"Sakigake!! Kuromati Kôkô" (2003) TV series 2003-????

Directors:

Hiroaki Sakurai
Steven Foster

Writers:

Andrew Kent (subtitles)
Kathleen Moynihan (international version)

Release Date:

2 October 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy

Tagline:

Enroll in a mental institute of higher learning!

Plot Keywords:

Anime | High School | Based On Comic

Cast

Chris Ayres	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Greg Ayres	...	Hokuto's Lackey (voice: English version)
Doug Bouck	...	Hokuto Takeshi (2003-2004)
Luci Christian	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Adam Conlon	...	Tabata (voice: English version)
Matthew Crawford	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version) (as Matt Crawford)
Allen Divers	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
B.G. Donna	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jason Douglas	...	Takeshi Hokuto (voice: English version)
Tommy Drake	...	Narrator (voice: English version)
James Faulkner	...	Noboru Yamaguchi (voice: English version) (as James Reed Faulkner)
Jacob A. Gragard	...	Jun Ishikawa (voice: English version)
Matt Greenfield	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
John Gremillion	...	Yukata Takenouchi (voice: English version)
Illich Guardiola	...	Shinjiro Hayashida (voice: English version)
Quentin Haag	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jay Hickman	...	Shinichi Mechazawa (voice: English version)
Tetsu Inada	...	Maeda Akira (voice)
Adam Jones	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Yuto Kazama	...	Yamaguchi Noboru (voice)
Afshar Kharat	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Takaya Kuroda	...	Masked Takenouchi (voice)
Ryan LaBarge	...	Mechazawa Shinichi (2003-2004)
Mike MacRae	...	Pootan (voice: English version)
Ty Mahany	...	Takejo (voice: English version)
George Manley	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Ernie Manouse	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Andy McAvin	...	Akira Maeda (voice: English version)
Jason Miesse	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Norihisa Mori	...	Hokuto Takeshi (voice)
Rob Mungle	...	Pootan's Buddy (voice: English version)
Ryô Naitô	...	Takeuchi Noboru (voice)
Chris Nelson	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Paul Oddo	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Ben Pronsky	...	Takashi Kamiyama (voice: English version)
Anthony Rocissano	...	Hayashida Shinjiro (2003-2004)
Takahiro Sakurai	...	Koyama Takashi (voice)
Akio Suyama	...	Hokuto no Kobun (voice)
Takuma Suzuki	...	Hayashida Shinjiro (voice)
John Swasey	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Kira Vincent-Davis	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Norio Wakamoto	...	Mechazawa Shinichi (voice)
Fred Walters Jr.	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)

Also Known As:

Charge!! Cromartie High
Cromartie High School (International: English title)

Runtime:

Japan:12 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG | Australia:M (some episodes)

Company:

CPTA

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Bleach: Rukia's Decision, Ichigo's Feelings (#3.63)" (2006)

One Really Crazy Breath Of Fresh Animated Air.

First of all, for as many anime parody series as there are in existence, nothing even comes CLOSE to the wackiness factor of Cromartie High School. Absolutely nothing. For those anime fans with no sense of humor whatsoever, avoid this show like the plague, because it's very likely that you just won't appreciate it. You have been warned.

If you do have a healthy sense of humor, though, read on.

Take one serious high-grades high-schooler from out of the respectable school system and throw him into a school full of delinquents, robots, gorillas and aged rock stars. And that doesn't even scratch the surface of what you're about to get yourself into. Cromartie High School is quite possibly the funniest show, never mind the fact that it's anime, that I've seen since Monty Python's Flying Circus. Clocking in at an average of ten minutes per episode, this would be a perfect fit for the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network, but alas, you'll only find it on the very exclusive Anime Network (how many cities carry the actual network? Two!?) and their On-Demand service. As far as I know, there are three (soon to be four) DVDs on sale from ADV Films, each carrying an average of eight episodes per disc. But I'm straying from the point...

The point I'm trying to make is that this show is flat-out hilarious. Imagine if you will: A punk sporting a mohawk with a mind of its own. A smart-mouthed robot that looks like an over-sized coffee can. A blonde-haired student whose mom you'll swear is a guy. An intelligent giant gorilla. An enigmatic Mexican-style masked wrestler. A scary-looking bear of a man whose only weakness is motion sickness. And to top it all off...Freddie Mercury. That's right, the guy from Queen, all the way down to the mustache, suspenders, bare chest and killer theme music. It's all about the ten-minute adventures they go on, often with disastrous results. Intrigued yet? To be honest, I didn't know what to think when I first started watching this show. I did, however, find myself laughing uncontrollably during around the 3-minute mark, and it kept up the pace for the full 10. Any anime that opens up with a disclaimer has to be good, or maybe that's just my opinion. I get so happy to see it On-Demand when the new episodes come on that I start to hum along with the theme song. Seriously, after watching 3 episodes I started to laugh at key points in the show's opening song/montage/what-have-you. It's just that infectious.

The show itself takes its visual style from old Shonen anime and manga from the 80's, with high school gangs fighting for turf and respect. Everyone looks older and more mature than they really are, and there are more than a few instances that you'll be reminded that all of the characters are supposedly 16 year-olds. It takes repeated potshots at the very pillars of time-honored anime stylings, such as using limited frames of animation for movement or very static backgrounds with an explosion-of-light-like effect to punctuate a character's serious sounding line. After those pillars give, the mighty structure crumbles into rubble, leaving only dust and rocks. Most parody series would build it back up in it's own whacked-out image, but Cromartie just pees all over the remains, laughing all the while. And you'll be laughing right along with them, guaranteed.