Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo Volume 1 DVD Review

By sothis Published: February 27, 2007

PACKAGING AND MENU

2 / 10

Bobobo V1, like Illumitoon’s only other release at the time of this review (Beet the Vandel Buster V1), has an extremely Americanized front and back cover. While most anime DVDs have stylish and attractive artwork, Illumitoon has instead chosen a design that screams “American cartoon!!” and overall you can tell this disc is targeted at young children.

The front cover has a full body shot of Bobobo, with a sketched close up shot of his face behind him. The font used on both the back and front covers is loud and abrasive; it’s red, and has a bright yellow outline that looks like it was drawn in crayon. The title of the volume and anime are sprawled across the top and bottom of the cover.

The back cover is ultimately forgettable, and appears to have been thrown together in MS Paint at the last minute. The red and yellow font from the cover is present again here, and litters the page with its crayon-like scrawl. As if the font wasn’t already bad enough, there’s also a yellow drop shadow which alternates randomly between the left and right sides. Hello, consistency?

The description of the series is bright yellow and doesn’t stand out at all against the rest of the loudness. Two images of the secondary characters sit on top of a dull and lifeless black background. Like Beet V1, there isn’t a traditional DVD information box and the entire bottom of the cover looks very unprofessional; not to mention, it inaccurately lists four volumes as being only 80 minutes in length.

Bobobo V1’s menu has some serious problems. First of all, as mentioned in the audio section below, the volume level of the menu is IMMENSELY louder than anything else in the DVD (trailers, episodes). This makes for an ear shattering explosion when you are switching from an episode back to the menu. This NEEDS to be fixed for volume 2. All text is outlined with a very thick outer glow effect, and there are a variety of colors used, none of which really match. For example, on the scene selection page, there is a bright pink box with a bright blue title (for the episode), bright yellow text for the volume title, bright red and yellow text for the name of the series, and blue/pink link colors for the episode names. Wow. In addition, the box selection outline covers up the chapter numbers above each one.

FEATURES

0 / 10

Bobobo V1 has no special features, but I do have to speak of one unfortunate and accidental feature: a preview at the beginning of the DVD. The series? Nothing other than… Bobobo! That’s right folks, there’s a preview for this DVD, at the beginning of the DVD; and no, I am not mistaken, and the preview was not for volume 2. It’s that hilarious.

VIDEO

6.8 / 10

While the video quality is clear, there is an overall graininess to the picture. I never saw any artifacting, but in general the quality could have been better. I have no idea if the fault is Illumitoon’s, or a poor transfer.

AUDIO

6 / 10

The menu audio is obscenely loud, contrasting with the preview and series audio. This alone lowers the score a lot. The music is fairly tinny, but otherwise this is a standard stereo mix. Dialogue is clear, though a little loud in comparison to sound effects and music. There is not much use of panning in the stereo field; this ends up detracting from the overall mood and feel of the series.

Bobobo's dub is decent for young kids, but not anything special compared to others out there. The most horrific thing Illumitoon has done in their only two releases, though, is the fact that there is a Japanese track, but no English subtitles. Instead, the subtitles ARE A LITERAL TRANSCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH DUB. That's right folks, the English dub is written in the subtitles. This means that often in the Japanese track, people will be speaking but no subtitles will show up, or subtitles will show up where they don't belong. Come on, guys; release this as a dub-only DVD, or don't insult the anime fans' collective intelligence by offering a subtitled English dub.

CONTENT

6 / 10

Bobobo V1 is Illumitoon’s second release – the first being Beet the Vandel Buster V1. Both titles are aimed at young boys, though Bobobo is definitely more interesting to me. Instead of generic shounen action, Bobobo focuses on wacky random comedy. There are laugh out loud moments, but plenty of others that fly … under (?) my head and would probably register better with younger folk. From duck/underwear hybrids to blazing nose hairs, there are a variety of ridiculous things to choose from. The general premise is that in the year 3000, an evil ruler has sent his soldiers out to shave the heads of everyone in the kingdom. The nose hair-wielding Bobobo is an unlikely hand of truth and justice, thwarting the Chrome Dome Empire at every turn!

Bobobo’s animation reminds me somewhat of Cromartie, with a Ren and Stimpy feel. Characters are constantly contorted and exaggerated, and the colors are bright and vibrant. I’m not a huge fan of Bobobo (the character)’s design, as he looks rather grotesque and too rounded; luckily, his giant afro does pop in half on a regular basis, revealing numerous characters beneath it! I do like the creature design, and all of the weird sidekicks.

Music is a standard hybrid of synthy beats and metal riffs – a perfect mix for the intended target: young boys.

While Bobobo might appeal to fans of random comedy, its target age will probably turn off most viewers. If you are a younger teen or enjoy watching any release of this sort of comedy, check out Bobobo. Else, you might want to steer clear of this one.

OVERALL

3 / 10

Illumitoon has a LOT to learn before a release will be worthy of a purchase. The dubtitles, poor packaging and lack of special features make this a no-buy in my book, and the inconsistent audio in the menu and unprofessional touches like a preview of the DVD itself, in the DVD, are the icing on the cake. If you really, really like Bobobo, I'm sorry to say I think it would be a better idea to try to legally download the episodes via ITunes or something (if available), or catch them on TV. If Illumitoon cleans up their releases big time, subsequent episodes might be worth checking out.