licensing live-action series. [4] At the same time, Don Houston from DVD Talk described the series as a "wacky, weird ride" but warned that "not everyone thinks this is funny or creative." [87] Bamboo Dong from Anime News Network called the humor "quirky", but also noted that viewers who were not ready to overlook the mannequin concept were less likely to enjoy the series. [88] Writing for Amazon's editorial, Charles Solomon described the vocal performance as "over-the-top", claiming that while the show may bring up discussions about Japanese attitudes towards Americans and the series' "we're-so-dumb-we're-hip charms", he considered it a "pointless waste of time." [83]
On the other hand, Kaori Shoji from The New York Times' International Herald Tribune credited Ishibashi's art style to his Kyoto upbringing, and described The Fuccon Family segments as "darkly funny" with an "over-the-top caricatured view." [5] Gail Nakada from Wired describes the series as "perverse and riotous", with "adultery, childhood antics, and a mother's perfectionism." [3] The Austin Chronicle describes The Fuccons as having "witty" dialogue that was "filled with non-sequiturs and static humor", praising the series for parodying the sitcom genre with its "absurdity." [6] Zack Parsons from Something Awful gave the first season a score of 41/50, citing its strengths to be its characters and surreal humor. [2] [89] In his review of the second season, Parsons gave the same score, praising the first half of the season while stating the second half of the season was where the series went to "uncharted territories." [22] [21] Jamie S. Rich from DVD Talk stated that the humor of the series is better accepted through its absurdity and not through its depiction of stereotypes, expressing that, while the introductory episodes fell flat, the increasingly outlandish situations the Fuccons are placed in draw hilarity. [28] Film Threat expressed that in spite of The Fuccons having an "unusual format and hallucinatory subject matter", it provides as many "good laughs" as confusing moments. [85]
Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Fantasia International Film Festival | Ground-Breaker Award | The Fuccon Family | Won | [32] |
International D Cinema Festival | Best Series | Won | [33] |
The Fuccons | |
---|---|
Kanji | オー!マイキー |
Genre | Black comedy, [1] surreal comedy [2] |
Created by | Yoshimasa Ishibashi |
Written by |
|
Directed by |
|
Starring |
|
Composer | Tetsujiro Suita |
Country of origin | Japan |
No. of seasons | 8 |
No. of episodes | 104 ( list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers |
|
Running time | 3 minutes [1] [3] |
Production companies |
|
Original release | |
Network | TV Tokyo |
Release | January 6, 2002 July 11, 2005 | –
The Fuccons ( /ˈfuːˌkɒns/), known as Oh! Mikey (オー!マイキー, Ō! Maikī) in Japan, is a Japanese sketch comedy series created by Yoshimasa Ishibashi. It features the Fuccons, a family of American expatriates living in Japan, with characters played by mannequins filmed at various locations in real-time.
The Fuccons first aired as recurring sketches titled The Fuccon Family (フーコン・ファミリー, Fūkon Famirī) on the Japanese sketch comedy series Vermilion Pleasure Night in 2000, which was also produced by Ishibashi. In January 2002, the series moved to its own late-night time slot and was broadcast until 2005 for a total of eight seasons. Throughout its broadcast, a 2003 film titled Wah! Mikey Returns was released in theaters. Following its release, four more series was released direct-to-video as well as the 2007 theatrical film Oh! Mikey Fever.
Both The Fuccon Family and The Fuccons were screened at various film festivals overseas, where news of the series was spread on the Internet through word-of-mouth, gaining a cult following. ADV Films licensed the first four seasons for North American distribution with an English dub, which was later broadcast on Anime Network and G4 as part of G4's Late Night Peepshow.
The Fuccons is centered on Mikey Fuccon, an American expatriate who has moved to Japan after his father's job transfer. All the characters are depicted as mannequins filmed in various locations in real-time, [3] while dressed up in post-World War II fashion. [1] [3] The mannequins' movements are minimal, limiting movement to uncomplicated actions, and their poses change off-camera. [4] Voice acting and camera angles are used to convey the story. [5]
The episodes feature non sequitur dialogue and occasionally include surreal humor, [6] with every episode ending with all characters laughing. [1] [4] The characters usually face conflict in bizarre, outlandish situations in non-continuous storylines. [4] The original Fuccon Family sketches on Vermilion Pleasure Night were described as James and Barbara constantly arguing and threatening to kill each other with "giant smiles" on their faces, [1] while bonding over sex and tormenting Mikey. [7] Mikey encounters problems of his own such as being neglected by his parents, being kidnapped, or being possessed by a demon, to varying degrees of absurdity. [1] Each episode is approximately 3 minutes. [1] [3]
Yoshimasa Ishibashi was inspired to create The Fuccons after seeing an advertisement where guests at a party had frozen facial expressions, recalling that they were "so fake they made [him] laugh." [1] Ishibashi opted to use mannequins because he did not want audiences to dismiss the series as a "TV parody" [3] and because the series' content would feel "too grotesque" if real actors were used. [5] In addition, he did not want the actors' personalities to influence how the characters were portrayed and wanted the characters to be "completely depersonalized." [5]
Recreating a retro family setting similar to Bewitched, [1] [3] Ishibashi sourced the mannequins from a friend's warehouse, [5] which originated from Yoshichu Mannequin. [26] He picked fair-skinned, blue-eyed mannequins because the Japanese-looking mannequins had facial expressions that seemed too serious. [1] Before filming, the mannequins would be styled by Ishibashi's make-up and hairstylist teams while he chose the outfits himself. [5] He claimed that working with mannequins was "weird at first" but later decided that they were "not all that different from live actors." [5]
Ishibashi chose the name "Fuccons" because he thought it sounded funny and said that the name did not mean anything in Japanese. [1] He also denied claims of The Fuccons being a Japanese commentary on Americans and their stereotypes, insisting that the show was meant to be "art." [1] Keishiro Tamura, a colleague of Ishibashi's from Kyoto Computer Gakuin, assisted him in filming the series. [27] The series was filmed in full screen format, [28] and it was shot in various locations in Kyoto, Japan. [29] The story's script consists of repetitive lines, which Ishibashi intended to show that they were manufactured conversations instead of real ones. [5]
The series first appeared as a recurring segment titled The Fuccon Family (フーコン・ファミリー) in the 2000 sketch comedy show Vermilion Pleasure Night, which aired on TV Tokyo and was also produced by Ishibashi. [7] After the first part ended, it was then followed up by The Fuccon Family Part 2 (フーコン・ファミリー パート2) and New Fuccon Family (新フーコン・ファミリー). [30] A film titled The Color of Life compiling skits from Vermilion Pleasure Night was released in 2001, which also contained alternate cuts and endings to The Fuccon Family. [31] In the same year, The Fuccon Family premiered in the United States at the New Directors/New Films Festival, where news was rapidly spread on the Internet through word-of-mouth, with viewers discussing the " manga-like freeze frames" and the morbid storylines. [1] The Fuccon Family won the Ground-Breaker Award at the 6th Fantasia International Film Festival, Honorable Mention at the 3rd Kyoto Film Festival, and the Jury Special Prize at the Cinema Tout Ecran 7th Geneva International Film Festival. [32] [33] It won Best Series at the International D Cinema Festival in Paris, France. [33] It was also screened at the 54th Locarno International Film Festival. [32] A DVD compiling The Fuccon Family was later released on January 24, 2004, under the title The Fuccon Family: Special Edition. [30]
Beginning January 6, 2002, the series received its own late-night time slot on TV Tokyo under the title Oh! Mikey. The series was broadcast for eight seasons from 2002 to 2005. 21 of the episodes were screened in Ebisu, Tokyo in 2002 and were later released on VHS under the title Oh! Mikey: Special Edition 2002. [34] The home releases were initially distributed under Avex Trax, [35] [36] before moving to their own label, "The Fuccon Family." [37] Afterward, several direct-to-DVDs were released containing sketches that were not broadcast on television, beginning with Oh! Mikey Hard Core on August 26, 2005. [38] Oh! Mikey Extra was then released on August 25, 2006. [39] Oh! Mikey Romance was released on December 3, 2010, to celebrate the series' 10th anniversary. [40] All home releases were given Region 2 DVDs with an English language subtitle option.
On August 13 and August 21, 2010, Cartoon Network Japan broadcast an hour-long special on the series. [13] In 2011, TV Tokyo began distributing all eight televised seasons through their online streaming service, AniTele Theater (currently known as Animeteleto), as well as Nicovideo, for domestic Japanese residents only. [41]
In 2004, three episodes were dubbed in English and screened at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival under the titles The Fuccons and The Fuccons: Special Edition. [42] [32] It was also screened at the 28th Hong Kong International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival 2004, the 8th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, the 24th Hawaii International Film Festival, 33rd Festival du nouveau cinéma. [32]
In the same year, in addition to licensing Vermilion Pleasure Night, [43] [44] ADV Films also licensed the first four seasons for North American distribution with a new English dub produced, releasing the series under the title The Fuccons. [45] [46] The English dub was broadcast on Anime Network, [47] as well as a recurring segment on G4's Late Night Peepshow on G4. [48] ADV Films released the first 8 episodes as The Fuccons Vol. 0: Meet the Fuccons on December 20, 2005, as a preview of the series. [49] [50] 17 episodes were later released as The Fuccons Vol. 1: OH! Mikey on February 28, 2006. [51] 18 episodes were released as The Fuccons Vol. 2: It's a Fuccon World! on April 25, 2006. [52] 17 episodes were released as The Fuccons Vol. 3: Fuccon! Fuccon! Fuccon! on July 11, 2006. [53] A compilation of vols. 1-3 was released as The Fuccons: The Whole Fuccon Show! on December 9, 2008. [54] After the closure of ADV Films, The Fuccons is being distributed by Sentai Filmworks through the online streaming service Hidive. [55]
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1st | 13 | January 6, 2002[56] | March 31, 2002[56] | |
2nd | 13 | April 2, 2002[56] | June 25, 2002[56] | |
3rd | 13 | July 2, 2002[56] | September 24, 2002[56] | |
4th | 13 | October 1, 2002[56] | December 24, 2002[56] | |
5th | 13 | July 5, 2003[57] | September 27, 2003 | |
6th | 13 | April 3, 2004[58] | June 26, 2004 | |
7th | 13 | January 13, 2005[59] | April 6, 2005 | |
8th | 12 | April 11, 2005[60] | July 11, 2005 | |
Hard Core | 8 | August 26, 2005[38] | ||
Extra | 13 | August 25, 2006[39] | ||
Fever | 10 | December 1, 2007[8] | ||
Romance | 10 | December 3, 2010[40] |
Wah! Mikey Returns! was released in 2003. [61] Another limited screening took place in various theaters in Tokyo, Osaka, Kanagawa, and Nagoya in July 2004. [62] [63] Oh! Mikey Fever, a film containing new original sketches, held limited theater screenings in Tokyo and Osaka on December 1, 2007. [8] [64]
The Fuccons gained a cult following throughout its broadcast. [5] [65] By 2010, The Fuccons gained 60,000 followers on their Mixi page. [13] A New Years' television special titled Oh! Mikey New Years Special was broadcast beginning December 20, 2007, and was hosted by the comedy duo Fujisaki Market. [66] The popularity of The Fuccons inspired themed restaurants. [67] In December 2010, Nescafé held a collaboration cafe with The Fuccons called "Mikey's Cafe" to celebrate the franchise's 10th anniversary, [68] with comedian Shingo Tano making a one-day appearance. [69] [70]
An art exhibit titled Mikey's Attack! took place at Kirin Plaza Osaka from December 11, 2004, to January 30, 2005. [71] Footage from the event was later released as an episode on Oh! Mikey Extra on August 25, 2006. Another art exhibit titled Oh! Mikey Romance: 10 Years of Oh! Mikey was displayed at the Kyoto International Manga Museum from December 2010 to February 2011 to celebrate the series' 10th anniversary. [72] Oh! Mikey: Special Edition 2002 was screened at Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015 at the Museum of Kyoto as part of Ishibashi's general art exhibit. [73]
The Fuccons have also appeared in commercials for Vodafone, [74] LG Telecom, [75] Furniture Dome, [76] Ettusais, [77] NTT Docomo, [78] Sapporo Beer, [79] and Mouse Computer. [80] [81] Model Matt Kuwata starred in the collaboration episodes with Mouse Computer as Mikey's older brother, with eight episodes released online. [82] The characters were also used as promotional models for Parco and Daihatsu. [13] A pictorial photoshoot featuring the characters was shot for Vogue Hommes International. [13]
In North America, The Fuccons received a mixed reception. Many critics compared the visual styling of The Fuccons to 1950s sitcoms such as Leave It to Beaver and It's a Wonderful Life. [2] [83] [84] [85] Other comparisons were drawn to The Simpsons for originating from a sketch comedy series and later receiving its own show. [28] [85] The Fuccons were also compared to "Summer Holidays", a series of photos of mannequins created by photographer Bernard Faucon in 1978. [86] Several critics explored the possibility of The Fuccons as being a Japanese commentary on Americans and their stereotypes in Japan, though the majority expressed otherwise. [28] [83] [87] In spite of the speculation, Ishibashi himself has stated that The Fuccons was not intended to be a cross-cultural commentary and that it was meant to be "art." [1]
Jake L. Godek from THEM Anime Reviews gave the series a 1-star rating, claiming that the episodes have no "continuous ideas." [84] Similarly, Chris Tibbey from DVD Talk did not find the series funny but praised ADV Films for taking a risk and licensing live-action series. [4] At the same time, Don Houston from DVD Talk described the series as a "wacky, weird ride" but warned that "not everyone thinks this is funny or creative." [87] Bamboo Dong from Anime News Network called the humor "quirky", but also noted that viewers who were not ready to overlook the mannequin concept were less likely to enjoy the series. [88] Writing for Amazon's editorial, Charles Solomon described the vocal performance as "over-the-top", claiming that while the show may bring up discussions about Japanese attitudes towards Americans and the series' "we're-so-dumb-we're-hip charms", he considered it a "pointless waste of time." [83]
On the other hand, Kaori Shoji from The New York Times' International Herald Tribune credited Ishibashi's art style to his Kyoto upbringing, and described The Fuccon Family segments as "darkly funny" with an "over-the-top caricatured view." [5] Gail Nakada from Wired describes the series as "perverse and riotous", with "adultery, childhood antics, and a mother's perfectionism." [3] The Austin Chronicle describes The Fuccons as having "witty" dialogue that was "filled with non-sequiturs and static humor", praising the series for parodying the sitcom genre with its "absurdity." [6] Zack Parsons from Something Awful gave the first season a score of 41/50, citing its strengths to be its characters and surreal humor. [2] [89] In his review of the second season, Parsons gave the same score, praising the first half of the season while stating the second half of the season was where the series went to "uncharted territories." [22] [21] Jamie S. Rich from DVD Talk stated that the humor of the series is better accepted through its absurdity and not through its depiction of stereotypes, expressing that, while the introductory episodes fell flat, the increasingly outlandish situations the Fuccons are placed in draw hilarity. [28] Film Threat expressed that in spite of The Fuccons having an "unusual format and hallucinatory subject matter", it provides as many "good laughs" as confusing moments. [85]
Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Fantasia International Film Festival | Ground-Breaker Award | The Fuccon Family | Won | [32] |
International D Cinema Festival | Best Series | Won | [33] |